Mr. Norman is 4 new tracks (plus a radio edit of the title track) of quirky, roots’n’roll. Think of The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys crossed with Hothouse Flowers and Revenge of the Nerds. Mitch Easter of REM fame mixes so yeah it’s top shelf stuff.
February 2005
Don’t know too much about The Blaggards except they are from Houston, Texas and are fronted by Irish Man, Patrick Devlin. Standards is a collection of well, standards, you know, the stuff made famous by The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, Johnny Cash (an honorary Irish man) – who’s “Folsom Prison Blues” becomes “Fields of Athenry” as “Prison Love Songs” – and Elvis (I kid you not, “Suspicious Minds” is given the Celtic kick up the ass). The music is high-energy Celtic rock that will be on heavy rotation at my next Paddy’s day party (especially “Suspicious Minds”)
February 2005
Live CD’s can be either hit or miss in my book as they rarely capture the true energy of a bands live performance – with both the recent live CDs from the Dropkick Murphys and Shane MacGowans Popes veering towards miss in this humble scribes opinion. Not having seen Jamie Clarkes Perfect live I can’t say if $$ Live Free $$ has captured their authentic live energy but based on this CD a Perfect gig is one powerfully performance; high energy and tight as hell with a lot of Pogues covers – 7 out of 18 songs, often instrumentals, but I guess those are the songs that get the punters in the door and paying asses on the seats and being a 3 piece of just guitars, drums and accordion there is a different twist.
February 2005
If you ever showed up early to a few Pogues gigs in 1986 at the Hamersmith in London, you probably heard the opening band, Nyah Fearties. If you didn’t blow your cash on pints in the pub you may have picked up their latest album at the time, A Tasty Heidfu’. A two man band of brothers from a tiny village in North Ayrshire, Scotland, Nyah Fearties were known around the streets of London, as a busking, acoustic, punk-thrash band that used various objects they found nearby as the “percussion”. Influenced by punk, reggae, rockabilly, and country, they developed a unique sound that spat a gob of folk-punk inspired flem into the faces of the synth-pop wankers, and kicked the new romantics of the day in the nuts with a steel-toed boot soiled with Ayrshire sod. After years of touring together as a two-peice they eventually found themselves involved in various projects such as :”Dub Skelper” or “Mr. Luggs”.
Today, they have a new band, somewhat similar to their old Fearties sound, Junkman’s Choir are now a four-peice, and sound more original than ever. “Junk Rock” is their third effort and contains four tracks of acoustic flavored mayhem that will have you begging for more.The first song, “Hey Joe!” is an ode to Mr. Strummer. The song contains various Clash/Strummer melodies brought to you in the Junkman style. Another standout is the traditional track “The Cuckoo”. Honestly, I’ve heard everyone from Doc Watson, to Bob Dylan cover this song, and I must say, the Junkman version quite possibly might be my favorite! Great accordian! The other two songs are: “Evangeline” & “Raven’s Yard”.
So, it seems as if the lads are quite busy again. A new website is in the works. www.junkmanschoir.co.uk/ * they have some upcoming gigs in the London area, and I’ll bet you they probably have another album in the works. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got some catching up to do. In one way or another, these guys have released about 17 albums, and all I have to show for it is this four track ep, and an old, sticky, Nyah Fearties cassette covered in Irn Bru.
February 2005
Review By: “Beer Busking” Brian Gillespie
Darkbuster are the kings of Boston street punk, period.
18 songs, clocking in around 30 mins. Darkbuster are fast, catchy and loud with a wicked sense of humor. Influences on a Weakness….. include Stiff Little Fingers, Bouncing Souls and The Clash along with old school Boston hardcore (and Thin Lizzy – the lyrics to the Ska tinged “Rudy” are a little to close to Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” to be a coincidence.)
February 2005
I’m pretty sure the majority of S’n’O readers understand that folk music (No matter what ethnicity) can tell us about the tales of the past in ways history books never could. Folk music speaks of the truth, and when I want to find out about the daily life of a paticular place, I’m not going to reach for some bland travel guide from AAA, I’m going to be looking for some folk music from that paticular area of interest. I’ve always been interested in the history of Australia. Maybe it has something to do with the convict way of life, or maybe it’s something nautical, or maybe a combination of both. Whatever the case may be, I’ll always reach out for the folk music first. I have learned alot from Aussie bands such as: Roaring Jack, Weddings Parties Anything, and the random traditional numbers. Now there’s another band I need to add to the list: Mutiny.
Mutiny has been around since the early Nineties, and have been around the dock more than a few times. As you may or not know, the album “Rum Rebellion” is not exactly brand new. It was originally released back in 1997, and lucky for us, a label in Pennsylvania, (Fistolo Records) re-released the next-to-impossible album earlier this year. In my humble opinion, “Rum Rebellion” is not another Celt-Punk album at all…Sure there’s hints here and there, but It’s more of a combination of: Aussie folk, Sydney streetpunk, pirate punk-inspired sea shanties, and whatnot. Think of Mutiny as the music of yesteryear, & the lyrics as the lastest news of today. Oh yeah, I know it’s only May, but at this point “Rum Rebellion” just might be my favorite record released this year. (Do re-releases count?)
The band, Mutiny, are one of my all-time favorites!
February 2005
Review By: Brian “Shelia” Gillespie
Sing Loud Sing Proud part deux…
Warrior’s Code represents the next step in the evolution of Dropkick Murphys from a pure punk oriented outfit to a more refined, mature band. They’ve found their niche and are sticking to it.
That said, the Murphys don’t totally abandon their roots and have created a sound like previous releases and good on ’em for that. Songs such as “Your Spirit’s Alive”, “Warrior’s Code”, “Take It And Run” and “The Walking Dead” are classic Dropkick Murphys while songs like “The Green Fields of France” show a nice evolution of their skills. Tunes like “The Auld Triangle” is a good mixture of new and old.
Still, a lot of their songs are reminicient of earlier offerings and that will not disappoint fans while recalling days past. All in all, the Murphys continue to deliver an energetic, enjoyable outing and it’s worth the money on this latest offering too.
Their live shows are worth attending as Ken Casey and crew continue to deliver the goods and you could do a lot worse than attend a live Dropkick Murphys show. I would recommend seeing them at a club or hall rather than a venue like an outdoor festival however. The sound and energy are better and you get the chance to join them on stage at the end of the night!
In summation, “Warrior’s Code” is a good Dropkick Murphys release that shouldn’t disappoint fans but won’t garner any new ones that don’t like them already.
February 2005
Review By: TheBlackStuff
While the D.I.Y.-ish cover of Live a Ferneham Hall give the appearance of a bootleg there is nothing bootleg or D.I.Y.-ish about either the music or production on this superb live CD (recorded in March ’05) from one of the most influential Celtic-folk-rock bands of the 80’s (ask The Levellers). If your unfamiliar with past works of this Brighton, England based Anglo-Irish quintet then think Bragg, Moore (Christy of course), Strummer and of course MacGowan and the Pogues and not as mere imitators but as peers.
February 2005
BIB are a “band” that managed to cause a lot of controversy and piss off more then a few people on the strength of the track “Drunk Tonight” that they circulated as a mp3 prior to releasing “Drunk Rock” – the big piss off factor was that it was maybe just a little to close to Flogging Molly’s “Swagger” to be a coincidence. Now while the rest of the CD is still hugely influenced by Flogging Molly and SoCal punk (“My Wicked Ways” is a little to close to something of the Mike Ness solo CD whose title escapes me) there is nothing else that can be stamped with the rip-off accusation, and in fact everything is highly listenable (even if the traditional instruments are electronic studio creations) and top quality. So let’s give the guy (BIB are basically a one man show) a break and some encouragement and support and remember nobody in this scene is truly original and even the mighty Flogging Molly have been accused of lifting from others – remember “Another bag of Bricks” and the riff from “Swagger” itself sounds like it was lifted from Slade.
February 2005
Nova Scotia’s Slainte Mhath blends straightforward renderings of traditional Scottish tunes with modern applications like sampling, loops and groove-laden rhythms. With virtually no singing Slainte Mhath allows their impeccable instrumental prowess convey their message. Alternating between traditional and modern music ideals they are driven by a duo of fiddler players, Boyd MacNeil and Lisa Gallant, Scottish piper John MacPhee and keyboardist Ryan MacNeil who injects a jazzy and sometimes R&B flavor into their repertoire. Flanked by a funky rhythm section of drummer Brian Talbot and bassist Jamie Gatti, Slainte Mhath is North America’s answer to Shooglenifty and Tartan Amoebas. While their traditional approach is by-and-large flawless and can easily rival that of the genre’s major players, this band is at its best when it permits the collision and intermingling of styles.
November 2004
Review by: Dave Sleger
Shite'n'Onions 