ALBUM REVIEW: CELT AND PIPER – ‘No Mercy’ (2020)

Breton Celtic-Punk group Celt And Piper unleash their debut album No Mercy. Eight songs of bagpipe heavy rocking Celtic music!

What could be a more Celtic band name than Celt And Piper I wonder? Answers on a postcard please but this newish band from Nantes in Brittany (NOT France) certainly nail their colours to the wall and their debut release No Mercy has to be one of the most authentic ‘Celtic’ Celtic-Punk releases of 2020.

Most of the band have played together before Celt & Piper so an actual start date is a bit vague but they reckon on October 2018. Put together by lead singer Fabien and his drummer brother Hervé who had both plenty of experience playing in native Breton and Celtic bands. Joined by Alain, Jean Jacques, Maxime and Jonathan the band was not only complete but every base was covered and looking for a name that conveyed ‘celtitude’ that also had a bit of an memorable and original feel to it and so they settled on Celt & Piper. Gig offers flooded in and the Celt & Piper sound was soon heard at home from Nantes to the Côtes d’Armor moors and Penn Ar Bed while also crossing the border into Vendée, Paris and even eastern France. Their march was sadly soon halted by the dreaded ‘clampdown’ and like a lot of bands whose major concern is playing live they decided to record instead and on the evidence here I’m very glad they did and look forward to a few more too.

https://youtu.be/87dJlpyzIP8

No Mercy begins with ‘Go Hard Or Go Home’ with AC/DC style guitars followed in quick succession by bagpipes it’s a real foot tapper about a St. Patrick’s Day night out in a Irish pub.

“Go hard or go home you’re all in a Irish pub”

Not clear if this is a Irish pub or Ireland or Brittany but as they are all closed anyway at the moment it don’t matter so much. Fabien’s vocals remind me instantly of Jesse from legendary Baltimore Irish Celtic-Punk band the Charm City Saints. A kind of hoarse growl that gives the music a Punky edge and with the pattern set by the opening track Celt & Piper continue in the vein with firm Irish Folk favourite ‘The Wild Rover’. It’s impossible not to think of this song as a rabble rouser. We use to sing this in school music lessons as it was one of only a handful of songs they could get the boys to sing as we could beat up the desks with our fists in the chorus! Here it’s Jonathan’s fiddle that leads things along as Celt & Piper breathe new life into this well known song.

‘It’s Gone Again’ is up next and you can hear influences from across the Rock scene here with the song taking in several genres. Catchy as hell with some cool chugging guitar work and piping. Title track ‘No Mercy’ is my standout track here though the album is a good mix of covers and originals it’s always the original songs that get my juices flowing and their is of course nothing like the sound of bagpipes to stir the blood and in Maxime they have a superb piper.

‘The Last Day’ starts off as another Dropkicks/AC/DC flavoured but has several Folky interludes along the way. Time for another trad Folk song and the raucous ‘All For Me Grog’ may have started off as a sailor’s song before being adopted by the Irish. Made popular by the Dubliners the song tells of a man who sells everything, and even his wife, to buy drink and tobacco. As is the way in Irish music a man’s life is ruined by drink but the song is celebratory rather than regretful. Celt & Piper play in ‘pub style’ win a ska-ish style. Great fun and nice to hear this standard done in a unusual manner. The pipes reign again during ‘Brace Yourselves’ and No Mercy comes to an end with the brilliant Irish Folk standard ‘The Foggy Dew’. Nowadays quite common on the Celtic-Punk scene (any idea who was the first to record their version of it?) not many songs suit being ‘punked’ up like this one. Celt & Piper again give it a respectful thrashing and once again the superb piping takes it to another level. A great way to end proceedings.

No Mercy came out on November 1st and was mixed at Garage Hermétique in Rezé by Nico and Pierre who have done a fantastic job. Only eight songs but still over thirty minutes, Celt & Piper have produced a great record here though I would like to hear more of their own compositions as they are the standout tracks here for me. For lovers of harder edged blue-collar style Celtic-Punk and bagpipes Celt & Piper have leapt into the list of best European bands with No Mercy and I can’t wait to hear more.

(you can stream or download No Mercy on the Bandcamp player below)

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