EP REVIEW: MICKEY RICKSHAW- ‘Wild Atlantic’ (2016)

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BOSTON CELTIC-PUNK RULES OK!

One month today the hottest young band in Boston and one of the major acts in the entire celtic punk scene set foot in England for a 3-date tour. Be sure not to miss them!

There’s a band taking the celtic-punk scene by storm, and for once they are NOT Australian! The band are Mickey Rickshaw and they hail from Boston. Not that one, the one in the USA that is the spiritual home of celtic-punk. A crown that did belong to London until The Pogues split up. Anyways we waxed lyrically about them just the other week when we reviewed their absolutely stunning new album Hiding Behind The Eight Ball. You can read that here and rather than re-tread what we already wrote we will let the music do the talking. and also for once we can go on and on about a band raving about how brilliant they are and you can think that’s all well and good but when am I ever going to see them live? Well the good news here is within a few weeks!!

The EP was recorded in the bedroom of the lead singer Mike, not that you’d notice, by Mike and Shane, who plays tin whistle in the band. It all kicks off with ‘Sapphire Hills’ which appeared on their debut album No Heaven for Heroes.

“Home is where the heart is but my heart is on the road when I’m at home.
The traveler can not sit still in the quiet room.
This road is all I want to know, and I can’t see no use in coming home.
Fly with the winds, change with the tides – keep on moving.

There’s gonna come a time when you’ve gotta choose love or the road.
This time I’m gonna choose the road – not looking back on what I sold.
These ghosts are all I’ve ever known.
It’s time I finally let my spirit roam.
Fly with the winds, change with the tides – keep moving.

You’ll never lose your soul if you take advantage of it while you’re young.
Don’t let it rot, don’t let it rust, don’t let it sit collecting dust.
The road provides you with a home.
It keeps you young and stimulates your soul.
Fly with the winds, change with the tides – keep moving”

Next up is a new track, ‘Rope’, and again shows the versatility of this group. This sounds like acoustic Street Dogs or even the Street Dogs/Dropkicks side project FM359 (here).

‘Monday Warning’ appears on that new album and is perhaps the most irish sounding song on Wild Atlantic.

“I never wanted to grow old,
but when you’re 17, you just can’t face the cold.
And I’ve taken some hits, and felt the heat
from screaming down the road of a dead end street.

And my heroes, they said to me,
“When you fall down, you get back up on your feet.”
And there’s just one thing, that you’ve gotta know,
You can not take it with you when you go.

We said we’d never follow blindly.
We’d never fall behind.
We’d never settle for a life that would leave our souls behind.
Or let them drown in the common troubles of an ordinary life.
We’d keep that fire in our souls alive and burning bright.

And I always said that I’d never change.
And to this day, I still feel the same.
But I look around at what still remains,
And I guess that’s what they call growing pains.

And I fought that clarity.
That lifts the veil and shows you what could be.
Didn’t want to know- didn’t want to see
what happened to that everlasting plea.

We said we’d never follow blindly.
We’d never fall behind.
We’d never settle for a life that would leave our souls behind.
Or let them drown in the common troubles of an ordinary life.
We’d keep that fire in our souls alive and burning bright”

The final song here is ‘No Heaven for Heroes’ which was the title track of that debut album from last year and ends the EP on a high note.

Mickey Rickshaw have released this EP to help promote their forthcoming European tour in January 2017. With work commitments and other stuff it was always going to prove hard to get all the assorted (8 and counting) members of the band over so they are doing the tour acoustic.

Saturday 7th January 2017 at The Stags Head, 55 Orsman Rd, Hoxton, London N1 5RA. Local bus routes include 149, 242, 243, 67. The pub borders Hoxton, Shoreditch, Dalston and Islington. 7-30pm start and admission is £5. Supports from MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS, REFUSE/ALL, COMRADE X. Venue here Facebook event here
Sunday 8th January 2017 at The Cricketers, 20 Fairfield South, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2UL. Only ten minutes walk from the rail station and the music venue is upstairs. Supports from MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS, BRENDAN O’PREY (The Lagan). 7-30pm start and admission is £5. Venue here Facebook event here
Monday 9th January 2016 at The Phoenix Cultural Centre, 27 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6JT. Just a very short walk from the rail station. Come say goodbye to the Bhoys and send them on their way. Its BYOB. Yes that’s right it’s BRING YOUR OWN BOOZE… and on a school night too! 7-30pm start and admission is £4. Venue here Facebook Event here

You can listen to the whole of Wild Atlantic below for free and if you like what you hear, and I’m positive you will do , then the band are offering the whole EP as a pay what you want download so have no shame. If you got a couple of quid send it on to them but if you’re skint then download away anyway guilt free!

Download The EP

Here

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