ALBUM REVIEW: MICKEY RICKSHAW- ‘Behind The Eight Ball’ (2016)

BOSTON CELTIC-PUNK RULES OK!

Well well well we all know that The Dropkick Murphys can’t go on for ever and with Boston’s place secured in celtic-punk folklore then who then will take on their mantle when they have retired to the great celtic-punk guest house in the sky? Well I know a band that is more than capable and are ready and waiting in the wings to take over. That band are fellow Bostonians Mickey Rickshaw. A team of young fired up, blue collar, Irish Americans in touch with both their working class American lives and their roots back in the auld country. With Boston’s revered place in the history of punk, especially of the hardcore variety, and its massive, and vocal, Irish population its only natural that celtic-punk should have caught on so well among the Boston Irish community like nowhere else. Traditional celtic folk and punk rock aggression equals the 100% perfect sound for the Boston Irish and if the Murphys invented celtic-punk post Pogues then they have done their job well to hand the baton on to bands like Mickey Rickshaw that will take the sound on for the next generation.

(follow the link to listen to their debut album and download as ‘Pay What You Want’)

With an Demo EP behind them from 2013, 16 Down and Back Again, it was their critically successful album, No Heaven For Heroes, from last year that saw Mickey Rickshaw’s name explode onto the celtic-punk scene with universal great reviews and plaudits heaped upon them from all corners of the globe. Reaching the top echelons of all the major celtic-punk Best Of lists, including #9 in the London Celtic Punks Top Twenty Of 2015 here.

Behind The Eight Ball was released just the other week on October 13, 2016 and was recorded and mixed and all that other malarkey in their home state of Massachusetts. Now the first thing to say about Behind The Eight Ball is that it seems to be over in a flash. Whizzing past at you at just under half an hour it’s a frenetic sprint to the finish and bar a couple of moments is fast as hell celtic punk rock to be mentioned in the same breath as the Dropkick Murphys so good is this album. Celtic Folk Punk And More web site seem to have already crowned it album of the year here!

Mickey Rickshaw left to right: Kyle Goyette- Mandolin * Jay Tea Marchant- Bass * Shane Welch- Whistle * Jake Sullivan- Fiddle * Mike Rivkees- Guitar/Vocals * Chris Campbell- Drums * Jimmy Donovan- Guitar * Tom Donnely- Guitar

The first song out of the bag is ‘Rats in Allston’ and is a ode to Allston a neighborhood in western Boston. To say the album starts with a bang would be to put it mildly with a multitude of instruments all bursting out the speakers at you. With shades of the Murphys and also The Rumjacks this is celtic-PUNK and not for the faint hearted.

“When the sun goes down on the west in a cold cold world that we’re lost in,
You’ll be sleeping in the gutter, face down with the rats in Allston”

Great lyrics and top vocals from singer Mike Rivkees and an absolutely superb production that manages to get all the folky instruments and all the punky instruments and manages to mix them up and yet get everything crystal clear even when they are all at it at the same time.

‘Robbed in Mariscal’ begins as a ska song before mutating into hardcore punk and then flamenco and then gypsy before ending with a flourish while all the time not straying too far from the celtic-punk Mickey Rickshaw blueprint. All the songs here are self penned except for two, the first of which is modern day Scottish rebel song ‘Destitution Road’. Written by the sadly missed Alistair Hulett of Australian celtic-punk legends Roaring Jack it’s a grand version that does the song and Alistair justice. You can check out the Roaring Jack version here. Comparing the two songs it’s pretty obvious that celtic-punk has evolved in the eighteen years since the song was written. Mickey Rickshaw steam through the song in just two and a half minutes barely pausing for breathe.

“The land was cleared and the deal was made
Now an English Lord in a tartan plaid
Struts and stares as the memories fade
Of the Gaels of Caledonia
And he hunts the deer in the lonely glen
That once was home to a thousand men
And the wind on the moor sings a sad refrain
For the Gaels of Caledonia”

The band must have some clever mates as one thing they are becoming famous for is their videos. All done with great lashings of humour and self depreciation and ‘Grey Water’ is no different. A cracking video that makes you want to be right there in the crowd spilling your drink and having someone spill their drink on you. A definite standout track so get listening.

‘Monday Warning’ is another sure fire hit and although I keep mentioning the Murphys the Bhoys have developed their own sound and even though they play tribute to the Murphys here they manage to do it without aping them. ‘Ivy’ is a fast punk number but with accordion blaring out as loud as the electric guitar. The quickest song on here is ’18 Minutes Down’ about the sinking of the Lusitania during the 1st World War and is ran through in just 1:52 minutes and again they punk it up and leave you breathless just listening to it. ‘Non-Profit Warfare’ slows it down just slightly and if anything is a great example of standard celtic-punk while ‘One Life’ ramps up the speed again and is another album highlight.

“Some fall too early, some fall too hard.
Some fall together, and some fall apart.
Some fall from the top, and some fall for heart.
Some have it unfair and fall from the start”

‘Albatross’ begins ala Dreadnoughts before slowly building into a hardcore finish that belies its short length! Behind The Eight Ball comes to an end with the second of the album’s cover versions with ‘The Gael’. Written by ex-Silly Wizard member and Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean, the original by Dougie can be viewed here. You may recognise this from the movie The Last Of The Mohicans and Mickey Rickshaw give it the celtic-punk treatment with pipes, crashing drums and thrashing guitars a simply brilliant way to end the album and the perfect reverential nod back to the past. 

LONG LIVE BOSTON CELTIC-PUNK!!!!

(listen to Behind The Eight Ball for free on the Bandcamp player below)

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• Mickey Rickshaw will be in London from 7-9th January and we are booking the dates as we type so keep in touch with all the details as they are released by joining the Facebook event here.

Tagged: Dropkick Murphys, Mickey Rickshaw, The Rumjacks