No Man’s War is the third release by San Diego based Lexington Field in the space of about two years – a busy band for sure (and all that with a full US tour or two). Lexington Field is a case of quality and quantity. Self describe as American Fiddle Rock, Lexington Field bring together on top of a big rock’n’roll sound, Celtic, bluegrass, Americana and folk and just a touch of punk to produce a very fine album with its own individual stamp in an often overcrowd field. Highlights for me among many include Rest of Our Days, The Chemical Worker’s Song and the mainstream friendly Dear Old Friend.
Ireland and Spain have long interconnected history’s going back tens of thousands of years. The Iberian peninsula was the staging ground for various waves of early settlers to Ireland through the Celts and onto the middle ages when trade ties were very strong with the West of Ireland – where do you think the “Black Irish” come from? In later years the Kings of Spain supported the Irish cause and the Earls took flight to Spain and even in the 20th Century the Spanish civil war attracted Irish volunteers on both sides.
So its not that strange to be listening to a Celtic punk outfit from Toledo, Spain. Refarmatory is the second full length for The Fatty Farmers and its good and sometimes its very good. The two bands that come to mind listening to Refarmatory are Flogging Molly and especially Norway’s Greenland WhaleFishers. Loads of strong Celtic instrumentation and melodies played at full throttle but never losing the essence of the sound to the speed and energy of the playing. Check out Next Sunday We´ll Be Back Again…….
The Vandon Arms are a Celtic/Folk/Punk band from Des Moines, Iowa, who have been together since 2006 and while they have previously release a number of EPs, No Loyalty Among Thieves, is the bands first full length (I think).
On the first listen there isn’t a hint of Jack or Diane and John Mellencamp ain’t nowhere to be found. Then again maybe it was Indiana Johnny Cougar was singing about ? Shite’n’Onions is based in Boston and we get a bit fuzzy once we get beyond Worcester (pronounced Wooster) where it’s all kind of flat with a oasis at PaddyRockland, then flat again, then you hit the sea near San Francisco.
What I did hear was straight ahead Celtic-folk-punk with strong influences by Flogging Molly, The Tossers and The Mahones (“Down The Boozer” is covered) . After multiple listens I’m a fan and still not a hint of Pink Houses (for you and me).
Have You Been Drinking? is the third full-length from The Tosspints, a Celtic-punk band from Saginaw, Michigan, a struggling industrial city that the American dream long ago turned into a nightmare. The Tosspints are two brothers and a drummer, with brother Don a US Army combat veteran and brother Zack a union school teacher, the drummer is John. The music reminds me of the $wingin’ Utter$ but maybe a little more focused on the Celtic influences while the lyrics deal with the experiences of living in the rust belt – working class life, brotherhood, loyalty, the Union and the military and of course boozing and fighting. In all a very impressive release and the band to watch. Highlights include: Genocide is Painless, Your Name, Blood or Whiskey
A few weeks prior to the launch of The Lagan’s debut album, lead singer, Brendan O’Prey recounted the following conversation with his mother on Facebook…
Mum: “So, what is your album called?” (She already knew)
Brendan: “Where’s Your Messiah Now?”
Mum: “..and you’re releasing that during Holy Week are you?”
Religion: it sits at the heart of many of the songs and bands we love so well in this scene of ours. My own introduction came by way of Shane McGowan in The Sick Bed of Cuchulain;
“You dropped a button in the plate, and spewed up in the church”.
Religion, drink, the experience of the Irish exile, rebellion, violence and the lure of the sea…the music of Celtic punk has it all and so does the new album by The Lagan. Add all of these influences to a driving rhythm section, soaring fiddle, whistles, electric guitar, bass and ukulele and you’ve got Celtic Punk gold. What sets The Lagan apart from many bands of a similar ilk are their ability to support top notch musicianship with excellent vocal harmonies.
The album opens with its title track; a driving punk-sea shanty that rapidly becomes a conversation between the Devil and the sailor facing death upon the waves. Songs about the sea and religion are woven throughout the rest of the album. The Good Ship Lagan re-works the children’s classic “What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?” turning it into a tale of battling pirates and the desperate need for a drink. The band continues to muse on religion in the more traditional sounding “Work Away”. Stan’s fiddle is given more room to play in this track and once again the band’s ability to harmonise lifts The Lagan above the shouty slurring that can often characterise Celtic punk. This fact is further evidenced in the bands cover of trad classic, the Fields of Athenry. What could easily have become a by-the-numbers cover is instead the poignant tale of loss, rebellion and exile that the song was meant to be. It is no accident that The Lagan’s version of Fields is played before every London Irish match.
A personal favourite of mine is the incredibly catchy “Same Shite Different Night”. A tale of drinking and dodging fists on the streets of their native Kingston, this is sing-along Celtic punk at its best; brashy, cocky and with a little bit of that ‘Last Gang in Town’ mentality that goes back to the early days of punk.
Go check out The Lagan live and definitely buy their debut album; worth ten quid of anyone’s money. This is a great debut and hopefully the start of a long and illustrious career. Any band who names an album after a Simpsons quote is worth a second look!
Seattle’s Meisce may have called it a day as of May but they have left us their swansong in the form of their 17 track final release “Spirits and Spectres” a collection of previously unreleased tracks and two tracks from the “Bored of the Dance “single from a while ago. Meisce play crusty folk punk mixing Celtic, Gypsy, and Klezmer and they do (did) it very well as evidenced on “Spirits and Spectres”. That said if the band had sent me a blank mangled c-60 cassette I’d still have given “Spirits and Spectres” high marks just for having a song titled “The Death of Michael Flatley” – feckin classic!
We’ll hang him from the highest tree
And break both of his fucking knees!
Drag the bastard through the rain
And kick him in the face again!
Great stuff indeed and a band that will be missed.
I always though Muirsheen Durkin went west to California to strike gold but it looks like he actually went east to Germany – maybe it was the fine Fraulein’s and the Furstenberg – picking up some mates to play the Irish pub(s) of Arnsberg. Like a lot of German bands playing Celtic-punk the tracks are almost entirely covers of traditions Irish standard (and a Skels cover!!!) given a Teutonic punk-rock kick up the ass – no complaints here as LAST ORDERS of full of energy and highly enjoyable.
Tom McSod is better known as front man for Indianan’s The Staggerers who put out the excellent Year of The Bastard a few years back (and some of you may remember Tom from the near legendary The Sods from the early days of the scene). Caution Wet Floor is described by Tom as “Janitor punk” which to me sounds like a lo-fi, growling Johnny Cash or Hank Williams gargling nails or even Tom Waits at his junk best – acoustic Americana. Its rawness drips of authenticity.
New York City based A Band of Rogues are a contemporary Irish American folk-rock group lead by the growling vocals of Sean McNally. The self titled A Band of Rogues is the Band of Rogues second full length and the songs are fast paced and very lively – sure to get the 8 to 80 year old set off their arses at Irish festivals up and down the East Coast circuit. The lyrical material while dreaming if the idyllic life on the Ol’ Sod doesn’t pull any punches with the reality of Ireland on Can’t Eat The Scenery and Christy Moore’s Ordinary Man
Vancouver’s Pat Chessell follows up on last years “Live & Lusty” with a collection of standards and originals. The covers included a great version of Brennan On The Moore as well as Steve Earle’s modern Irish classic – Galway Girl – which in now a wedding standard at every Irish wedding from Mizen Head to Bloody Foreland. Eric Bogel’s “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” is well done and believable though Shane MacGowan still owns this one. MacGowan’s “The Dunes” is also covered. MacGowan wrote Dunes about the Irish Famine for Ronnie Drew and when Ronnie “sang’ The Dunes you could believe Ronnie had witnessed the destruction of the famine and the aftermath – this is a tough one to cover for anyone.
On top of the covers Pat has included some originals which is a brave move when your covering some of the finest contemporary songwriters of the last 30 years. Pat does a fine job of meeting these standards though interestingly enough I would reference Johnny Cash as the influence on two of Pats original material and it’s not a stretch to imagine Johnny performing these. The third, Drunk In Exile, was released previously as a single and is much more party Irish folk reminiscent for fellow Vancouver based The Town Pants. Nice job.
Shite'n'Onions 