ALBUM REVIEW: SIR REG- ‘Modern Day Disgrace’ (2016)

Back in 2009 an Irishman left Dublin and set off to Stockholm where he met up with five other musicians to become Sir Reg. Only one of the most popular and critically acclaimed celtic-punk bands in the entire world!

Sir Reg are an energetic six piece from Sweden playing some of the best celtic punk around. And when I say around I mean in the entire fecking universe! On vocals is Brendan from Dublin who moved to Sweden to fulfill his dream of putting together the most amazing band possible. Karin, the violinist, is a tiny and fiery redhead from Sweden who leaves jaws ajar with her fiddle skills and Mattias L on drums, Mattias S on bass, Filip on mandolin and Chris on electric guitar. All have well diverse musical backgrounds and together as Sir Reg have scaled heights most celtic-punk bands can only dream of. Their are many kinds of success and one of the best has to be critical success. This Sir Reg have received again and again. Their previous albums have all been awarded Album Of The Year at the various celtic-punk sites with Celtic Folk Punk And More awarding Sir Reg with top spot for every album they have released.

Born out of the ashes of The Barcrawlers who were one of the earliest pioneers of celtic-punk in Scandinavia. For over a decade they toured across Scandinavia playing their energetic barand of Irish and celtic folk-punk to the masses. Deciding they had gone as far as they could they re-grouped and came together as Sir Reg (to be pronounced as ‘Sir. Redge’) in early 2009. With a bunch of self penned original material they began to gig relentlessly including in 2010 a three week tour supporting US horror-punks The Misfits which did brilliantly increasing the Sir Reg fan base. 2010 also the release of their debut album the self-titled Sir Reg. Opening up with the blistering ‘Feck The Celtic Tiger’ it set the benchmark for the year and no other album came anywhere near it. They followed this up with A Sign Of The Times in 2011 and 21st Century Loser in 2013 both of each reached beyond the celtic-punk scene into the mainstream Swedish media.

Putting celtic punk on the map!!

: 2013

: 2011

: 2010

Well this has been a long time coming!!! I’m talking of course about the review not the album. I have to take the blame for the delay in finishing the review. This is no reflection on the album just me getting my arse in gear to finalise it.

The album has eleven fine tunes spanning 35 minutes and the second tune is a tribute to our comrades ‘The Boys Of St Pauli’. This is followed up with ‘Drinking Like a Dane’ a high tempo song about a day on the lash which is a common theme throughout the whole album. My favourite tune is ‘The Wrong Bar’ which is about the day after a tough session and going for the cure and ending up in a church!!! Could easily happen! This could easily be mistaken for a song by The Dubliners. The band have released a superb video for ‘The Wrong Bar’, directed, edited and filmed by René U Valdes, which required viewing.

Aside from alcohol Sir Reg address the state of the modern world in 2016.

“……the world fucked up, it’s gone insane…….”

‘End of the Line’ deals with the recent wars and the impact on the innocent victims. ‘Fake Hero’ and ‘Breaking Down All Borders’ deals with the consequences of these wars and the mass migration which follows.
Overall this is an excellent offering from the Swedish Celtic punk six piece. Get your hands on a copy and give it a listen to. You won’t regret it.