walking upstream…
The Cranberries
photo: poudou99 · cc by 3.0 ↗The Cranberries
Formed in Limerick in 1989, the Cranberries found their signature when Dolores O'Riordan joined as singer the following year, pairing Noel Hogan's chiming, arpeggiated guitar with her keening, Celtic-inflected voice. Their 1993 debut, 'Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?', turned the hushed jangle of 'Linger' and 'Dreams' into worldwide hits, and the following year's Troubles protest song 'Zombie' gave them a harder, roaring anthem. O'Riordan's death in 2018 ended one of the defining Irish rock bands of the 1990s, whose blend of dreamy jangle-pop and raw emotional delivery shaped alternative rock across the decade.
the sound in question
1994
ZombieThe Cranberries
walk the tributaries ↓
The Smiths1980s · Indie rock / Jangle pop / Alternative rock
The Cranberries' guitarist Noel Hogan has repeatedly cited Johnny Marr and the Smiths as the model for his own playing, and Marr's chiming, arpeggiated jangle is the clearest template for the ringing guitar figures that carry the band's early singles.
listen: upstream & here
1983
This Charming ManThe Smiths
1992
DreamsThe Cranberries
listen forThrow on the Smiths' 'This Charming Man' and let the bright, cascading Marr riff ring out, then cue the Cranberries' 'Dreams' — the same chiming, upward-tumbling guitar arpeggio opens the song and sets its shimmering mood.
R.E.M.1980s · Alternative rock / Jangle pop
The Cranberries emerged into the same melancholic jangle-pop lineage that R.E.M. had built through the 1980s, and critics regularly grouped the two for their shared mix of arpeggiated, ringing guitar and murmured, introspective vocals.
listen: upstream & here
1991
Losing My ReligionR.E.M.
1993
LingerThe Cranberries
listen forPlay R.E.M.'s 'Losing My Religion' and notice how the restless, picked mandolin-and-guitar figure holds a wistful mood, then put on the Cranberries' 'Linger' — that same softly circling arpeggio and hushed, aching vocal delivery carry the verse.
Sinéad O'Connor1990s · Alternative rock / Pop rock / Folk rock
Dolores O'Riordan's voice drew constant comparison to that of fellow Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, both women bending a Celtic-inflected keen and a piercing upper register into rock, and both prone to swinging from a fragile hush to a full-throated roar within a single song.
listen: upstream & here
1987
MandinkaSinéad O'Connor
1994
ZombieThe Cranberries
listen forListen to how O'Connor's 'Mandinka' lurches from a wiry, restrained verse into a soaring, keening chorus, then play the Cranberries' 'Zombie' — O'Riordan works the same dynamic, letting an ornamented Celtic lilt tip over into a raw, shouted release.