February 15, 2010
Czech Republic based, Belfast born and bred Pól Mac Adaim mixes the protest folk tradition of Woody Guthrie with the rebel/ballad tradition of his native Ireland – reminisent of fellow protest Celt – the late great, Ali Hulett or even Christy Moore at his most mellow/political – though unlike Christy I doubt Pól drives a fancy car – this is way more authentic and I bet he uses deodorant too.
February 19, 2010.
The Righs, (pronounced “RIGZ,”) have returned to confound those who would dare to describe them, with Roses, the band’s second full-length release, (“full-length” and then some, actually, with over seventy minutes of music and 18 tracks!) since 2008’s eclectic “The Rivers Run Deep.”
This time around, the Oklahoma-based Righs continue to write their own rules and then, (based on the amount of departure from the norm included on this release,) promptly set out into breaking them.
In fact, The Righs are so set apart from other bands in the Celtic Folk Punk realm that a point of reference is not readily available. Even the term “Celtic” may not necessarily apply in same ways it does in other bands of the genre. On Roses, it could describe some of the instrumentation, with the inclusion of the fiddle, and mandolin, but that is about all. The band seems fairly entrenched in a direction of its own, and possessive of its own compass.
The CD itself doesn’t have a weak moment on it (impressive considering the amount of material!) but does have a few tracks that stand out. And So It Goes is an immediately accessible song that grabs the listener immediately and doesn’t let go for an instant. It also features guest vocalist, Alicia Williams, a formidable set of pipes in her own right, sharing lead vocals duties.
Another track worthy of special mention is Two Cents, a song with enough mood and atmosphere to blur the line between music and horror movie, with vocalist Omid Nowrouzi twisting his voice into a banshee-esque wail, (that would make Marilyn Manson sleep with the lights on!) and the pervasive “nervous energy”-meandering of the over-caffeinated mandolin, providing tangible chills.
But it is The Man with Nickel-Plating Makes All the Rules, that is possibly my favorite track on Roses. The song has a manic quality that is almost overwhelming at its start, but for some reason seems to best encapsulate The Righs sound for me.
As with their debut, The Righs are able to pull off a rough and ragged finish on some well written, well arranged and generally polished songs, giving the CD a close approximation to what the band’s live performances must be like.
I am not sure if it was an intentional attempt to carve out an identity, or to start a whole new style, but the The Righs have most definitely created a sound all their own with Roses, albeit one that is almost impossible to accurately describe.
Highly recommended for repeated listenings.
Review by Christopher P. Toler, THE Blathering Gommel.
February 4, 2010
Before anything else, I think it needs to be acknowledged that “Firkin” is a great name for a band. It has an great, antiquated, British Isles pedigree. As a unit of measure, (meaning roughly nine gallons!) it has a vague “mass consumption” reference. And, of course, all that Firkin’ wordplay just Firkin’ waitin’ to be employed!
But a great name doesn’t mean a firkin’ thing if the band can’t back it up.
And Firkin? Yeah. They bring it. Intense is probably the most appropriate word to describe these rowdy Hungarians. The CD, “A Firkinful Of Beer” (Firkinful?) is a 17-track release, (Yes, I said SEVENTEEN!) comprised of almost all covers, (with two or three originals, added in for color!) But these covers are different from your phone-in album-filler, there is effort made to make these songs the band’s own. A lot of effort.
The covers vary from traditionals like “The Galway Races,” “Irish Rover,” and “The Drunken Sailor,” to a number of songs from the Flogging Molly catalog! And all of the originals, traditionals and FM covers get the same Firkin’ treatment, (see how well that works!): A ripping, King-esque vocals, traditional instrumentation such as flute, fiddle, and whistle bringing in the Celtic sound and all of that hanging on for its dear life on top of a straight-up heavy metal rhythm section that is, in my opinion, the real star of the show. This is what gives these firkers an identity that really stands out in a field like this!
As far as covers go, the Budapest-based septet does the job right. But I would really like to see a full-length release of original material from these guys! I think it would be something really unusual, in a good Firkin’ way.
Review by Christopher Toler, THE Blathering Gommel!
February 4, 2010
Veteran Folk Rockers, The Men They Couldn’t Hang are back with some all new material in their newest release, Devil On The Wind, their fifteenth since the band’s formation way back in 1985.
The Men They Couldn’t Hang have always created a vaguely dream-like atmosphere with their music, going from toothy and aggressive, with songs like the foreboding title track, and the scary, campfire-appropriate monster tale, The Beast of Brechfa, to melodic, sweet stories of times past, like Mrs. Avery or Heartbreak Park.
The years have not changed the band’s cleanly identifiable sound, either, and all of those elements are in full effect here. The subtly country/alt. rock, peppered with folk instrumentation and all done with crystal clear production that allows every note, word, and beat to be heard with perfect clarity.
That aforementioned instrumentation, augmenting the band’s regular line-up, consists of guests on violin, squeezebox, banjo, harmonica, trumpet, Uilleann pipes, piano, mandolin and dulcimer. And although TMTCH’s punk edges and burrs seem to have been worn into a more seasoned and polished sound over the years, this variety of instruments gives a greater depth to the assortment of sounds and moods on Devil on The Wind.
It is difficult to categorize or classify the sound of The Men They Couldn’t Hang with any accuracy, unless one has heard TMTCH. If you have, then Devil On The Wind may be something you should look into. It is (yet another!) strong addition to this long-running band’s impressive catalog!
Review by Christopher P. Toler, THE Blathering Gommel
February 6, 2010
Glengarry county, Ontario is proving to be quite the breeding ground for Celtic-roots rock – obviously there are the mighty Glengarry Bhoys and Shite’n’Onions favs., The Peelers and now entering the fold is Bang on the Ear (Waterboys influence anyone?). The Peelers are the closest musical and style wise comparison to Bang on the Ear (and oh yeah The Waterboys). Good stuff though I blame the water in Glengarry County for all this great music – I think it may be spiked with a little whiskey and a lot of whisky.
January 24, 2010
The Dirty Filthy Mugs may be a relatively young band, (less than a year old!) but consists of seasoned veterans of the Los Angeles punk scene. And in their short time together, the band has put out two EPs in 2009, “Half Pint” and “Another Round.”
It is difficult to chart the growth of a band who put out two EPs in so close a period of time. Half Pint was the band’s debut, yet it is a pretty finished and polished piece of work. An in-your-face collection of songs tailor-made for a frantic night out with booze and good company.
Another Round is the follow-up EP, that, although, follows the same Dirty, Filthy formula, contains six songs that really stand out! Some great material, (with a killer title track being my personal favorite!) and not a dog in the pack.
The Dirty Filthy Mugs’ music is a straightforward and aggressive street punk, with some stadium-style guitar-work amped-up to the appropriate punked-out velocity and laced with some occasional accordion, giving a vaguely Celtic feel to it. The music on both EPs clearly gives an indication of the band’s energy, and if I hear of any shows in the Boston area, I will surely be in the crowd! These Mugs are the real deal and this is some good stuff.
Also, according to their MySpace page, a new Mugs release, entitled “All Yobs In,” is due out early in 2010!
Review by Christopher Toler, THE Blathering Gommel
January 24, 2010
I was a little worried by the name of the band Drink Hunters. I was afraid it was going to be a band that perpetuates the tired, old boozehound stereotype by pumping out track after track of some drinking songs or rehashing old standards like “Whiskey in the Jar,” “All For Me Grog” or “The Drunken Sailor.” The title of the lead off number, “Drinking Song” didn’t help with this apprehension.
I gave it a spin, though, and was pleasantly surprised. Even with a chorus of “I love whiskey, I love beer,” as my first taste of the band, I had to admit it was a damned catchy little ditty. And in fairness, it is the only one of the four numbers on this demo that chases this philosophy.
Instrumentally, the Spanish quintet are made up of a pretty tight rhythm section of guitar, bass, and drums, with a frenetic fiddler sitting on top driving the thing. The whole sound is fleshed out and rounded off nicely by the accordion. The instruments work really well with one another and topped off with vocals that are very similar to those of The Real McKenzies. That comparison may have colored my initial impression, but with subsequent listenings and further scrutiny, I think that is probably the best basis of comparison for The Drink Hunters, sans bagpipes of course.
As a demo, the sound quality can be a bit, well, inconsistent, but I believe a good impression of what this band is about is captured here on these four tracks. I think my favorite track is the song, “It’s In Your Hands.” It has all the race and pace of any other punk clubbers in the genre but seamlessly saddles some nice Celtic-feeling fiddle across the top and even sneaks in a little Cajun spice with some ever-so-subtle accordion work midway through.
In the end of the all-too-short demo, I found myself enjoying every song offered here, and will be keeping an eye out for more from The Drink Hunters.
And hey, maybe the name will grow on me.
Review by Christopher Toler, THE Blathering Gommel
January 29, 2010
Alistair Hulett, 1951-2010.
Schooldays over and I was working Saturday nights in a lowlife outer suburban bar as bilge monkey still far from fully grown – a scrap of a kid, I was – when I discovered the great Roaring Jack of Sydney City. I spend most nights playing tin whistle along to favourite on a scratch-built stereo and was well pleased to bring home a 45 single I found in Parramatta, ‘The Swaggies Have All Waltzed Matilda Away’ by Roaring Jack. As The Pogues’ iconic ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God’ rarely left my turntable, I was delighted to learn of an original folk rock act at large in my home city. So there was the 45, with yesteryear’s vagrant on the cover with his sad hurdy-gurdy slung over him and the Mighty Boy Records athletic logo on the disc. The song drew a shuttle across the loom of Australian history, a song written by a Glaswegian migrant, one Alistair Hulett. He reiterated popular sentiments of The Powers That Be fucking people around and the ironically resentful-yet-malleable nature of the colonial-gone-capitalist Australian psyche. ‘Swaggies’ culminated in a call to “raise the red flag” but I’d listened to enough Billy Bragg to not find the radical politics overtly stark (I was left by nature anyway). What I really liked was the raw, strong melody, a tune that bespoke of sincerity. The song had the feel of a march about it and it was not hard to imagine a colliery brass band playing behind it.
And so, consulting the street press, I sought out the band in question. Only just old enought to get into the pre-sterilized, pre-wankerfied pubs of Newtown (that change being addressed, prophetically, by Alistair in a couple of his own songs), I followed Roaring Jack from the rabble of The Sandringham Hotel and its bubbling mosh, like a tavern built into a ship’s dungeon, to The Harold Park Hotel near the racetrack at Glebe, and back again.
Alistair Hulett was the lead singer and main songwriter of Roaring Jack and he cut a mean, neat figure with his electro-acoustic six string and John Lennon specs. He was fit and sharp and direct in speech, delivery and stage presence. Multi-instrumentalist Steph Miller was like a quartermaster or First Mate at his side and Alistair would slice through set after set without missing a beat. I have never since heard such a quality and quantity of songs from a pub band. One Roaring Jack set would put most Sydney’s bands’ entire repertoires to shame and there was no shortage of these sets, they’d just play all evening and right into the night.
I could not believe that I got to be amongst it all. Leaping from bar and stage with the drinking songs, ‘Lights Of Sydney Town’, ‘The Lass Behind The Beertaps’ and the blazing, fatalistic ‘Buy Us A Drink’. Alistair made fond nods to tradition with the waltzy ‘Wild Rover Again’ and ‘Polythene Flowers’, and then there was the boozey reggae of ‘Ball Of Yarn’. And the defiant Union songs, ‘Days of ’49’, ‘Lads Of The BLF’ and ‘Cat Among The Pigeons’, a four segment folk-punk epic that took in everything from Steeleye Span to hillbilly hoedowns to Marxist prose.
From the first time I heard ‘Proddy Dogs And Papes’, I considered it Alistair’s finest work. A sad and pretty melody in Scottish cadence, he ong is one of those rare gems that sounds equally powerful in slow ballad form or as a flatknacker punk rocker. It follows the theme he explored in ‘The Auld Divide And Rule’; the futile, self-thwarting machismo of sectarianism. You want to physically turn away from the infantile, deluded automatons that are the football fans described in the song, it is emotive stuff.
Alistair was a prodigious writer of no-bullshit folk ballads who played like a crusader. He did great justice to his influences; Billy Bragg, Woody Guthrie, Dick Gaughan and Shane MacGowan. Roaring Jack were electrified Celtic punk before Flogging Molly were a glint in Dave King’s eye and were always undaunted in their own powers of expression. Alistair was the sharpest edge on a sharp band that gave me something to look forward to seeing at least once week, and listening to on the days and nights in between shows.
… Goodnight, and joy be with you all.
Will Swan
Sydney, Ought Ten
January 31, 2010
With a name like Gartlonely Rats its easy to assume a fast and spunky trad-rock band in the vein of The Pogues song of the same name from 1989s “Peace and Love”. The Aussie quintet are not, sure The Pogues influence is there but it’s more Steve Earle and The Pogues or even Johnny Cash and The Pogues with the great man in the drivers seat and Shane riding shotgun on the way to a redneck roadhouse.
December 30, 2009
Not to be confused with New Hampshire’s The Galway Hook or a type of boat once common on the west coast of Ireland is The Galway Hooker Band. Only formed just over a year ago, “Hooker Style” is their 1st release from the Southern California based band. Most of songs presented here are interpretations of stuff by either Flogging Molly or The Pogues or older traditional. So what do these interpretations sound like? Imagine Paul Sr. from Orange County Choppers was fronting The Pogues – like that! Loud, aggressive and growling. And I bet they all own big bikes (especially the drummer Jacifer who must own a shit assed huge hog.)
Shite'n'Onions 