Kilkenny band, The Wha, today release the music video for their debut single, 'Innocents', out via Chess Club. The band have also announced they will play a string of shows in September with Two Door Cinema Club in Dublin and Belfast.

The video for ‘Innocents’ was shot in Kilkenny by director Conor Dockery at Dock Visual.

“We didn’t want to make a concept video about innocents or innocence, instead we wanted to show different sides to innocence," says the band. "Hanging out, being bored, running away or just running for the craic. Conor Dockery had some great ideas for the shoot and we’re over the moon with how it turned out.”

All aged just 18 years old, The Wha are dual vocalists and guitarists Finn Cusack and Sam Cullen, joined by Marek Lech (bass) and Abe G. Harris (drums).

Childhood friends Finn and Sam met in primary school, eventually forging a songwriting partnership at just 15 that would go on to form the nucleus of The Wha. They claim influence by the evergreen greats - The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan - and contemporary auteurs like Julian Casablancas, Alex Turner, and Father John Misty, as well as playwright Sarah Kane, satirist Flann O’Brien and novelist Jack Kerouac.

The Wha’s attachment to their hometown remains strong.

“Growing up in Kilkenny has its ups and downs,” the band says. “It’s a small city, you can’t really run away from anything. I think lots of young people here get to the point where they want to leave, whether it’s for two years or forever. It is a fun town to grow up in. Some nice spots, some nice pubs. It’s easy to waste time here.”

However, with little to no interest in school - other than the opportunity to hang out with one another - the four friends left immediately after finishing their exams this summer to focus on writing, recording and honing The Wha’s energetic and playfully chaotic sound. The first fruits of those labours is ‘Innocents’. A paean to growing up, the Catholic Church’s well-documented scandals and addiction, ‘Innocents’ is a perfect distillation of The Wha’s mantra: “fucking great songs played with fucking great energy.”

Watch the 'Innocents' music video here:

See The Wha live in 2019:

Oct 14 | Olympia Theatre, Dublin^

Oct 15 | Olympia Theatre, Dublin^

Oct 16 | Telegraph Building, Belfast^

^with Two Door Cinema Club