Review

Dogshit Sandwich: GGYFC (7″)

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Wow! Heavy shit here. Uncompromising early 80’s influenced punk rock . DSS are a Birmingham, UK based mostly Irish punk band – like the Exploited with an Irish touch. No chance of ever seeing these guys on “The Warped Tour” – and I doubt they want to be on it. Punk rock at it’s purest. The title track is about 70’s Glam Star Garry Glitter and how the pervert got himself in trouble.
Best track is “Wannabe” which contains the classic line ” I wanna be like Shane MacGowan – sing Billy’s Bones and The Dirty Old Town”
Not for the faint hearted or those easily offended

September 2001

Review

The Real McKenzies: Loch’d & Loaded

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Vancouver’s favorite pissy-drunk Scottish-Canadian sons are at it again with their third full-length LP “Loch’d and Loaded.” This marks the Real Macs debut in the spotlight, so to speak: on Honest Don’s Records, a subsidiary of Fat Wreck Chords. This is no surprise, as Fat Mike, the owner of both, once raved the Macs were “the best band I’ve ever seen.” For those of you unfamiliar with the Macs, I’d say that if, back in the 13th Century, William Wallace commissioned the Rezillos, the Skids or any other upstart, ’77-style Scottish punk band to march alongside his pipers into battle, this was what you would get: anthemic, melodious and fast-driven punk songs, propelled along by bagpipes, a healthy dose of Scottish pride, and fuelled by the water of life. Suffice to say, the troops would be pumped enough to fill Loch Ness with the bodies of invading Englishmen.

While their first two efforts were solid and, in several instances, brilliant, their third LP eclipses all expectations. The production is first rate and all the songs scream melody. Call-and-response vocals fill the songs and they stick to you like the spleen of the enemy you just hacked apart out on the Scottish glen. The musicianship has also vastly improved and the album rocks with a sense of Gaelic purpose on the verge of going AWOL. The Macs do the ’77-style so right, it’s scary and the pipe playing is top notch and utilized in nearly every track. Lyrically, the Macs deal with themes of rebellion, drinking and most other things Scottish and it works very well, in a more humorous and light-hearted tone than many other bands of the genre.

So, although the other two Macs releases seemed spotty, (and are harder to get anyway) this exceeded all my expectations. Favorite tracks include “Nessie,” “Pickled,” “Scots ‘Round the World” “Swords of a Thousand Men” and my favorite, “Wild Cattieyote.” Also included are the trads “Flower of Scotland,” “Bonnie Mary,” and the hilarious “Donald Where’s Yer Troosers?” (Once done to perfection by the Men They Couldn’t Hang.) Pick it up as soon as possible, by a bottle of Glen Fiddich or Glen Livet (any Glen will do) paint your face, put in “Braveheart” with volume down and throw this in and see if you have any furniture left in tact at the end of the night.

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September 2001

Review by Sean Holland

Review

Skanatra: Skanatra

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Not quite in the Irish-Folk-Punk-Whateverthefuck category is Skanatra.
Skanatra’s début self-titled CD could be reviewed in two words “this grooves”. If you haven’t guessed from the band name, Hoboken’s (where else could they be from) Skanatra are a Ska tribute band to the chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. Ten tracks of Frank’s best know classics (“Lady Is a Tramp”, “Fly Me to the Moon”, “High Hopes”, “Witchcraft”, “The Coffee Song”, “Luck Be a Lady”, “My Kind of Town”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “New York, New York”, “That’s Life”), all catchy as hell yet still true to the originals. A great party album.

September 2001

Review

Siobhan: McGravy’s Iron Liver (CD-EP)

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One of the best things about running a zine is it allows me to be exposed to music I’d never otherwise have the opportunity to hear. Siobhan from British occupied America (Only Joking guys – they are from Ottawa, Canada) are a perfect example. Siobhan are a heavily Pogues influence Irish-folk-punk band with a good dose of Jewish/Russian Klezmer thrown in to spice up the mix.

“McGravy’s Iron Liver” is a six song CD-EP “recorded very live at home with a single microphone”, but nevertheless has excellent sound. Track one “Roll me to the Ground”, is very Poguesy, very “Red Roses for me”, “Canon in D” is that classical piece by Pachelbel usually heard on toilet paper commercials and the like, Siobhan merge it with some Russian jig type music to create an Irish-Russian-Classical-Jig-Punk™ instrumental type thing. “Augeline” is a mellower acoustic / Irish number and the traditional “Recruiting Sergeant” most of you will be familiar with from either The Clancy’s version or The Pogues “Medley”. “Rose of London” is a slower darker drinking number that’s a little too close musically to “Boolavogue”. The CD end’s with the fast Irish/Russian Jig Punk of “The Celtbot”, if you can imagine drunken Russian sailors on a Dublin pub crawl this is that sound.

A great introduction to a very enthusiastic young band from Canada (Only Joking guys – they are from British occupied America).

September 2001

Review

Darkbuster V’s Tommy & the Terrors: Split (CD)

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Darkbuster (5 tracks)
This is Darkbuster’s swansong (very Led Zeppelin eh?), who have sadly split up after their Middle East show last month. This is fast catchy Budweiser soaked party punk with balls. A little mellower then live; more a pub punk feel especially on “Good Times” with its boozy barroom chorus, also check out the bastardization of “Danny Boy”, where Danny moves to London and ends up on the skids.
Recommended.

Tommy & the Terrors (4 tracks)
First off apologies to T. & the T., last month I claimed they were now a four piece in my live review; actually Mike is now playing guitar and a new bass player has joined – must have been real drunk guys. T. & the T. play “Yobcore”; a cross between Oi, Street Punk with a good dose of old school Boston hardcore played with the f**k you attitude of a soccer hooligan. With the exception of the Oi-ish “Washed Up” with its fluid guitar playing the T. & the T. songs on offer here are tipping the needle towards the hardcore end of the scale. Defiantly music for those with more extreme taste.

September 2001

Review

The Rogue’s March: Chaser

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I remember being very surprised to read that The Rogue’s March had been asked to play “The Warped Tour”. Sure they were a very good bar band and “Never Fear” was a fine album, but that’s all they were was a bar band. That opinion changed upon hearing “Chaser” the band’s 1998 (and soon to be re-released nation wide) album. Not only should The Rogue’s March have been on the bill but a darn sight higher up it.

The Rogue’s March have matured both musically and lyrically over the 4 years between “Never Fear” and “Chaser” and now also have the excellent production of James Mastro to do full justice to the songs. “Chaser” is packed full of Joe Hurley’s tales of low-life on the big city (New York, London, Paris and Berlin), cheap whiskey, violence, psychos and whores.

The band are real musical magpies, sure it’s still the Irish-Country-Punk of “Never Fear” but your going to hear classic rock’n’roll, cabaret, post punk, some Nick Cave/Tom Waits style ballads and a couple of tracks that The Rolling Stones could have written when they were anygood. Hopefully Chaser takes The Rogue’s March to the next level.
Recommended.

September 2001

Review

Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros: Global A Go-Go

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The coolest man on the planet is back in action.

Joe and the Pesky Meskys are back with their second release on Hellcat records. Lest there be any illusions on my feelings for Mr. Strummer, the statement above alone should shatter them. Strummer and the Clash are, in my eyes, the most important figures in the history of punk rock. Well, at least in the Top 5. So, when Joe signed with Hellcat a few years ago and released his first album, “Rock, Art and the X-Ray Style,” I was ecstatic. I bought the album and liked it quite a bit. I got pretty much what I expected – an eclectic mix of styles and experiments with world music/beats (Caribbean, African, South American) glued together by that familiar Strummer vocal style.

I was, however, somewhat surprised by the backlash by some of the ‘fans.’ Joe has always pushed the Clash beyond three-chord punk rock into reggae, rockabilly, rap and numerous other musical style, to mixed-reviews, but as always, it’s the people’s vote that matters: They say when “Sandinista” was released, you could walk around in Brooklyn and hear strains of early rap pioneers alongside “The Magnificent Seven” blasting out from the ghettos and street corners. Joe isn’t going to remain stagnant and he isn’t going to release an album like the first Clash LP, so get over it.

That said, “Global A Go-Go” is a fairly accurate title. Global is the scope and also the musical style. The album encompasses the aforementioned different music genres and a wealth of musical instruments, mixes and dubs, as did its predecessor. Starting with the almost folksy “Johnny Appleseed” you can tell Joe and the boys are in top form. “Cool ‘N’ Out’ sounds like it could’ve come off “Sandanista” with it’s dubby overtones and almost techno-ish backbeat, with Joe dropping science over a horn section in the background. The title track rocks out again with a world-ish type beat, complete with the raging bongos. “Bhindi Bhagee” is an example of an African/Caribbean-style rocker. Joe mixes balladry, like on “Mondo Bongo” and experimentation and rockers throughout, closing with a 17:00 version of the old Irish song “The Minstrel Boy” which is a masterpiece. Joe’s vocals are ethereal, far in the background, almost ghostly, fitting the subject matter perfectly, while the tune itself gets a more dubby/techno-ish mix: A song and an album with a vision and a message – many messages. Just what you would expect from ol’ Joe. So it goes with this eclectic album.

Judging by the reviews posted on Hell-cat.com, most fans get what Joe is doing, but you have the occasional mug who posts something along the ridiculous lines of: “ok I really dont like this album cuz its like fucking folk and country and shit but I wouldnt talk shit about the Clash if I had fucking gun to my head the Clash was awesome” (an actual post.) Wow. How eloquent and introspective, considering the Clash loved and utilized both folk and country. Oh well, if the Offspring t-shirt wearing mall-punks don’t like this, than it’s all the more punk in my opinion. Before the release of his first album for Hellcat, Joe said “this aint no kiddie rockabilly” and he’s right. He’s older, more mature and shouldn’t be expected to re-write albums he wrote in his twenties. Tunnel vision is the enemy of good music, he believes. To quote Joe “Whether it’s jazz or punk or anything else, you have to fight against the purists who want to narrow the definition. That’s what kills music because it stifles it to death.”

http://www.joestrummer.com/

September 2001

Review by Sean Holland

Review

The Rogue’s March: Never Fear

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NYC’s Rogue’s March have been playing the bars and clubs (and most recently the “Warped Tour”) of New York and further a field since the early nineties. Lead by the whiskey and cigarettes throated London-Irish man Joe Hurley; a fine songwriter and storytelling lyrist in the rich tradition of Shane MacGowan, Dave King and Bruce Springsteen.

“Never Fear” was originally released in 1994 and now re-pressed (hence the review plus Joe sent me copy along with the newie “Chaser”). Could best be described as imagine Johnny Cash and Shane MacGowan sharing a bottle of Johnny Walker Red, smoking butts and trading songs and stories in a seedier bar on 2nd Avenue.

Outstanding tracks include; the live favorite and no f**kin around Celtic punk of “Shut Up and Drink”, the hardcore country of “I Wish My Wife Was a Country Singer” and the punked up Scottish traditional “McPherson’s Lament”. A fine debut CD that if it had come out on a major label with a big name producer it would be sitting in your collection right now.

September 2001

Review

Hudson Falcons: For Those Whose Hearts and Souls Are True

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The Falcons are the house band of Jersey highways and back alleys, of fast cars, fast women, burning rubber and gun smoke on the eve of a patriot worker’s revolution

GMM records have released the second full-length album from New Jersey’s own Hudson Falcons “For Those Whose Hearts and Souls Are True.” After a blistering first effort, “Desperation and Revolution” what can you expect? A Sophomore Jinx? Hell no!

If you’re familiar with the Falcons, you already know what to expect – balls out, working class street rock-n-roll (heavy on the rock-n-roll, motherfuckers!) For those of you not familiar, well, please, introductions all around: The Falcons have been aptly described as “Springsteen fronting the Clash” or “Van Morrison fronting Cock Sparrer” or my own “The gang from the Wanderers singing for Stiff Little Fingers” (As in, they got that Brooklyn/Jersey Doo-Wop/Chuck Berry street corner rock-n-roll sound combined with the frontrunners of ’77.) Well, that’s about as accurate musically as I can get, anyway. Lyrically, Mark Linskey has always dealt with the plight of the oppressed, whether it be the abused working class, abandoned vets, Irish history/politics, political prisoners or any other faction that has been stepped on – Mark steps up as their voice….and then there’s the good time rock-n-roll and tales of the Jersey wastelands.

A few things have changed since the first album – namely, it’s players. Mark Linskey is still leading the troops into battle on guitar and lead vocals and guitar virtuoso “Uncle” Chris Lynn is still kicking ass on each cut as expected. However, the bass and drum slots have been taken over by former Brassknuckle Boys Craighton Fischer and Ben Glotzbach and they sound tighter than Sister Mary Pat on a Sunday. The band is fucking rocking like never before.

This album works thematically much like some of the Boss and Little Stevie’s old tales (A ripping cover of “Open All Night” is here!) back when they were “Jersey scumbags” (to quote Mark Lind.) Fast cars, fast women, working your ass off for a livin’ and gettin’ by with rock-n-roll are all themes the record sings the praises of. Frontman Mark Linskey’s tales remind me of both the grizzled old bartender spewing truths to his patrons and of the working class Joe listening to them, all the while hoping to change his world, but wondering deep down if he can. A struggle, yes, but as “Disciples of Soul” notes, it’s one that’s worth listening to and worth fighting for: “Here’s to the wars that can’t be won/Another song that shouldn’t be sung/Another soul that can’t be saved/Another man who died tryin’ anyway/I’m gonna die tryin’ anyway.”

“For Those….” is still telling tales of the working class and pro-Union sentiment on cuts like “I’m a Worker” “Scab” and “Real Tough Guy.” The odes to rock-n-roll are still there on “Sleep, Drive, Rock-n-Roll, Repeat” (A close cousin to “L.A.M.F” from the first record) and “Sweet Rock ‘n’ Rollin’ Bad-Ass Bitch.” My favorite cut on the album is probably the heart-felt rocker called “Loyalty” where the Falcons crew outline what they’re about and what they expect in return. No explanations needed. “I got you’re back, now you get mine.”

Linskey gives the middle finger to all those who have given the Falcons grief for their politics (for being too patriotic, not patriotic enough, IRA sympathizers, Communists, etc) on “Requiem For a Patriot.” The line: “It’s the patriot’s duty to speak up and take a stand/Against the enemies of freedom who kill the common man/If we sit and do nothing we’re as guilty as the damned” says it all. Amen to that and fuck off to any thick motherfucker who doesn’t get it.

There aren’t really any Irish-flavored songs on this release, there didn’t need to be. I have spoken with Mark and he is an articulate student of Irish history/politics, so I know he is well versed in the arena. And of course, they covered the old Wolfe Tones classic “Come Out Ye Black and Tans” and anyone who has heard “Brenda Murphy” knows they can go trad. in the wink of an eye, but it’s refreshing in the sense that the Falcons don’t have to include the “Irish song” just to include it for the sake of. Just straight up street rock-n-roll burning as it goes down like a shot of whiskey. (Speaking of all things Irish, though, one of my favorite cuts is “Fallen Heroes” which was co-written with former Dropkick Murphy Rick Barton.)

“No mess, no fuss, just pure impact” (to borrow a time-honored Oi! Slogan) is how the Falcons do it. Time honored traditions and values are what the Falcons uphold. The Falcons live what they preach. They are always out on the road, so come check ‘em out when the blow through your town and definitely pick up this album.

Keep on fighting the good fight – you know the Falcons will: “Every day another fight/Against desperation in the night/It’s the Promised Land we seek/but hey, we’re a different breed.”

http://www.hudsonfalcons.com/

August 2001

Review by Sean Holland

Review

Devil’s Advocates: Free Radio

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Brooklyn, New York’s The Devil’s Advocates is one of Scott M.X. Turners musical vehicles the other being The United 32’s and his solo project. For those unfamiliar with The Devil’s Advocates they fuse “driving punk, reggae punk, Irish punk, acoustic punk, drunk punk, more reggae, dub and pop” with heavy Irish Republican and left wing activism (he makes Billy Bragg sound like George W. Bush) influenced lyrics.

“Free Radio” is heavy on the politics; it’s a fundraiser for a radical left of center New York Radio station that is clashing with its new owners. Musically its chanting Rage Against The Machine post-metal crossed with some very Wolf Tones sounding tin whistle. Good stuff.

Potato-eating, Whiskey-drinking, Bog-trotting, CELTIC PUNK ROCK