Originally published at kemptation.com on 01 July 2014. Words by Stephanie Yip

They might be young in age, but Derry City’s The Wonder Villains are by no means new to the music circuit. Although officially having formed around the 2008 mark, the band’s foundation can, in a sense, be pinned to the summer of 2006 when sister and brother, Eimear and Kieran Coyle, joined forces with five of their cousins to write and record a bunch of covers (plus one original about the weather. Errr-?).

Summer ended and, with it, so did the band. “That was just something we did for a bit of fun,” says Eimear. “I don’t think the rest of them are rockers at heart.” But she and her brother were. And with that in mind, Eimear went on to form pop outfit Damn Fine Coffee (with current Wonder Villain Cheylene Murphy) and Kieran continued playing with his school rock band, Organized Confusion (with current Wonder Villain Ryan McGroarty). Well, you can imagine what happened next.

The two bands split.

Eimear and Cheylene formed The Wonder Villains, and a number of Battle of the Band competitions later (some wins, some losses), and Kieran and Ryan joined the group, completing the current line-up. “I guess we should always have known that we’d end up being in a band or something,” says Eimear. “We’ve always got on really well.”

They obviously still do as, on 23 June 2014, The Wonder Villains became the proud owners of Rocky, their first full-length record.

It’s a 12 track-strong energetic spinner of party-pop proportions with fun-loving songs about everything from superhero characters to football stars. The cover art glitters in pink and gold, featuring The Wonder Villains’ logo as though it were a superhero’s calling card (maybe it is?). Their outfits on and off stage read much the same, toeing the line between bright and colourful and costume, and their personalities and on-stage presence are likewise. “If each of us had different friend groups, we’d all probably be the most positive, excitable ones,” admits Eimear. “We pretty much just have a laugh and believe that anything is possible.”

Including having ex-Chelsea FC star, Gianfranco Zola star in your music video.

The Wonder Villains may be young, but they’ve quite a lot of extraordinary moments to brag about. Their debut on the tour circuit was opening for fellow Irish outfit General Fiasco to crowds of thousands; they’ve played The Great Escape and Dot to Dot, seen Bono backstage at Electric Picnic (“He looked right at us”, glows Eimear), and lived the childhood dream of getting to run amok in Northern Ireland’s Barry’s Amusements for the music video of their single, Marshall. Now, in some strange form of serendipity, their football hero, Gianfranco Zola, has starred in one of their video clips.

Originally released in 2011, Zola is the psychedelic dance-pop third track on Rocky and hails the glories of its namesake. After uncovering a fan’s YouTube clip, which soundtracked snippets of his games with the song, Zola agreed to star in its rerelease.

What next? Well, they do have a single called Marshall that features pink speakers as its cover art. “If a certain amplifier company of the same name want to make this dream [of touring with said speakers] a reality, then we will fully endorse it!” Eimear exclaims. Pink speaker cuteness aside, the album’s artwork has gems to look out for, too. “The inside sleeve is the best bit,” concludes Eimear. “It’s a collage of classic snaps we’ve taken over the last few years.”

Now, we haven’t seen said collage yet, but if the band’s Facebook album is anything to go by, it’s going to be pretty epic. “Social media is a great way to get the word out and make people smile with our ridiculousness,” jests Eimear, who secretly knows we’re referring to the band’s hilarious photobomb of that Oscar’s selfie.

“Kieran played The Undertones’ drummer in the BAFTA nominated movie Good Vibrations,” says Eimear. “He dyed his hair blonde for the part, had two lines, and his head was in the clip they played on the big screen at the BAFTAs. So naturally, after that success, we were invited to the Oscars and met Ellen.” Okay, so maybe they Photoshopped themselves into that selfie, but Kieran really did star in Good Vibrations and the invite really was in the mail.

Now here’s yours. Invite, that is, to listen to this “badass” (her words, not ours) debut record by The Wonder Villains.