I know I prone to hyperbole at times but honestly I think San Francisco’s’ Culann’s Hounds are probably the best traditional Irish group in the US at the moment or at least the best I’ve heard. Culann’s perform rich, authentic trad., with passion and feeling and without any of that paddywack crap that is so common in trad. circles in the US. I had high expectations for the Hounds on their sophomoric release and they certainly don’t disappoint.

2006

So you started out liking the Dropkick Murphys, then discovered Flogging Molly and then the Pogues and now your inspired to check out some pure tradition Irish music. Well this might be the CD for you then.

San Francisco’s Culann’s Hounds are one of the purest and best tradition Irish groups I’ve heard in a long time. This really is the real thing. The jigs and reels sound like they originated around a fireside in West Cork and the ballads like they came from the deepest Liberties of Dublin, especially with Frank Jordan whose voice at times sounds like he’s possessed by the ghost of Luke Kelly.

July 2002