High adrenaline Celtic-Punk and Alt Rock from the South West of England’s latest band to take notice of – Liddington Hill.
From around the South-Western town of Swindon in the leafy county of Wiltshire, Liddington Hill have marched a peculiar road to this their new EP. Starting off as a sometimes twee / sometimes eclectic / sometimes downright strange Folky band but with obvious Punk-Rock influences. Basically the sort of band that is perfect to play support to Ferocious Dog and bands of that ilk. Formed in 2015 playing traditional Celtic and English folk songs around their local area they took their name from an ancient hill in Wiltshire. As is the usual way musicians came and went leaving their influences behind allowing Liddington Hill to soak it all up. You can hear and download a selection of their old songs for free from their web-site and track their progression to today’s EP.
Edge Of Insanity begins with the opening track ‘In Rosie’s Room’ and like all the songs here tells real stories of real people. Post-Punk choppy guitars and feedback while they sing about a mid 19th Century prostitute in gold rush America that tried to steal from a gold mine with her lover. Musically they hint at it as ‘Celtic-Grunge’ and truth be told the Celtic-ness side of things is fairly thin though that’s not to say it’s not f’ing brilliant! Shades of Post-Punk and Anarcho-Punk all over ‘Keep Hold Of Your Heart’ as Liam lets rip with the vocals with screams and shouts that strike fear into the listener as the song is from the perspective of an inmate in a sanitorium. ‘Caped In Black’ sees Liddington Hill slowing it down but they remain just as heavy. The ‘black’ in the title is coal and tells of the 1966 Aberfan disaster where the slag heap from the local coal-mine slid down the valley covering the village including the school. 116 children and 28 adults were killed and believe me this song portrays those numbers and the tragedy in a very angry and very appropriate way.
The dark themes continue with the first single to come out from the EP ‘Maid Of Mayhem’. Telling the tale of American serial killer Aileen Wuornos who murdered seven and was executed in 1991. The tune is straight up dark as well with menacing guitar and a wonderful fiddle accompaniment. The female vocals from new bassist Alannah take this song in another direction, more Gothy-Folkish than Celtic-Grunge. The EP comes to an end with ‘Lipstick’ and the story of the infamous Chicago ‘Lipstick Killer’ of the 1940’s. Back in 1946, 17-year-old William Heirens was arrested for attempted burglary. Held and questioned for six days straight without his parents for four and a lawyer for six he confessed to three murders while under the influence of illegally injected sodium pentothal, popularly known as ‘truth serum’ as well as threats and actual violence. William would go on to serve sixty-five years in prison before he passed away in March 2012 aged 83. The music is plodding in a good way with the story shouted out with fiddle giving the story and tune some definition.
Liddington Hill say “Liam, for some reason became inspired after reading about a few serial killers and the reasons behind such terrible actions. So he wrote a few songs and we put some together with a couple of other heart-wrenching songs we’d written.” Definitely a band to follow and catch live. The music veers all across the various Punk-Rock genres while cherishing their Celtic-Folk roots and trying something different… and it works.
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He had hot tea and cans of food thrown in his face and all Six were segregated for their own protection. All the time the only people to back them were the Irish community and their newspapers. Ignored by the wider media and the left the murmurs in the places where the Irish met, in the pubs and churches and social events were of the innocence of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four. Campaigns started led by the Irish community over here and eventually the case began to gain notoriety and not before time the case had become clear as a great miscarriage of justice. Scared of people losing faith in the country’s institutions of law and order the British government decided that to keep these innocent men in jail was worth it. Lord Denning during the civil action in 1980 brought by the Six infamously said
When I cranked up “Dremmwel Du” (“Black Horizon”) I was certainly not missing any of the elements of Celtic hard core punk. The crunchy, driving guitars. The breakneck speed drums. The anguished, Banshee with a sandy voice vocals. But the first track “Horizon Noir” took a unique turn with the entry of the violin. Not just any violin, but one juiced on jet fuel. And, Christ on a pogo stick, it was so in sync with the driving band that it felt like it was always meant to be like that. I have played with a lot of violinists (fiddlers, if the term suits you) of all kinds and rarely do you find a player able to make his instrument not just settle into the chaotic frenzy, but appear to LEAD it. “Black Horizon” grabs you by the hand and kicks your backside down that path with the power and madness, oddly structured in a way that shows more control than most. Tasty breaks, so that you’re not lulled into an unbroken chain of double kick beater fuzz. Places to take a breath, and dive back in. “Horizon Noir” lives up to its name, as you definitely get the feeling you staring into one.
Our thanks to Irminsul for the knowledgeable review. We hope to read more from his pen in the future. You should look up his excellent band The Kona Rogues – Rock/Punk fuelled Celtic roots music taking rebellion to a whole new level. They are just about the only Celtic-Punk band with a harp in the scene and the only Celtic-Punk band on the whole island of Hawaii. Their debut album 
Well it seems not with the release of The Stiff Records B-Sides 1984-1987. Of course the music is immense and anything that gets you listening to The Pogues again is worthwhile but why is the whole Poguetry In Motion EP included, especially as it received its own Record Store Day release back in 2015. As far as I’m aware everything here has been released before though perhaps maybe not on vinyl. The sound quality is superb and at around fifty minutes I’m sure the decision to make this release a double vinyl wasn’t influenced by the chance to charge upwards of £50 for it. The album sleeve features a nice photo of the bhoys and ghirl but with what looks a lot like a photo shopped Andrew Ranken! Needless to say the music is fantastic and I bet there’s plenty bands who would love to have A let alone B-sides of this quality. From ‘
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Sounding as good as the first day they set foot on a stage The Go Set continue to squeeze out the sparks from where Rock’n’Roll collides with Celtic Folk. Big guitars, big beats, irresistible choruses and important words and message for us all the while retaining the timeless spirit of the band’s Celtic roots. The final word here I will leave with Justin who sums up the appeal of Celtic-Punk perfectly.
Words can’t describe how happy we are to be able to put on BRYAN McPHERSON. Eight years on from his first and only visit to these shores it’s been a long time coming. Born and raised on the mean streets of Dorchester, a blue collar working-class Irish-American Catholic neighbourhood in Boston, that was also home to half the members of the original Dropkick Murphys. He was inspired at a young age by the raw energy and angst of Punk Rock, as well as the lyrically driven American folk songs of the early 1960’s. His first performances were street corners, house parties, and subway stations in Boston’s inner city. In 2001 he burst onto the acoustic music scene, he has played the length and breadth of North America and was recently spotted opening up for the Dropkick Murphys’ at their famed St. Patrick’s shows in Boston. This is passionate, acoustic-punk from the heart. Street life, politics, addiction and moments of beauty, anguish, clarity and dissent litter the alleys of McPherson’s songs. Recently he was awarded the #1 Folk/ Roots Album Of 2022 on the London Celtic Punks web-zine. The words are as honest as they are urgent…every second counts!
The album has twelve songs of which four are covers beginning with the next three and a tremendous Celtic-Punk re-interpretation of the sea shanty ‘Santiana’. The song dates from at least the 1850’s and is inspired it is thought by events during the Mexican–American War. This is 
saw gigging round the local student and Punk at mainly the Vagon Rock club, 007 club Strahov and, what would become their spiritual home, the Block 10 Pub. A few years later they may no longer be students but they can still be found hanging around the pubs of Strahov. The original eight piece slimmed down to seven when their singer left but they decided not to replace him and now share vocal duties among the band. A very novel and commendable approach. They have become one of the busiest bands in the scene with it always seeming they have released something new and along with their always interesting and fun videos Foggy Dude have become one of the bands in the scene to watch.
I’ve been friends with Scott on Facebook for quite a few years now and enjoy his commentary on life. In fact its very similar to this album with a mix of humour, history and level headed common sense politics. The catchy foot-tapper Celtic-Ska ‘Anthem’ is him explaining it’s time to stand up and say enough is enough. We’re back to some oral history now with the ballad ‘A Song For Jane McCrea’. 
THE MUCKERS have 
The response to the new London Celtic Punks badge has been amazing. Not surprising really as they are just about the nicest bit of merchandise in Celtic-Punk if you ask me! Comes with butterfly clip and made in Ireland (Guaranteed Irish!) available for just £5 – UK and £7 – EU post-paid and we’ll throw in a few stickers and a button badge too. For further overseas contact us and we’ll work it out. Send to Paypal (friends & family) to 
funny twist at the ends that made me howl with laughter. A catchy as hell chorus that by the end of the first time you hear it you’re singing along with!
Prairie, Illinois’ and first impressions are that the music is pretty much exclusively acoustic and of Alvan Caby’s distinctive vocals. To my ear Alvan has a touch of Elvis Costello about him and he is also the bands songwriter responsible for all eleven songs here. The video is taken from band practise last May and doesn’t differ too greatly from the album version except perhaps in polish. In the true spirit of Celtic-Punk the songs here tell elaborate stories alongside some pretty damned good music that is expertly played. Though mostly acoustic their is nothing gentle about Rusty Nail and the music is mostly fast paced of the kind that would get even the most staid of fan up and jigging about. The type of band that couples could sit at the back and enjoy the slower more contemplative numbers over a pint or two and the rowdy’s could have a proper good night out on the lash and enjoy slipping over in spilt Guinness with their arms round each other holding themselves up. The opening track changes half way through to maybe as Punky as they get while ‘Seven Angry Winds’ is a beautiful ballad with pure emotion spilling out. ‘Dark Surprise’ and ‘Never Tell Me To Smile’ continue the dark themes but in wildly different styles.
