ALBUM REVIEW: KRAKIN’ KELLYS – Last Days Of Freedom (2024)

Celtic Skate Punk, beer and bar fight !

How the Krakin’ Kellys are not the most popular band in Celtic-Punk is beyond me!

Hard to believe that Last Days Of Freedom is only the third album of ace Belgian Celtic-Punk band Krakin’ Kellys. For a start they have released something pretty substantial every year since they were formed, back in 2018 in the city of Namur in Belgium. Namur is the capital of the Walloon Region, created, largely along language lines, and consists of the French-speaking provinces of Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Walloon Brabant and Namur. Its population of 3,500,000 in the recent elections voted largely for pro-independence parties that seek to split from Dutch speaking Flanders in the north so we may see Krakin’ Kellys representing a new country in the Eurovision Song Contest soon. Appearing first on these pages for their debut Promised Lives, an album that would go on in 2019 to win Debut Album Of The Year, was #4 Best Album Of the Year and then won the coveted Readers Choice where the readers of the site picked their favourite. Quite a way to announce your arrival on the scene! Since then a slew of singles and EP’s have come our way with a special mention here for the Irish Tribute EP where the band covered six Irish Folk classics in their own inimitable way.

The problem then for me is to review the new album having already told you that we are somewhat superfans of the Krakin’ Kellys and therefore totally unable to give a balanced view of the album… but we will do anyway!

Krakin Kellys left to right: – Olivier Dreze- Drums * Stephan Mossiat- Bass * Pierre-Yves Berhin- Accordion * David Leroy- Vocals * Matthieu Hendrick- Guitar * Rémi Decker- Bagpipes & Whistles

Unusually for a Celtic-Punk band that takes the Punkier route Krakin’ Kellys play some damn fine Trad Irish Folk in among it all. A perfect example is album opener ‘The Lighthouse’. The thudding beat of a bodhrán and drums could one of a bunch of Irish trad Folk bands the only thing setting them apart is the ‘punkish’ vocal style of frontman David and when he is joined by Matthieu on accordion, who just happens to be the best accordion player in the scene, more fuel is added to the fire. The song builds up but never actually takes off, keeping it’s steady beat and is a really great way to start things off, with the title track, ‘Last Days Of Freedom’, following fast on its heels. Again accordion is pushed right up in the mix and leads things along nicely in an angry blast that you don’t realise is actually a lot slower than you think till after you’ve heard it. The other Celtic instruments here are bagpipes and tin-whistle supplied by Rémi. ‘Green Fields’ is the first song here that gives us a taste what Krakin’ Kellys are famous for and why we love them. A Punk-Rock number that still harbours Trad Irish and Pop-Punk inside it. A song for the mosh-pit about the immigrants dream of returning home.

‘Together We Stand’ is classic Kellys. A positive message with great Folky interludes and a grand shouty Punky chorus. ‘Rebel Kid’ kicks off ceilidh style and manages to keep it going into psycho ceilidh as it builds up into a cracker of a song and while the idea of giving kids the confidence to try and aim high is a worthy one personally speaking I’m not of the opinion that giving kids the ultimate freedom to do anything has worked out well for them! ‘Ben Nevis’ is the tale of the band themselves and the trials and tribulations and the battle to make it or to even just keep enjoying what you do. Again one hell of a chorus here to keep you singing along. Even though Krakin’ Kellys are on the punkier side of the Celtic-Punk spectrum I would hope that the more finger-in-the ear types among you would appreciate the tunes and the successful attempt to keep it authentic. ‘Make It Up As I Go’ is a good example and while it may too loud and raucous for some, that the band at all times keep the Celtic-Punk flag nailed to the mast is be saluted and deserves to be given a chance.

On first listen I thought it was the album highlight but then competition also comes from next song ‘Let It All Out’, An absolute stormer and the band have realised that one of the keys to being a good Celtic-Punk band is a great singalong chorus you can punch the air to. We’re rollin’ up to the end and ‘Kenny & Kelly’ tells a story of two ne’er-do-well’s up to no good and it sounds like it could be a true story but as their was no press release with the album I’ve no idea. The curtain comes down with the bagpipe led ‘Sleep My Child’ and for all my talk of album highlights the best is kept for last and if it’s possible to squeeze an epic into 4 and 1/2 minutes then here it is. A big song in every conceivable way with fantastic meaningful lyrics of a father talking to his son. Theirs even one hell of a brilliant trad Irish flourish towards the end just as you think the song has finished.

Last Days Of Freedom was received at London Celtic Punks Towers with no press release or fanfare of any sort at all. No pre-release singles or videos to whet our appetites and even now coming up to a month after the official release party it’s still not uploaded onto their Bandcamp player! I can’t say why especially as they are certainly one of Celtic-Punks most important bands. As we opened up this review I find it incredible that they are not more popular in the scene so do yourselves a favour and check out their back catalogue including their brilliant videos (‘Start with ‘One Way’) on You Tube and lets get this great band noticed outside Europe! I’ll leave with the words of accordion maestro Matthieu on what the band means and what releasing a new album means.

“We’re releasing our new album, it encompasses so many things: composition, pre-production, rehearsals with the band, recording (music, vocals, backing vocals) studio but also at home, mixing, mastering, creating visuals, layout of the cover, finalising the files, legal deposit, tracking the production… And then planning a going-out party, doing the poster, funding, managing the pre-sales, promo, catering… So there it is months of work and more recently more intense weeks. But it’s “just music” and so quite often, it happened after everything else (work, family, daily necessities). Just say that the moment when you open the till, hold the item and say to yourself “it’s there”, well that’s something”