ALBUM REVIEW: THE PEELERS- ‘Palace Of The Fiend’ (2017)

Third full length album release from Montreal based celtic-punk heavyweights The Peelers featuring special guests including The Tragically Hip’s Johnny Fay and The Mahones Finny McConnell among others.

Earlier this year The Peelers released their new album Palace Of The Fiend. I must confess I haven’t listened to The Peelers before despite them being formed back in 1999. Not sure how they escaped me before now. The seven piece outfit are based in Montreal and are a pretty fine example of traditional Celtic punk. Palace Of The Fiend comes twelve years after their last album Liquordale which was highly commended throughout the scene.

The Peelers left to right: Cadillac Kevin- Electric Guitar * Jonny Moorman- Fiddle * Chris Monaghan Stewart- Drums * Eric ‘Double’ Diamond- Whistles * Tim Duggan Walsh- Banjo/ Keys * Scotty Lee Mitchell- Bass Guitar * Whiskey Dave – Lead vocals/ Electric Guitar

Formed way back in 1999 in a small farmhouse kitchen in North Glengarry County in Eastern Ontario and now based in Montreal The Peelers have long become one of the more famous and popular celtic-punk bands in Canada. Glengarry holds a special place in Canadian Irish history being separated from New York State by the St. Lawrence river it was originally settled by Irish immigrants who chose the name Glengarry in memory of their home. It was the place that the coffin ships during Án Gorta Mór, otherwise known as the Irish ‘famine’, sailed when turned away from America. The major quarantine station for immigrant ships was on the St. Lawrence river and it is thought up to 15,000 Irish people are buried on the small island of Grosse Île where a huge Celtic cross now stands as a memorial to their souls. We recently covered this subject on our review Of Declan O’Rourke’s new album Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine here.

The Peelers have, over their long existence, played at just about everywhere you can think of right across North America. From your small town dive to snowboarding championships,  cocktail lounges, festivals and just about every other kind of place a bunch of guys can fit a drum kit. Their debut album, Boots And Suits, hit the streets in 2002 before second album Liquordale a couple of years later. That release was named as Album Of The Year by the Boston based Shite n’ Onions web-site.

They started recording the new album in 2013 but like they say ‘good things come to those who wait’. For me this album is one of the best releases of 2017 and there has been some cracking albums released this year. It has thirteen songs and features guest performances by Finny McConnell (The Mahones) on the third track ‘Going Down Swingin’. Palace Of The Fiend was recorded in five different studios, located in Montreal, Toronto and Casablanca, Morocco and was one of the first releases of 2017, coming out on January 3rd so apologies to the band for taking so long to get the review done.

(The first video released from Palace of the Fiend)

This is a great upbeat tune to put you in the mood for a pint or two. The album opens with ‘New York’ which sets the scene nicely for the fifty+ minutes that follow. Stand out tune for me are ‘Five Roses’, ‘A1a Fla’, ‘Stand Down Clearly’ and ‘The Black Eye Blonde’. The curtain comes down with an amazing version of ‘Cúnla’ and illustrates the link to the past that The Peelers are so proud of. A ‘sean-nós’ (style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing) children’s song believed written in the 14th century. The album is definitely more in The Flogging Molly school of celtic punk than Dropkick Murphys. I’d highly recommend Palace of the fiend to anyone who likes their Irish music with a twist of punk. – Shane

Buy Palace of The Fiend

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Tagged: Finny McConnell, The Mahones, The Peelers