Category Archives: Belguim

ALBUM REVIEW: THE LUCKY TROLLS – ‘Raised Fist And Rebel Songs’ (2022)

Album Review, Belguim June 6, 2022 Leave a comment

I love a band that says what they are. None of that Folk-Punk or Folk-Rock messing about for Belgium’s The Lucky Trolls. It says right across their t-shirts  and hearts “Irish Punk From Liège”.

It finally seems that things are returning back to normal thank Heavens! I spoke just the other day how great it was to know that bands like The Scarlet had survived the pandemic and were releasing their first material since before the nightmare began. The very same can be said of The Lucky Trolls who shot to fame back in March, 2019 with the debut release of a self titled 4 track EP capturing the #1 spot as that years London Celtic Punks Best Celtic-Punk EP. Twelve fantastic minutes where their energy and passion comes across in every single song of fast Celtic-Punk with often dual vocals from Nicolas and fiddle player Anne-Sophie.

The Lucky Trolls left to right: Fabrice Van Bever – Bass / Vocals * Anne Sophie Sauvage – Violin / Vocals * Gilles Bruneau – Drums * Romain André – Guitar / Vocals * Nicolas Fréson – Guitar / Vocals *

The band hail from Liège in Walloonia which is the French speaking part of Belgium. Once a centre for working class industry, especially steel making, it has in recent years become important for education with tens of thousands attending universities in the city. Also world famous for it’s football team Standard Liège who in common with many teams from similar industrial areas had gone into decline but are happily showing signs of a return to their former glories. The five members of The Lucky Trolls have all played previously in well respected Belgian alternative and Punk-Rock bands – Radio 911, Chump, We Are Minutes and Young Enough. Pre Covid they had racked up 50+ shows within two years and had opened shows for everyone from fellow renowned Celtic-Punkers The Real McKenzies to Folk-Rock artists like Jethro Tull.

The album begins with the great ‘City Of Iron’. A track we previewed on it’s release so impressed were we. The song tells of corruption in the town of Seraing where several members of the band live. It is located in the province of Liège where the accompanying video was also shot. Seraing is called ‘the city of iron and coal’ and their are many such places around the world where local politicians have feathered their nests at the expense of the people. The Lucky Trolls challenge Seraing’s administration “Gimme some reasons to stay in this town”. They follow this with ‘To All Broken Souls’ and it has a sound similar to Black Water County, who had ‘punked’ it up when I saw them live recently. Drummer Gilles says of the album

“It’s not heavy metal, nor punk rock that tears. It’s scales of Irish chords, melodies that you could hear in an Irish pub, on which we add more traditional instruments and not only big punk guitars.”

The underlying Celtic melodies are there and even though the music can be hard and certainly fast at times I can’t help but agree with Gilles that is does have an accessibility to it that would, I’m sure, please anyone with decent musical taste and get them up on the feet. ‘Second Wind’ is one such song that slows down again and again for some Celtic interludes before bursting into life again. I love the chugging guitars throughout and the use of fiddle as on ‘Better Way’ is superb.

On ‘Faded Sheets’ they are joined by Titou MacFire of the great French band CelKilt, who they are playing with soon in their home town, on vocals for a song that finds itself struggling to contain itself. The rapid drumming adds to its fast and furious feel even getting faster towards the ending! Most of the songs here are originals with the first cover being of the auld Irish rebel song ‘The Foggy Dew’. The song begins in traditional ballad style before springing into action a third of the way in. A really great version sung beautifully by Anne-Sophie. I hear this song a lot as it has become very much a Celtic-Punk standard but this is a version I really, really loved. Parts of the album are influenced by ‘Pop-Punk’ as you can hear sometimes the influence of Yank bands like NOFX as on ‘Streets’ but it is by no means over powering. This leads us to the second and final cover and another popular song in the scene. A shame they couldn’t have found some less well known covers but I’m guessing these have been included as they are popular played live so we can forgive them. Theirs enough cheesy and cringey versions of ‘Galway Girl’ out there but not here. Chugging guitars and loud fiddle steer it well clear of anything embarrassing. Almost at the end and can’t tell you much of the meaning of ‘The Flooded Roads Of Kent County’ but a cracking song never the less before the curtain comes down on the album with the trad Celtic-Punk sounding ‘Again’. A grand way to end things.

(The Lucky Trolls 2021 Saint Patrick’s live stream at the Cultural Centre of Beauraing in Belgium. The four songs includes three songs from Raised Fist And Rebel Songs – ‘Flooded Roads Of Kent County’, ‘Faded Sheets’ and ‘Streets’)

The album came out just a couple of weeks ago and already the band have had several shows to promote it’s release. It was recorded at Big Dog Recordings in Antwerp and produced by Tim Van Doorn. The Lucky Trolls style of Celtic-Punk is definitely in the Punk camp but their catchiness and fantastic tunes ensures that even though I find myself less and less enamoured by Punk music over time The Lucky Trolls debut album only add to my love of them.

(You can stream and / or download Raised Fist And Rebel Songs via the Bandcamp player below)

Download Raised Fist And Rebel Songs  Bandcamp  OtherSites

Contact The Lucky Trolls  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram  Spotify

THE LUCKY TROLLS ARE BACK. NEW SINGLE ‘CITY OF IRON’

Belguim, Single Review February 22, 2022 Leave a comment

Formed in 2017 it wasn’t till 2019 that they released their debut EP. We loved it and would later award them Best Celtic-Punk EP Of 2019 but they’ve kept us waiting for the follow up and finally this week it has arrived. City Of God the first single of the upcoming album Raised Fist And Rebel Songs.

The Lucky Trolls are an Celtic-Punk band founded in Liège, Belgium, in 2017. The five members are all well respected in the Belgian alternative and Punk-Rock scene (Radio 911, Chump, We Are Minutes, Young Enough, …). With 50+ shows played within two years, the band released their debut self titled 4 track EP in March 2019. The EP was well received and also proved popular with fans at festivals and clubs around Belgium. This led to them opening for everyone from fellow renowned Celtic-Punkers The Real McKenzies to Folk-Rock artists like Jethro Tull.

The Lucky Trolls left to right: Anne Sophie Sauvage (Ms S) : Violin / Vocals * Nicolas Fréson (Mr F) : Guitars / Vocals * Romain André (Mr A) : Guitars / Bouzouki / Vocals * Fabrice Van Bever (Mr V) : Bass / Vocals * Gilles Bruneau (Mr B) : Drums *

Since then, The Lucky Trolls have kept on rocking Irish pubs and fests around Belgium, France and Switzerland. They also entered the studio at the end of last year to record their first full length album. The album’s first single is ‘City Of Iron’ and talks about corruption, political bribes and payoff’s and how this system can be oppressive even in a small town like the one we live in, Seraing, which is also known as the “City Of Iron”.

Released February 21, 2022 * Music and lyrics by The Lucky Trolls
Produced and mixed by Tim Van Doorn at Big Dog Recordings
Video directed by Terry at JNMRT Media

Come in liar, I’ve seen you around
Gimme some reasons to stay in this town
This anxiety is bringing me down
Listen to the story of the city of iron
One more scam in the city of iron
This is the end of the city of iron
*
It happened without a sound
I was caught upside down
By a red hand, a hand that grabbed my soul
And for a century I fuckin fell asleep
With no smile, no smile but a gun
*
Man are you oppressed?
Full of distress?
No one can leave this mess
*
Don’t ask me who, where, when and why
The nightmare has come to life
Hardworking men you feel it in your bones
When today’s friends, yeah today’s friends
Are tomorrow’s killers
Your future is to buy under the table
*
And big brother must die under a fire sky
The city is dead, long live all the lies
And hope will sing along, raised fist and rebel songs
The city is dead, long live all the lies

(You can stream and download City Of Iron by The Lucky Trolls for just a solitary Euro via the Bandcamp player below)

Download City Of Iron  Bandcamp

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ALBUM REVIEW: THE BLACK TARTAN CLAN – ‘A New Beginning’ (2021)

Album Review, Belguim, Punk, Spain January 11, 2022 Leave a comment

The Black Tartan Clan are back! Having re-located from Belgium to Spain one of Celtic-Punk’s greatest ever bands return with a fantastic new album.

It was a dark day back in 2017 when The Black Tartan Clan sadly called it a day. With five releases and a Greatest Hits behind them the bands founder and joint songwriter MacTouche had decided to up sticks and re-locate to Spain. This did cause a bit of upset among other members of the band and they have re-grouped as the Black Tartans and have also recently started to record new music too. MacTouche still had an interest in making great Celtic music so the band has re-started with new members but the task was made many times harder by the Covid lockdown. Last March though the band were finally able to get together to rehearse and then to finally play live. The original version of The Black Tartan Clan were famous for their amazing bagpipe sound. I’d go so far as to say they were even the best band in Celtic-Punk for their piping. Here though the pipes are gone and all the pipe parts are replaced by guitar. The Black Tartan Clan keep their Celtic-Punk sound but in a much harder way.

Black Tartan Clan left to right: MacKurr – Guitar * MacTouche – Vocals (founding member) * MacRivery – Drums * MacChaud – Guitar * MacFrank – Bass * MacPië – Silent partner (founding member) *

A New Beginning is not quite a new album as all the songs have previously appeared but the bands new style gives them a lift and while it would be hard to improve on them they certainly give it one hell of a go. The opening track is the band’s anthem ‘We Are The Clan’ from the 2014 album Scotland In Our Hearts and its a hard rocking affair and the guitar sound not a million miles away from The Skids. You can still hear the pipes through the guitar and MacTouche’s gravelly vocals haven’t changed much, thank Heavens, as he sings in both English and French. ‘Don’t Walk Alone’ comes from the album of the same name from 2013 and again it’s straight down the line hard rocking but catchy with it. ‘Ye Jacobites’ is an (very) old Robbie Burns poem put to music countless times but usually with a distinctly Folky influence but not here!

 

Three songs in a row now from the 2014 Scotland In Our Hearts album. ‘Scotland In Our Hearts’ is the first and you can imagine exactly where the pipes would be and you know what it works. I wasn’t too sure before I played it but aye. It must be incredibly hard to perform minus the thing you’re band is famous for but the guys have pulled it off even if their sound is now a bit more towards hard rock it still has all it’s roots in Celtic-Punk. ‘Piper Bill’ was always one of my favourite BTC songs and they do it justice here.

The last couple of songs start with a great ‘Friends Until The End’ and then the album ends with the appropriate ‘Toora Loora’ from Don’t Walk Alone. Only a handful of songs and hopefully it will serve it’s purpose to let the Celtic-Punk scene know they are back and though different they are still great. It’s absolutely brilliant to see these guys back and proving they’ve plenty left to give as well. Listening to this had me pulling out all my old Black Tartan Clan albums. It’s a hard rocking album but I needed an album like this as I been listening to too much Ewan MacColl of late!

Download A New Beginning  Apple  Deezer   

Contact The Black Tartan Clan  Facebook  ReverbNation  YouTube

The Black Tartan Clan back catalogue is all available on Spotify

ALBUM REVIEW: RAISE YOUR PINTS. CELTIC- PUNK SAMPLER. VOLUME 6 – VARIOUS ARTISTS (2021)

Album Review, Australia, Bagpipes, Belguim, Best Of's, Brittany, China, Compilation, Folk-Punk, France, Germany, Ireland, Irish-American, Italy, New York, Traditional, USA June 27, 2021 Leave a comment

From the scene. For the scene.

After months of planning, organising and fund-raising the compilation album Raise Your Pints #6 has finally been delivered. Twenty bands from eleven countries celebrating (might be the wrong word- editor) the virus lockdowns in Celtic-Folk-Punk style. 

Anyone remember the original Celtic-Punk samplers from Shite’n’Onions? I think they stretched to three volumes and came at a time when I had never been on the internet. Yes I was one of the select few who never even had a MySpace account! So to come across these samplers with upwards of twenty  bands on and pretty much all new to me (even the English ones) was eye-opening… or should that be ear-opening? Them days are long ago and we can thank Shite’n’Onions for being early pioneers of the Celtic-Punk sampler though they have long passed the baton onto MacSlon’s Irish Radio. Now in their 11th year the radio station brings out the best in Celtic-Rock, Celtic-Punk and trad Irish Folk both modern and ancient(!). They have also for the last few years been a major player on the merchandise front organizing merch for a whole host of bands from across mainland Europe and even the United States.

This is the 6th in the Raise Your Pints series and all the songs have been written and recorded over the last 16 months while the Corona virus has done it’s best to wreck the music industry. We are yet to see what long term damage the lockdown have caused but already here in London, and across England, many music venues have closed their doors permanently and several bands have handed in their guitar straps. The thirst for live music though seems at a all time high but bands are still finding it difficult to book gigs and tours with so much uncertainty around about whether or not the lockdown will return.

So the arrival of Raise Your Pints #6 is to applauded for many reasons but chiefly among them is that the bands will directly benefit from the sales of the CD and with not much else going on it’s a chance for them to remind their fans and followers that they are still here and still fighting.

Reviewing a compilation album is hard enough but one made up of different bands is even harder so I will forego the usual review and just tell you a small bit about each artist and song and link to them so they can tell you more. Of course the best way to find out more is to buy the album!!!

RAISE YOUR PINTS VOLUME 6

THE MULLINS (France) – ‘Part Of Me’

The album kicks off with The Mullins. Hailing from the south of France their song began life before the lockdown but the band took the opportunity to perfect it and even managed to get together inbetween lockdowns to record the cracking video!

THE CEILI FAMILY (Germany) – ‘Corona Chesay’

The album is perhaps a bit top heavy with German bands but that is totally understandable. They do have the #1 scene in Europe you know. The Ceili Family are one of the better known established bands. The band first stirred back in 1996 and even had a great recommendation from the late Philip Chevron: “Enjoyed listening to the CD, by the way. Always good to see people doing something of their own with the basic idea we invented!”

THE FEELGOOD McLOUDS (Germany) – ‘Dirty Bastards’

More Germans here with The Feelgood McLouds formed in January 2015 southwestern Germany. More than any country in Europe the Germans have embraced Celtic-Punk with the number of bands, gigs and fans far outstripping anywhere else this side of the Atlantic. This track is taken from this years critically popular ‘Saints & Sinners’ EP.

GRASS MUD HORSE (China) ‘ Absent Friends’

Grass Mud Horse only seem to have around a year or two but already have more releases than many more well established bands. Formed when Scouse-Irish musician Chris Barry mover to China the band has had some set backs with members coming and going because of the virus (they are based in Wuhan) but luckily things have settled down and they recently recorded a single with yer man Frankie McLoughlin.

UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS (Italy) – ‘Back On Your Feet’

From playing with ALL the Celtic-Punk superstars to headlining festivals across Europe and even getting to the United States several times Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards are without a doubt one of the select few you could describe as ‘Premier League’ Celtic-Punk bands. ‘Back On Your Feet’ is one of the standout tracks from last years album Men Behind The Glass that the Bhoys have recorded an acoustic version for here. One of many great Celtic-Punk highlights during the lockdown was the Bastards hour long acoustic live stream. Brilliant!

JACK IN THE GREEN (Germany) – ‘Old Maui’

Yeah we may have all heard it a 100 times by now but popular covers are popular for a reason. That we never tire of hearing them! Hamburg’s Jack In The Green play a great acoustic version rather than the ‘choir/acapello’ type I’m more use to hearing. Vocals remind me a lot of from The Whisky Priests who in their day were massive so wonder if they were an influence here. 

THE MOORINGS (France) – ‘Champion At Keeping It Rolling’

Cracking version of the Ewan MacColl penned classic about lorry driving from French band The Moorings. Formed in 2011 the band have released several albums and EP’s a Folky version of this song appears on their debut EP Pints & Glory but they have re-recorded it in proper Celtic-PUNK style here. They have just completed a successful crowd-funding campaign for a new album so can’t wait for that.

JOHNNY HASH (Ireland) – ‘Ride On’

Johnny Hash is a bunch of people from various Belfast bands who got together during the lockdown and released a few videos of Irish Folk classics. Christy Moore’s ‘Ride On’ was their first attempt at a video. Still knocking them out months later let’s hope they develop into something more permanent.

THE RUMPLED (Italy) – ‘If I Should Fall from Grace With God’

The Pogues track gets an airing here from the Italian band The Rumpled. Hard to compete with the originals but gutsy to try and they give it a great go. A relatively new band having got together in 2013 in Trento, Italy. Known for fast paced Celtic-Punk, combining Irish Folk, Rock, Ska and Punk. They have a new album out at any moment so watch this space for news on that.

MEDUSAS WAKE (Australia) – War Of Independence

The debut album from Sydney based Celtic-Folk-Rockers Medusa’s Wake hit the top spots in all of 2018’s Celtic-Punk medias yearly ‘best of’s’ and since then they have gone from strength to strength. Writted by Tipperary born Eddie Lawlor, he sings from the heart of the war back home between 1919 and 1921 against the British. Much of that war took part in the fields and villages of the ‘Premier County’ and those of us with Tipp backgrounds grew up hearing of the tales of heroic activities of those ordinary men who took on the worlds strongest army.

HELLRAISERS AND BEERDRINKERS (Germany) – ‘Stay At Home’

Hellraisers And Beerdrinkers may just have the best name in Celtic-Punk but they are a pretty shit-hot band as well. They take their name from a song by rockers Motorhead so should give you an idea about them! Another band that hails from Germany from the small town of Schwäbisch Gemünd. ‘Stay At Home’ is a re-recorded re-jigged new version of a song from their debut album Folk’s Gaudi in 2016.

AN SPIORAD (Germany) – ‘Carry Me Home’

German band that began life as a two-piece band “The Plästik Päddies” in 1997 before changing name to the far more complicated An Spiorad (Scots Gaelic for The Spirit). ‘Carry me Home’ is taken from their recent album Album Dord Na Mara.

SONS OF O’FLAHERTY (Brittany) – ‘The Pack’

More Celtic Celtic-Punk now from Vannes in Brittany Sons Of O’Flaherty formed as a duo in 2010 they soon fleshed out to a whole band due in no small part to the popularity of Irish music in this Celtic nation. ‘The Pack’ is a new song and with it being four years since the release of their last album The Road Not Taken hopefully this signifies some new sounds on the way.

NEVERMIND NESSIE (Belgium) – ‘Lock Him Up’

Formed in Belgium in 2009 Nevermind Nessie‘s track comes from this years EP Another Six Pack Of Drinking Songs that came out in March. A fast, raucous song about Donald Trump.

KILKENNY BASTARDS (Germany) – ‘Be A Bastard’

More bastards!! This time from Iserlohn in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Like many German bands their emphasis is on playing live such is the demand for their music so their recording output sometimes doesn’t match up with the age of the band. Kilkenny Bastards are one such band and we look forward to them rectifying this soon!

ALL THOSE EMPTY PUBS (Switzerland) – ’40 Days’

Based up in the Swiss alps ’40 Days’ was the debut release from All Those Empty Pubs (what a great name!) earlier this year. We loved it so much we ran a feature and a small interview with Diego the genius behind this one-man-band. Diego utilises all his talents here with mandolin, flute, acoustic guitar and even Hammond organ alongside your more usual Rock band instruments. It just don’t get more DIY than this.

RAPPAREES (Germany) – ‘Las Vegas (In The Hills Of Donegal)’

Another band from Hamburg Rapparees kicked off thirty years ago in the dive bars before changing their name. A straight up acoustic cover of the Goats Don’t Shave song. A ‘raparee’ was the name given to Irish soldiers who survived the Williamite war with the British in the 1690’s and used guerilla tactics or became highwaymen after the war ended.

LA STOATS (Germany) – ‘Raise Your Pints’

German band La Stoats come from Essenbach in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany and incorporate the traditional tunes and melodies of their Bavarian home into their brand of Celtic-Punk. ‘Raise Your Pints’ is one of the standout songs here with chugging guitar and a real cool early 80’s Punk Rock sound with some superb bagpipes. Definitely a band worth checking out.

MUIRSHEEN DURKIN (Germany) – ‘Riot’

The last of nine German bands on Raise Your Pints features one of the best Muirsheen Durkin And Friends. ‘Riot’ is a bloomin’ brilliant Celtic-Punk cover of a UK Subs song from 1997. The original is superb but here it is mastered with the energy intact and growling vocals and a core of Celtic instruments chugging along.

SEAN TOBIN (USA) – ‘St. Patrick’s Day Forever’

The last of the 20th songs belongs to New Jersey Irish singer/ songwriter Sean Tobin. Theirs 2 versions of ‘St’ Patrick’s Day Forever’ and I guess you could call this the ‘radio edit’. Blue-collar, working-class Irish American Folk music and one of the standout tracks on the album to bring down the curtain.

So that’s yer lot. There’s bound to be a load of bands here that you have never heard of. Some are new even to us and the styles of music is varied from Folk and trad right across to Punk but the songs are all totally accessible at all times. This (like the previous five volumes) is essential listening to all fans of Celtic-Punk and we cannot put it any clearer than that! Raise Your Pints #6 is out on July 9th and is available for pre-release order from the link below.

https://macslons-shop.com/v-a-raise-your-pints-vol-6-cd

ALBUM REVIEW: BUGUL NOZ – ‘Chat In The Freezer’ (2021)

Album Review, Bagpipes, Belguim May 9, 2021 Leave a comment

The second album from Bugul Noz. Belgian Celtic-Punk with major influences from both Metal and Brittany especially.

Apologies to Bugul Noz as their email somehow ended up in a file I no longer use so when I came across it four months later I dashed off an apology to the Bhoys and settled down to have a listen to their new album with a big mug of tea. The band hail from Namur in Belguim which is the capital of Wallonia one of the three federal regions that make up the country and has a history of coal mining and iron works. The band were formed in 2016 and as is usual their list of Celtic-Punk influences cites all the usual suspects but also bands like Les Beruriers Noirs and Trust and and Celtic music, whether Irish, Breton or Scottish.

Their debut self titled album of thirteen original tracks was released in the Summer of 2017. With the songs split fairly even between French and English it is the opening track that is my favourite even though I don’t speak French! Another great highlight is ‘Fucking Irish Song’ with Metal guitar and over the top vocals. Class! The whole album can be streamed via YouTube here. The Metal influence sometimes outstrips the Punk here but always with both feet anchored by Celtic music. The music does seem to have a Breton edge to it which is hardly suprising I suppose especailly when we learn that the band take their name from a Breton legend.

The Bugul Noz ‘Night Shepherd’ is a fae-like being who lives in the woodlands of Brittany. He is the last of his kind and is said to be incredibly ugly, which causes him distress. His appearance is so awful that even woodland animals avoid him, and he sometimes cries out to warn others nearby of his approach, so that he won’t frighten them and that they will go home. He is called the night shepherd because it is generally not safe in forests late at night. The Bugul Noz is not malicious (indeed, rather kind and gentle), he is always alone because of his hideous visage.

The bands second album was released back in January and no doubt they were expecting London Celtic Punks to be a bit more professional …well now now they know! Still here we are in the end and just a shame I missed out on hearing this earlier. The album is again all original tracks and with the songs split between French and English. I look forward one day to being able to write a review without having to mention the dreaded co*id lockdown but the inevitable delays and problems the lockdown presented don’t seem to have affected the finished article at all an Bugul Noz still managed to work together to get the album delivered.

Chat In The Freezer begins with ‘I’m Not Crazy’ and the familair drone of the pipes. How someone from Belguim decides to learn the bagpipes is a mystery to me but Fred is an excellent player and accompanied here by Candice on fiddle the song soon opens up into a real Celtic-Punk-Rocker. There’s plenty of Metal style flourishes and the song flashes by despite its length at almost five minutes. This is not Celtic-Punk for your Nan this is for the moshpit and shaking the dandruff out your hair. Tremendous!! As Bugul Noz are a brand new band to my ears I literally had no idea what to expect but one song in and I’m already loving it. ‘Ton Opinion’ is a more basic number and I can’t understand but the words are flying out at me as the fiddle leads. Next up is ‘Cat In The Freezer’ and no I haven’t left out the ‘h’. Strange name for a album song and being a cat fan I wondered what was ahead of me. Starting off with a sort of Gothic rumble and a cat meowing it soon develops into a punky chugging guitar classic. My favourite song of the album it builds up and up taking in a multitude of influences telling of a poor cat trapped in a freezer… I think anyway.  A couple of songs in French follow with ‘Meurs En Silence’ and ‘Chance D’exister’ and one thing that stands out a mile is the amount of lyrics here. Imagine that chorus of ‘The Rocky Road To Dublin’ over and over again. The music is fast and furious and I’m stuck somewhere between the Dropkicks and the Mollys here as a way to describe them. Of course they sound nothing like either but have perhaps the power of the Murphys and their Folkier side is more akin to Flogging Molly, To keep the tunes so faithful to Celtic music when ‘punking out’ is quite an achievement. ‘Donald’ begins with a spoken word intro in French so I can’t tell you anymore but the song does have a medieval feel to it, at least until Andy and Gilles come marching in with loud thrashy guitars. ‘From Hell To Freedom’ is, at five minutes, the albums longest track and with the whole album lasting nearly fifty minutes all the songs are given a chance to develop and its good to see the band taking their time. Not that they do here as Fred shouts out Conflict style over a thrashy-hardcore number not for the faint-hearted or them dreaded snowflakes I keep seeing mentioned everywhere.  Fred exhibits his superb piping again next on ‘Copier – Coller’ and believe me it is superb.

‘Sunday Morning’ has a more overt Murphys influence as well as 80’s English Punk thing going on. After several months confinement the band took advantage of the temporary cessation of the lockdown to get together to record the video for the lead single of the album ‘No Way’. As with all the songs on Chat In The Freezer the English language tracks take a more Punk approach while the French have a more Celtic feel. Still the bagpipes blare loud as hell and God alone knows how Fred managed to keep up with himself at the rate he does!

They pushed the boat out for the video for ‘Comme Une Licorne (Punk En Kilt)’ a hilarious romp through the Walloon countryside with transvestites, unicorns and drumming horses! The song is all pipes, fiddle, drums, pounding bass and chugging guitar and, of course, Fred and his distinctive vocals. We have reached the end and the decision must have been “shall we go out in style or show the skeptics that Celtic-Punk bands can play a mean traditional tune”? Well ‘Ciao L’ami’ takes both routes starting with with a nice gentle folky tune with gang vocals before the heavens open and they go out in Punk rock style.

So a cracker of an album that came as a very pleasant surprise. As I may have hinted this album is for the rockers out there but the all round musicianship is extremely good and the Celtic instrumentation is particularly good. You won’t be shocked to hear that I have a feeling that it is in the live setting that Bugul Noz really come into their own. Having already reached Moscow it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that London may be on their radar. I certainly hope so!

Contact Bugul Noz  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram

EP REVIEW: NEVERMIND NESSIE – ‘Another Six Pack Of Drinking Songs’ (2021)

Album Review, Belguim March 24, 2021 1 Comment

Held over from last year the new EP from Belgian Celtic-Punks Nevermind Nessie finds the band in top form with six original songs of up tempo Celtic-Folk-Punk.

Another Six Pack Of Drinking Songs was recorded in 2020 and was all set for release when the dreaded Covid reared its ugly head and slowly the world shut down. Terrible timing for any band but with the shutdown happening just days before St. Patrick’s Day it can be argued it affected Celtic-Punk bands worse than most with that time of year the busiest time with releases, tours and gigs booked well in advance. Stripped of any chances to promote the release Nevermind Nessie decided to delay release until better days and with light appearing at the end of the tunnel now is Nessie’s time.

Formed in Belguim in 2009 Nevermind Nessie in common with a lot of Celtic-Punk bands have always concentrated on the live side of things so their recorded output has been limited to just three releases, a self- titled EP in 2012, Story of A Lost Generation in 2015 and Best of Foes in 2017. All were put out by the band themselves as is this new EP. Through the last  year they grabbed every opportunity possible to rehearse and so on St. Patrick’s Day came Another Six Pack Of Drinking Songs. Ironically a EP containing only one drinking song! The EP’s songs are all written by the band, no ‘Fields Of Athenry’ or ‘The Wild Rover’ here and touch upon a multitude of subjects. The opening track is ‘About Her’ and a tender love song about falling for a hippy chick! I say tender but it’s far from a ballad with clashing guitar and Pop-Punk style drums. Flute leads though with the fiddle subtly playing in the background.

The track was written three years ago in Lille and the video recorded and filmed last year and it finally saw the light of day this month. The video is great telling the story of the song with humour and style. This is followed by that solitary drinking song and ‘Another Drinking Song’ is the highlight here for me and not just because I’m a sucka for drinking songs! Catchy and with profound lyrics the fiddle is more up in the mix here and the song is a guaranteed floor filler. ‘Greyhound Lovesick’ is an punky ode to coach travel while ‘A Deadly Quest’ is a sea-shanty-ish rocker but remember these songs were well in advance of the current popular hipster trend. Another highlight here with the accordion leading reminding me a bit of Matilda’s Scoundrels. Underneath these songs are classic Folk tunes powered by whistle, accordion and fiddle but backed with a solid Punk rhythm section. The first single from the EP was ‘Lock Him Up’ a rather obvious song about Donald Trump released six months ago but it gives the boys a chance to Punk it up and give the gang in the pit a chance to go wild. 

The EP ends with a rather topical song ‘The End Of The Show’ about live concerts (remember them?) and sees them go out in style with a real catchy slower tempo number.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/0r3dg29rLXALfBHZEX6DFV

Nevermind Nessie are first and foremost a live band playing in sweaty bars and summer festivals. The EP is only out as a digital release only at the moment on all streaming channels but physical copies will be available as soon as gigs start happening. The songs were recorded and mixed at Studio Trad by Jeroen Geerinck and he has done a marvelous job. Sadly this is the last stand for Vincent the bands accordion player as he leaves on good terms so if you live locally and can play then get in touch with the band. But for now grab yourself a pint, get comfy and give Another Six Pack Of Drinking Songs a quick listen.

Contact Nevermind Nessie  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube

 

ALBUM REVIEW: KRAKIN’ KELLYS- ‘Burn Your Flag’ (2020)

Album Review, Bagpipes, Belguim, Punk April 5, 2020 1 Comment

My favourite Celtic-Punk band in the whole wide world are back with their second album and needless to say it’s another belter to beat up the floor to.

The last couple of years have been out of this world for Belgian band Krakin’ Kellys. Only formed in 2017 they have far and away been the Celtic-Punk critics and fans favourite band. Announcing their arrival on the scene with debut album Promised Land and a series of fantastic videos I even used the phrase I hate the most “this is a must have album!” to end the review! It’s fair to say it bowled me over and at the end of 2018 the album romped home as Best Debut Album of the year and 4th best overall. They cemented their popularity further by winning the London Celtic Punks Readers Pick of the year polling and incredible 32.38% out of 522 votes. Since then they have consolidated their popularity and last year saw them release of the Irish Tribute EP. Six classic Irish folk music tunes beefed up with heavy punk-rock riffs. The songs were an inspired choice with, bar ‘The Irish Rover (!), them avoiding the world of ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’ and ‘Black Velvet Band’. David’s vocals standing out loud and proud and gruff and smoky against a backdrop of pure Irish Folk-Punk. I ended that review with a very telling quote about them “they show a love and respect for source material that you would not expect for a band from the heavier side of Celtic-Punk” and this is one of the reasons they have gone down so well.

Their third release is Burn Your Flags and came out on this years ill fated St. Patrick’s Day (every single year I am still reviewing Paddy’s Day releases well into May!!!) and like everyone else their album promotional tour fell at the corona virus hurdle. So much thought and planning and thought had gone into making this years even more spectacular than usual only for the day to fall apart as cancellations began in the run up to the 17th eventually taking pretty each everything worldwide. Just to make matters worse the sun was cracking the pavement here in south-west London! Trapped in the house with only Guinness Original and pizza and crisps the day was made better by a handful of things. Among them the stella live stream performances from New Yorkers 1916 and, of course, the Dropkick Murphys and the chance to play Burn Your Flag every opportunity I could. So without any live gigs to promote it the album has had a rather subdued release which we hope to rectify now if only in a very small way.

Krakin’ Kellys from left to the right : Olivier Drèze (Drum) * Stephan Mossiat (Bass) * Pierre-Yves Berhin (Accordion) * David Leroy (Lead Vocals) * Matthieu Hendrick (Guitar) * Rémi Decker (Bagpipes & Whistles )

Burn Your Flag offers nothing new in the Krakin’ Kellys arsenal that is true. Twelve original songs all written by the band that continue in pretty much exactly the same vein as their previous two releases have. Now their is nothing wrong with that at all. After all when you got a winning formula you don’t suddenly start chopping and changing especially when it starts working for you and a winning formula is what Krakin’ Kellys have. They got the formula but have they got the tunes and once again the answer is a resounding YES! The album kicks off with the sound of bagpipes on ‘Freedom And Whiskey’ and Krakin’ Kellys have not only one of the best pipers in Celtic-Punk with Rémi but also one of the best accordion players too in Pierre-Yves who also does the fabulous artwork for the Kellys releases under his ‘business’ name Hamo. Guitarist Matthieu is responsible for much of the leg work in promoting the band and their fantastic videos (more on them in a bit) and also helped record and master the album with Nicola Lomartire. The song drifts along at a fair old pace and is very Celtic but it is only when David’s vocals start that the song become proper Krakin’ Kellys fair. His raspy vocals sit nicely on top of chugging guitars and Punk drums and bass. It’s the sort of song you could play someone and they wouldn’t necessarily get the Celtic aspect of the song. A great fist in the air chorus and as catchy as anything I’ve heard this year it already says to me that Finnegans Hell will have competition for the Best Album Of 2020. I can see I’m going to over-use the word ‘catchy’ doing this review so from now on just assume each song is ca**hy. ‘Bigger Plan’ keeps the energy level to max and tin-whistle adds to the Celtic feel to it alongside, even for them, heavy guitar. The style of Punk I feel they are closest too would be that of bands like Leatherface who could play at 100 mph and still be totally melodic and accessible. Like Leatherface they also possess a wonderful sense of humour like on ‘Not A Mermaid’. Another reason for their immediate success in the scene was their brilliant videos (as directed by Matthieu) and they nail again in the video for ‘Today’s The Day’. Seemingly filmed at the last available chance before ‘virus lockdown’ its shows the band members playing their bits at home surrounded by their families. Truly wonderful piece of work and a nice insight into their lives.

Most of the songs here hover around three and a half minutes. Standard in Punk really. Their are no ‘epics’ just speedy Punk Rock with a tonne of Celtic/ Gaelic melodies. On ‘Just Remember’ they also throw a touch of ‘Gallic’ flair too while ‘Payback’ actually at times comes close to trad Irish. ‘The Champ Is Here’ seems like straight forward Punk but those Folk instruments come in and take the song in another direction. These songs are written with the Celtic side very much in mind and though they could probably get away with being just another decent Punk band it is with the addition of those Celtic instruments that they stand out from the crowd. The title song, ‘Burn Your Flag’, is of course one of the highlights and half way through gives Pierre-Yves the opportunity to play a Punk-Rock accordion solo.  ‘Crazy Dancer’, ‘Golden Youth’, ‘No Regrets’ and ‘Cletus The Great’ all follow the same standard. Catchy (their I have said it!) as hell, super energetic Celtic-Punk that manages to keep the songs completely different enough in style so that nothing here sounds the same so the running length of the album never starts to grate on you.

We are nearing the end and ‘We Are The Freaks’ was the albums first single and another outstanding video too. I implore you to take the time out to watch their videos. Their is so much going on that the music only adds to their appeal. The albums ‘curtain closer’ is ‘Scars’ and a positive message played in a fast punk song with a singalong chorus and pint in the air close. There’s a great version of it here on RTBF a French language web-site so foo,ow the link and check that out.

So if you are stuck at home, like you should be, then if you are anything like me it is music that is keeping you sane. It’s no wonder Krakin’ Kellys are considered one of the best bands in Celtic-Punk and it is at times like this we need to support the people who bring us such enjoyment so please consider buying the album and give these guys. This is music to dance your ass off to and though it may be a while before we get the chance to do so together move the chairs back and let yourself go after all we still have beer!!!

(you can stream Burn Your Flag below on the Bandcamp player before you buy it!)

Buy Burn Your Flag  FromTheBand

Contact Krakin’ Kellys WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram  Twitter

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2019!

Album Review, Americana, Argentina, Australia, Bagpipes, Belguim, Best Of's, Boston, Brittany, Canada, Catalonia, Chicago, England, EP Review, Finland, Folk, Folk-Punk, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Irish-American, Italy, Japan, Live Album, London, Netherlands, New York, Punk, Romania, Spain, Steampunk, Switzerland, Traditional, USA, Yorkshire January 14, 2020 Comments: 14

Well here we go again. It only seems like five minutes since I was compiling all the votes into last years Best Of that saw The Rumjacks romping home with Album Of The Year. This year has been a bit quieter on the Celtic-Punk front but as last year was so busy that is perhaps not surprising. That’s not to say their weren’t some fantastic releases as their were plenty and it was still really difficult to come up with the various lists below. Not so many big bands this year so it was left to the lesser known bands to shine but remember this is only our opinion and these releases are only the tip of the iceberg of what came out last year. Feel free to comment, slag off or dissect our lists. As a bonus we are adding the Readers Poll again this year so you can even vote on your favourite release of 2019 yourself. If it’s not listed then simply add your choice.

We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

(click on the green link to go where you will find more information on the release)

1. THE WALKER ROADERS – Self Titled

2. MICKEY RICKSHAW – Home In Song

3. FEROCIOUS DOG – Fake News And Propaganda

4. GREENLAND WHALEFISHERS – Based On A True Story

5. BARLEYJUICE – The Old Speakeasy

6. THE NARROWBACKS – By Hook Or By Crook

7. McDERMOTTS TWO HOURS – Besieged

8. PIPES AND PINTS – The Second Chapter

9. THE RUMJACKS – Live In Athens

10. SELFISH MURPHY – After Crying

11. TORTILLA FLAT – Live At The Old Capitol

12. FIDDLERS GREEN – Heyday

13. THE RUMJACKS – Live In London Acoustic Sessions

14. THE WHIPJACKS – This Wicked World

15. 13 KRAUSS – Redención

16. ALTERNATIVE ULSTER – Craic Agus Ceol

17. AIRES BASTARDOS – Self Titled

18. THE TEMPLARS OF DOOM – Hovels Of The Holy

19. THE FIGHTING JAMESONS – A Moment In California

20. ANGRY McFINN AND THE OLD YANK – Songs of Whiskey, Women & War

21. THE SHILLELAGHS – Ripples In The Rye

22. HELLRAISERS AND BEERDRINKERS – Pub Crawl

23. BODH’AKTAN – De Temps Et De Vents

24. HEATHEN APOSTLES – Dust To Dust

25. SONS OF CLOGGER – Return To The Stones’

26. THE CHERRY COKE$ – Old Fox

27. THE FILTHY SPECTACULA – The Howl Of The Underclasses

28. THE POTATO PIRATES – Hymns For The Wayward

29. TC COSTELLO– Horizon Songs

30. THE TENBAGS – ‘Bags o’ Craic’

How to compete with last year? Every single top band in the genre released an album so things were always going to be a bit quieter for 2019. Top spot this year unsurprisingly goes to The Walker Roaders Celtic-Punk super group! With Pogues, Mollys and Dropkicks making up the team how could they possibly go wrong! Everyone’s ‘next big thing’ Mickey Rickshaw came in a well deserved second and Ferocious Dog took third after releasing their best album, for me, since From Without. Greenland Whalefishers celebrated 25 years on the road with their best album for quite a while and what Best Of would be right without some bloody brilliant Irish-American bands challenging at the top too. Pipes And Pints new album with a new singer received acclaim from across the Punk media and The Rumjacks couldn’t follow up last years unanimous victory despite having two album releases (both sort of live) in the top thirteen. Fiddlers Green continue to make consistently great albums and go into 2020 celebrating thirty years together! Good to see homegrown bands The Whipjacks, The Tenbags, The Filthy Spectacula and Sons Of Clogger making it too. The top thirty was made up of thirteen countries from USA, England, Norway, Czech Republic, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Argentina, Japan, Quebec, Hungary, Spain and Japan.

1. THE LUCKY TROLLS – Self Titled

2. DRUNKEN DOLLY – The Party

3. LORETTA PROBLEM – The Waltz Of My Drunken Dream

4. THE CLOVERHEARTS – Sick

5. KRAKIN’ KELLYS – Irish Tribute

6. THE PLACKS – Rebellious Sons

7. GYPSY VANNER – Five Distilled Celtic Punks

8. THE RUMPLED – Grace O’ Malley

9. FOX’N’FIRKIN – Hey Ho! We’re Fox n Firkin

10. SHANGHAI TREASON – Devil’s Basement

The Lucky Trolls took #1 spot with their brilliant self-titled EP following on from fellow countrymen the Krakin’ Kellys multi award winning 2018. Trust me it would have taken an exceptionally good release to keep The Party by Drunken Dolly off the top spot but that is what happened. Dolly’s excursions over to these shores this year j=has seen them grown in stature and you can’t go to a Ferocious Dog gig without spotting at least a dozen of their shirts. Loretta Problem wowed us with their single ‘Waltz Of My Drunken Dream’ which took us right back back to The Pogues glory days and what about that accompanying video too!! If we had a award for best video then that would have walked it. The Kellys had a quiet year with comparison to ’18 but still managed a respectable #5 and great debut releases from The Placks our sole representative from a Celtic nation (big things are going to happen to this band in 2020 mark my words), Italian/Aussies The Cloverhearts and, from just down the road from my Mammy, Shanghai Treason from Sheffield who only put out one song… but what a song! Eight countries represented from Belgium, Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Scotland, Argentina, Australia and Yorkshire!

AIRES BASTARDOS– ‘Self-Titled’

Argentina is becoming a bit of a hot-spot for Celtic-Punk with not only some well established bands but also some new ones starting up too and with this release Aires Bastardos announced their arrival on the international scene too. Not afraid to dive straight into a folk number after a Cock Sparrer cover they veer from standard Celtic-Punk to Folk and back to fast as hell Punk but in that really accessible way that only Celtic-Punk (and maybe Ska-Punk) bands can do.

1. THE DREADNOUGHTS – Into The North

2. CROCK OF BONES – Celtic Crossbones

3. 6’10 – Where We Are

4. BRYAN McPHERSON – Kings Corner

5. CALLUM HOUSTON – Gravities

6. PYROLYSIS – Daylight Is Fading

7. SEAMUS EGAN – Early Bright

8. LE VENT DU NORD – Territoires

9. DONNY ZUZULA – Chemicals

10. DERVISH – Great Irish Songbook

The Dreadnoughts don’t really think of themselves as Celtic-Punk so I reckon they’d be happier to win this than Celtic-Punk Album Of The Year. A superb collection of sea shanties that is a pleasure to listen to that was always going to be #1. Crock Of Bones representing the London Irish in 2nd with an album of trad folk with punk rock attitude and it’s especially good to hear some originals done in the style of the ‘auld ways’. 6’10 challenged for the top spot as they always do with everything they release and Bryan MacPherson and Callum Houston both produced great releases of singer-songwriter acoustic folk with Irish roots.

Sadly the Celtic-Punk world has shrunk a little regarding Web-Sites. Winners of the last two years the Mersey Celt Punks have been slacking (sort it out lads!) and enjoying their gigs too much to tell us while Shite’n’Onions have been too busy transferring everything onto a different platform and preparing for a bit of a re-launch I expect. Sadly celtic-rock.de have shut up shop after twelve years so it just makes it all the more clear how much we all miss Waldo and his fantastic Celtic-Folk-Punk And More site. As regular as clockwork and all the news that was ever fit (or not!) to print. Closing down the site in its 10th year in March must have been a tough decision to make and so this year we award best Website to Waldo and let it be known that no Celtic-Punk site will ever come close to replacing you. We would certainly not exist without his kind help and inspiration. All the best comrade enjoy your retirement! One welcome addition is Michu and his Celtic-Punk Encyclopedia site from Poland. Worth checking out especially if you are in a band.

We are not alone in doing these Best Of 2019 lists in fact all the major players in celtic-punk do them so click below to check out what they thought.

THE CELTIC PUNKCAST

FOLK’N’ROCK

MERSEY CELT PUNKS

So there you go. Remember we don’t pretend to be the final word on things in fact if you check the other Celtic-Punk media I’m sure we’ve all come up with relatively different lists. Our Best Of’s are cajoled and bullied out of the admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page. The assorted scraps of paper and beer mats were then tallied up please remember not all of us heard the same albums so like all the various Best Of’s ours is also subjective.

This is our 8th year of making these Best Of lists so if you would like to check out out who was where in our previous ones then just click on the link below the relevant year.

Last year we introduced a new feature THE READERS PICK. We had no idea if it would work or not but it was a raging success so we going to do it all again this year. With well over 500 votes cast you lot chose the debut album from the Krakin’ Kellys as a worthy winner. Only the Top Ten albums are listed but there is an option to write in your favourite release or just to send us love… or abuse!

You are allowed to vote twice but not for the same artist.

The Poll will close at midnight on Friday 31st January with the result announced soon after.

remember any views, comments or abuse or slander we would love to hear it…

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2020

EP REVIEW: KRAKIN’ KELLYS- ‘Irish Tribute’ (2019)

Bagpipes, Belguim, EP Review, Ireland November 6, 2019 Comments: 2

Celtic Skate Punk, beer and bar fight !

What happens when traditional Irish Rock n’Roll meets American Punk music? Here the Krakin’ Kellys take six Irish folk music classics and unite punk-rock riffs with Gaelic-inspired melodies. Angry microphones, greasy bass lines meet bagpipes, flutes and accordion for a drunken party which will leave everyone pumped up!

Since forming in 2017 Krakin’ Kellys have its fair to say taken the Celtic-Punk scene by storm. Their debut album from last year was a double winner in the London Celtic Punks Best Of 2018 lists romping home with the Best Debut Album and the Best Album Readers Pick as chosen by the readers of the Blog (nearly 39% of the total vote!). It was a breath of fresh air to the scene with its energetic blend of punk rock and accordions and bagpipes. Allied to this was a bunch of absolutely fantastic videos that the band released that showcase a band at the very top of their game. In fact we only said
“It’s not often I use the words this is a must have album but this is a must have album!”
about one album in 2018 and it was the Krakin’ Kellys Promised Land. Full of energy and bounce and humour. There’s no revelations about politics here and no songs about nuclear war and I can only say thank the heavens. Sometimes music needs to take our minds away from the daily grind. Music to drink to, to dance to, to meet folks and make friends and on Promised Land Krakin’ Kellys delivered us quite a unique Celtic-Punk album.
(You can download/stream Promised Land at the Bandcamp link below)

Krakin’ Kellys hail from the city of Namur in Belgium. The city is the capital of the self-governing Walloon Region which was created, largely along language lines. Wallonia consists of the French-speaking provinces of Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Walloon Brabant and Namur. There is a burgeoning independence movement in Wallonia that seeks to split Belgium into Dutch speaking Flanders in the north and French speaking Wallonia in the south. As is usually the history behind the conflict is complicated so I think I better go on with the review and leave the controversial stuff alone!

Krakin’ Kellys from left to the right : Olivier Drèze (Drum) * Stephan Mossiat (Bass) * Pierre-Yves Berhin (Accordion) * David Leroy (Lead Vocals) * Matthieu Hendrick (Guitar) * Rémi Decker (Bagpipes & Whistles )

The EP begins with possibly the best known Irish song of all time, ‘The Wild Rover’. The song is about a utter wastrel of a man who spends his life drinking and carousing before coming to the realisation he has wasted his life and returns to the home of his parents and promises to reform his ways. The origins of the song are vague and thought to originate via Ireland, Scotland or from the fishing industry but there’s no arguing that it is indeed the most popular Irish song of all time. The Kellys play it as a rock ballad with the amazing chorus the highlight. Pierre-Yves’s accordion and Rémi’s bagpipes supply the Celtic instrumentation while the rest of the band keep the heavy sound of their previous releases intact while still playing a glorious homage to this wonderful song.

As I have mentioned recently sometimes the best of videos are recorded in pubs (the natural home of all Celtic-Punk) with a crowd of friends enjoying themselves and ‘The Wild Rover’ fits the bill perfectly. Take a couple of minutes to check it out as it’s another in Krakin’ Kellys long line of great vids. See how many band t-shirts you can spot. I lost count at a dozen! Next up is ‘The Foggy Dew’ a song about the glorious 1916 Irish uprising against British rule in Ireland. The song has become pretty popular in the Celtic-Punk scene of late due in main to its Celtic-Punk friendly air. Again its done very much in the Krakin’ Kellys style and David’s vocals may divide people along the lines of those who are expecting someone crooning but KK are a Punk band at the heart and I think they fit perfectly. Raspy and semi-shouty they are nothing if not passionate. Time for a more ‘trad’ approach next as the Bhoys mix up three songs you may not know by their names but will from the airs. Of course Thin Lizzy made ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ a international smash hit back in 1973. The song morphs into ‘The Kesh Jig’, an old traditional Irish tune. It’s popularity is attributed to The Bothy Band who recorded the song on their debut album in 1975 and then another traditional song ‘Morrison’s Jig’. Here the band push their trad side to the limit while still remaining at heart the skate-punk band they are. Here again Pierre-Yves proves he’s one of the best accordion players in the business. Half way through now and it’s time for a couple of Dubliners songs starting with ‘Free The People’. Although performed and released by The Dubiners the song was in fact written by Phil Coulter and relates to the struggle for racial equality in the USA and the struggle in the northern 6 counties of Ireland against British occupation and discrimination against Catholics.

“What does it profit him
The right to be born
If he suffers the loss of liberty?
Laws were made for people
And the law can never scorn
The right of a man to be free
We are the people
And we shall overcome”

The Kellys play the song as normal but with a heaviness that belies whatever version you have previously heard before. Next is a mention for a familiar name here on the London Celtic Punks site, that of Ewan MacColl the writer of  ‘Champion At Keeping Them Rolling’. The Dubliners recorded the song in 1972 and perhaps because it was the last recordings of the original line up the song is often thought to be written by them but Ewan was a master of songwriting and telling the story and tribulations of working class life.

“I am an old-timer, I travel the road, I sit in me wagon and lumber me load”

The song speaks of a long distance lorry driver and contains everything you need to know about Ewan. Humour, anger, social injustice and more humour. Again it’s not a song that needs much doing to change it to a Celtic-Punk song, none of the songs The Dubliners recorded do! So onto the last song and the second song from Phil Coulter. ‘The Town I Love So Well’ was written by Phil Coulter, renowned musician, songwriter and record producer about his childhood in Derry city, a place at the centre of Irish resistance to British rule. The song begins with the simple tale of his upbringing in a place filled with warmth and love before ‘The Troubles’ began and Derry became a place plagued with violence. The songs final verse includes a message of hope for a “bright, brand new day”, saying “They will not forget but their hearts are set / on tomorrow and peace once again”. Phil Coulter is also responsible for one of the most beautiful songs ever written, ‘Scorn Not His Simplicity’ about the birth of his first daughter with Down’s Syndrome and later died aged four. Take another minute or two to check out the song here as sung by Luke Kelly. Anyway back to the Krakin’ Kellys and they go out on a high! Beginning as a acapello version with the band led by David bagpipes come in and it soon erupts into as class a Celtic-Punk song you will ever hear. Fast and furious and full of passion.

Six songs and over twenty minutes of one of the very best bands around in the scene at the moment. Krakin’ Kellys are an interesting band for a number of reasons. Their output is regular and of a very high standard alongside their videos which are always worth several viewings and here they show a love and respect for source material that you would not expect for a band from the heavier side of Celtic-Punk. One of the favourite (if not my actual favourite) bands of the assorted London Celtic Punks collective we are all gagging to see them live and hopefully appear alongside them in one of their fantastic videos!!

(You can stream Irish Tribute on the Bandcamp player below)

Buy Irish Tribute  FromTheBand

Contact Krakin’ Kellys WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram  Twitter

EP REVIEW: THE LUCKY TROLLS- ‘The Lucky Trolls’ (2019)

Belguim, EP Review May 26, 2019 Leave a comment
There’s a new Belgian Celtic-Punk band in town! The Lucky Trolls are six friends who play fast Irish folk and punk and they have just released their debut EP.
There’s nothing I like better than a band who announces exactly what they are to the world. Today’s band The Lucky Trolls do just that with the strap line ‘Irish Punk From Liège’ emblazoned across the bottom of their logo, as drawn by the prolific Hanan 1204 of West Java, Indonesia who supplies most of the Indonesian Celtic-Punk scenes bands with logos! (it is also available as a t-shirt and my cheque is already in the post!), it comes as no surprise to find that they play fast energetic punk rock with multiple Celtic influences and some of the best vocals I have heard in quite the while.
They celebrate five years together this year having formed in 2014 but it has taken several band members comings and goings for them to release this their debut EP and on this evidence we are eagerly await more to come. The band hail from Liège in the Walloonia (French speaking) area of Belgium . The area was in the past a working class city being famous for its steel making but recent changes have seen it become more important in education with tens of thousands attending universities in the city. The city is also famous for it’s football team Standard Liège who seemingly in common with many teams from industrial working class areas went into a bit of a slump but happily are again showing signs of a return to their former glories.
The EP begins with ‘Dirty Old Jack’ and straight from the off you know where this band are coming from. It’s fast paced punk music but with folk instruments but they have not just been slapped willy-nilly on top of punk music, they are an integral part of The Lucky Trolls sound and they ROCK! Comparisons to fellow Belgian band The Krakin’ Kellys are inevitable and to be honest their are similarities between the two but seeing as the Kellys have literally taken the Celtic-Punk world by storm in their short time together their are certainly worse bands to be compared to. Beginning with the sound of accordion before the band join in and its fast and catchy and has an air of Mick O’Toole to it as well thanks to some very manic mandolin plucking. Later in the song fiddle and bagpipes pop up and those vocal harmonies… well where to start. I’ve always been a lover of gang and dual vocals and I think it works especially well in Celtic-Punk and here The Lucky Trolls have nailed it! Can’t tell you who is singing what but both voices suit each other perfectly as they belt the tracks out accompanied by the rest of the gang in the chorus. A cracking opening track that I fell in love with instantly. They keep the energy up with ‘Rocking On The Show’ and with the introduction of tin-whistle they keep up the Celtic connection too. Another rockin’ tune with a great chorus and only two songs in and I’m pretty certain we already have a contender for EP of the year here! That thought doesn’t ease up when third song ‘Rise Yourself’ lands in my ears. Another beauty. Bit slower this time but still on the heavy side with Nathan’s great raspy vocal style and the glorious sound of bagpipes! A chorus of ‘Oi Oi’s only endears them to me more and leads us nicely into the final track of the EP, the classic folk tune ‘Dirty Old Town’. We have over the years written plenty on the interesting origins and various covers of this song and its popularity amongst Celtic-Punk bands is second to none. So rather than rake over the past you can type Dirty Old Town in the search bar on the left and read our thoughts yourselves. Anyway for such a well known song all you really want to know is whether it’s any good or not! If you been concentrating then you will know the answer. Yes it is. Fast paced and clearly sung with Nathan accompanied with female vocals from fiddle player Anne-Sophie. Whether or not Ewan MacColl is rotating in his grave is another matter but I’d hope he’d appreciate it that a band in 2019 from Belguim is still paying homage to him via this great song. 
Sadly only four tracks but what a fantastic twelve minutes that I cannot recommend enough. It was recorded, mixed and mastered by Clinchon and Pompiflet who have done an brilliant job. Bands like The Lucky Trolls may be best heard live but on this EP they have successfully transferred that sound and their energy and passion comes across in every song. I dare say you would not be able to stay still watching them play and that is as big a compliment you can give in music.

(You can sample the whole of The Lucky Trolls EP below on the Bandcamp player)

Buy EP FromTheBand  Contact The Lucky Trolls  Facebook  Bandcamp  YouTube

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2018!

Album Review, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bagpipes, Belguim, Best Of's, Canada, Cornwall, England, Folk, Folk-Punk, Galicia, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, London, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Sweden, Traditional January 21, 2019 Comments: 6

Well it seems like only yesterday that I was sitting in Mannions in north London totting up the votes for the Best Album Of 2017 over a couple of pints and so here we are again. Everyone loves to give out there opinions and we are no different so for what it’s worth, here’s who we think made the best music in the celtic-punk scene over the last year. It’s been another outstanding year for the music that we all love and some truly fantastic records came out in the last twelve months. 2017 saw just about every major player in the scene release an album while in 2018 they left it to many of the lesser known bands to dominate! Remember though this is only our opinion and these thirty album’s are only the tip of the iceberg of what was released last year. Feel free to comment, slag off or dissect our lists. As a bonus we figured out how to attach a poll at the end so you can even vote on your favourite release of 2018 yourself. If it’s not listed then simply add your choice.

We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

1. THE RUMJACKS- Saints Preserve Us  here

2. 1916- Far Beyond The Pale  here

3. CLAN OF CELTS- Beggars, Celts & Madmen  here

4. KRAKIN’ KELLYS- Promised Land  here

5. THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS- Green Blood  here

6. SIR REG- The Underdogs  here

7. TIR NA OG- From The Gallows  here

8. FIRKIN- We Are The Ones  here

9. THE MAHONES- Love + Death + Redemption  here

10. THE MUCKERS- One More Stout  here

11. BASTARD BEARDED IRISHMEN- Drinkin’ To The Dead  here

12. HOLD FAST- Black Irish Sons  here

13. LEXINGTON FIELD- Dreamers  here

14. THE RUMPLED- Ashes & Wishes  here

15. TAN AND SOBER GENTLEMEN- Veracity  here

16.THE KILLIGANS- Dance On Your Grave  here

17. ALTERNATIVE ULSTER- Pog Mo Thoin  here

18. PADDY AND THE RATS- Riot City Outlaws  here

19. IRISH MOUTARDE- Perdition  here

20. BASTARDS ON PARADE- Cara a Liberdade  here

21. MR. IRISH BASTARD- The Desire for Revenge  here

22. PIRATE COPY- Swashbuckle & Swagger  here

23. SINFUL MAGGIE- S/T

24. JOLLY JACKERS- Out Of The Blue  here

25. MUIRSHEEN DURKIN AND FRIENDS- 11 Pints And 3 Shots  here

26. THE CHERRY COKE$- The Answer

27. THE CLAN- Here To Stay  here

28. KINGS & BOOZERS- Still Got The Booze  here

29. FALPERRYS- Nova Abordagem  here

30. AIRS & GRACES- Voting At The Hall  here

bubbling under: MALASANERS- Footprints  here

So absolutely no surprises here at all. In fact The Rumjacks have pretty much swept the board across the Celtic-Punk scene with what we even thought was their best release since their groundbreaking debut album Gangs Of New Holland. The Bhoys are going from strength to strength and are set to go through the roof in 2019. They remain as humble as ever and downright lovely folk to know which reminds me, congrats from us all here to Frankie and LCP’er Anna on their engagement. Other notables were Sir Reg who even flew over to London to premier their new album The Underdogs before later returning to embark on a successful nationwide tour… while I was on holiday! London-Irish band Clan Of Celts, despite a few teething problems, delivered a fantastic debut album as well as, my personal favourite of the year, Belgium’s Krakin’ Kellys. A dual release of an album and a EP on the same day is a novel approach but it paid dividends for Lexington Field as they were both brilliant. Sinful Maggie have just been getting bigger and bigger all year and we expect this to continue into 2019. Three albums from the Celtic nations with two from Galicia from Falperrys and Bastards On Parade and Cornwall’s Pirate Copy. All together we have bands from twelve countries with Germany with the most placings alongside  Australia, USA, England, Belgium, Sweden, Hungary, Canada, Italy, Galicia, Cornwall and Japan.

KRAKIN’ KELLYS- Promised Land  here

I was not the only one at London Celtic Punks Towers to be abso-fecking-lutely blown away by the Krakin’ Kellys debut album. Fast and melodic skater style punk rock with bagpipes that will blow the cobwebs away off off anyone! They made quite a wave in the scene thanks to their brilliant videos so go check them out here. This section was the easiest one to award by far!

1. THE LAGAN- Let’s Do It Again

2. MEDUSA’S WAKE- Rascals & Rogues  here

2. HANDSOME YOUNG STRANGERS- The Bleeding Bridge  here

4. THE DANGEROUS FOLK- One  here

5. LEXINGTON FIELD- Modern Times  here

6. SCOTCH- Last In The Bar  here

7. TULLAMORE- Déš An Pr’i Strà, Déš An Int ál Bar  here

8. THE GRINNING BARRETTS- The St. Padraigs  here

9. IN FOR A PENNY- Sometimes Its Better To Not  here

10. THE ROYAL SPUDS- Unforgotten Lore  here

bubbling under…

MOSCHE DI VELLUTO GRIGIO- Of Pain And Glory here and RAISE MY KILT- A New Tartan  here

At one point this was heading towards being an Australian #1, #2 and #3 but at the last minute our local favourites The Lagan released Let’s Do It Again at the end of December and wrestled it away from Medusa’s Wake. Their first studio release in a hell of a long time it came out too late to trouble many of our friends ‘Best Of’ lists but their loss is our gain! Besides them and our Aussie friends the list was made up from bands from the USA, Holland, Italy and Austria which goes to show the international nature of the scene. As an aside you can get the brilliant bagpipe punk debut EP from Scotch for free by following the link to their review. For lovers of the McKenzies you’ll not be disappointed!

1. MARYS LANE- Wild Unknown  here

2. LOUIS RIVE- The Cheap Part Of Town  here

3. THE CRAICHEADS- S/T  here

4. LANKUM-  Between Earth and Sky here

5. MAN THE LIFEBOATS- Man The Lifeboats  here

6. SLIOTAR- Voyage

7. CLOVER’S REVENGE- Gotta Get O’Raggednized  here

8. BLACKBEARDS TEA PARTY- Leviathan  here

9. THE LED FARMERS- Irish Folk Out Straight

10. FINBAR FUREY- Don’t Stop This Now  here

bubbling under: THE BRANDY THIEVES- The Devil’s Wine  here

Always the hardest to do this section as our scope has become fairly wide over the years and gone beyond Celtic-Punk but Irish-American’s Marys Lane managed at once to be a record both me and my Mammy love! Even better the Cleveland based band have made it available to download for free/donation so follow the link above. Scot Louis Rive’s debut album really impressed me and was one of my most played albums of the year and The Craicheads capped a great year with a fantastic single and their lead singer Mick making the papers and the telly for saving a Mum and her babies lives (here). Good on yer Mick. It’s a privilege to know you. More local talent at #4 which ended a year where Man The Lifeboats have gone from first band on to headline shows and a mention for the amazing Finbar Furey who put a most excellent LP at the tender age of only 72.

MERSEY CELT PUNKS

We may be a wee bit biased here but last years winners take it again this year too. 2018 saw them continue to develop the site into an all-round resource for Liverpudlians and further afield. Yeah these guys are always blowing our trumpet we know and we have shared a good few scoops with them, and will again not long after this is published, but we enjoy what they write and it’s all done with an enthusiasm that us auld hacks are constantly jealous of. Plus you are not a major player in the Celtic-Punk scene unless you had your picture took with Elliot! You can also join in their fun and games on their Twitter and Facebook and their Web-Zine. Be sure to subscribe.

So there you go. Remember we don’t pretend to be the final word on things in fact if you check the other celtic-punk media I’m sure we’ve all come up with relatively different lists. Our Best Of’s are cajoled and bullied out of the admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page. The assorted scraps of paper and beer mats were then tallied up please remember not all of us heard the same albums so like all the various Best Of’s ours is also subjective.

This is our 6th year of us making these lists so if you would like to check out out who was where in our previous Best Of’s then just click on the link below the relevant year.

We are not alone in doing these Best Of lists in fact all the major players in celtic-punk do them so click below to check out what they thought.

THE CELTIC PUNKCAST

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

FOLK’N’ROCK

PADDYROCK

MERSEY CELT PUNKS

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

Now here’s a new feature. Pick your own favourite below! The Poll will end on the final day of the month!

remember any views, comments or abuse or slander we would love to hear it…

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2019

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO OF KRAKIN’ KELLYS NEW SONG

Belguim, Folk, Traditional October 8, 2018 Leave a comment
Celtic skate punk, beer and bar fight !

https://youtu.be/39nb8Mf4b68

Director : Matthieu HENDRICK & Stephan MOSSIAT   Shooting : Ludwig PINCHART
Editing and graphics : Matthieu HENDRICK  
Special thanks to Maxime Dechamps, Claire, Sarah Tennina & Rock’s Cool
Written by David Leroy. Composed by Pierre-Yves Berhin. Played by Krakin’ Kellys
Krakin’ Kellys released one of the years best albums so far and we wouldn’t be at all surprised if it went on to the top the Best Of 2018 polls it is that good. Full of energy, attitude and humour it’s good auld fashioned drinking music. No revelations about politics and no songs about nuclear war but the perfect music to take the pressure off. Its music to drink to, to dance to, meet folks and make friends and Krakin’ Kellys have delivered a must have album, Promised Land. Read our review here and have a listen on the Bandcamp player below before you part with your hard earned. Here on new track ‘Come And Get Some’, released today, the Bhoys show there’s a whole lot more to them than just fast and noisy Celtic-Punk.

Contact Krakin’ Kellys

Facebook  WebSite  Bandcamp  YouTube  Twitter  Instagram

ALBUM REVIEW: KRAKIN’ KELLYS- ‘Promised Land’ (2018)

Album Review, Bagpipes, Belguim March 9, 2018 1 Comment

What happens when traditional Irish Folk’n’Roll meets American Punk music? A rather unique blend, courtesy of Belgian Krakin Kellys!

Now dear readers I’m sure you have absolutely no idea how many celtic-punk albums we have to trawl through to give you the best of the bunch. Well let me tell you its loads and its not often that many make me sit up and really take notice. Just recently we have been lucky with the amazing releases from bands like Bastard Bearded Irishmen, Airs & Graces and Irish Moutarde who were all especially good but a rare thing happened in June last year. I got in from work to find a e-mail from Krakin’ Kellys, a celtic-punk band from Belgium I hadn’t ever heard of informing me their new video for a song called ‘One Way’ had just been released. Now nearly without exception the bands that I hear are all pretty decent so I was expecting something good but to say my mind was blown is to put it mildly. What a fecking song!! I must have played it about two-dozen times before replying to the band to tell them how much I loved it and then sharing it on the London Celtic Punks Facebook page for you lot to marvel at too! The song was ‘One Way’ and I’m delighted to say it appears here on their debut album, Promised Land, and it was by far my favourite song of 2017 and even now whenever I’m on YouTube I find myself drawn to it!

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

Krakin’ Kellys hail from the city of Namur in Belgium. The city is the capital of the self-governing Walloon Region which was created, largely along language lines. Wallonia consists of the French-speaking provinces of Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Walloon Brabant and Namur. Its elected government has authority over such are as as agriculture, transportation, and public works and has a population of 3,500,000. There is a burgeoning independence movement in Wallonia that seeks to split Belguim into Dutch speaking Flanders in the north and French speaking Wallonia in the south. The area has struggled to recover economically from postwar industrial decline, and there are those in the north who label their French speaking neighbours as spongers and feckless. As is usually the history behind the conflict is complicated so I think I better leave that there!

Formed only last year Krakin’ Kellys have taken the celtic-punk scene by storm without releasing an album so their debut album has been widely anticipated by just everybody. They describe their music themselves as

“taking the opposite line from the genre’s godfathers, Bostonian Dropkick Murphys, Krakin’ Kellys songs begin with punk-rock riffs, which they then unite with Eire-inspired melodies.”

The comparison to the Dropkick Murphys has been made about the band and yes they are definitely on the DKM’s side of celtic-punk rather than say Flogging Molly but this band is not just another Boston clone I can tell you. In fact I’d go so far as to say that there’s virtually no way the Murphys will ever come up with an album as good as Krakin’ Kellys Promised Land ever again. I hope I am proved true and I can only imagine how fecking good that would be!!

Promised Land begins with ‘Anarchy In The Double K’, the albums third single release, and the drone of bagpipes before the accordion kicks in and then the whole band join in with what can only be described as celtic-skate punk! Straight away bands like The Descendents, NOFX and Pennywise spring to mind but with Pierre-Yves amazing accordion and Rémi’s bagpipes Krakin’ Kellys have nailed their tricolour firmly to the celtic-punk ship. It’s fast, catchy as hell and with David’s incredible raspy-punky vocals laden on top international stardom awaits them I am sure!

One of the ways bands without any or few releases can make a splash in the celtic-punk scene, or any scene really, is to make use of YouTube. One great example of this is The Rumjacks whose ‘An Irish Pub’ was sailing towards 75,000,000 views the last time I looked. Krakin’ Kellys have followed this route and all three of their releases from promised Land are accompanied by absolutely brilliant videos. Filled with fun and humour and with a wee story to tell it’s no wonder they have become the to watch out for in 2018. Next up is ‘Bar Fight’ and yeah it’s a drinking song and yeah its a cracker. All the best elements of punk and ‘Celtic’ are here and its so well played too. Next is my second (it would have to be) favourite song of the album, the title track ‘Promised Land’. By the end of this page you going to be sick of how many times I use the word ‘catchy’ if I’m not careful. Accompanied by another great video it has a great tune and aye it’s bloody catchy too.

So three songs in and I have to say that I have never heard better accordion in a celtic-punk band in my life. The sound is perfect and leads the songs along in such a glorious way. Pierre is truly a master of this art wielding his accordion lifting the band to magical heights. And just to prove that God doesn’t deal out talent in a fair and equal way he also did the artwork for the album cover! For many celtic-punk band it’s a background instrument but not here. On ‘Our Pride’ it leads the tune and its many flourishes (could you call them accordion solo’s?) only add to the tune. Of the fourteen songs here most come in around the 3:20 minute mark giving them plenty of time to develop the songs and  even though they are fast as on ‘United’ or ‘The Journey’ they could linger too long and one of the things I’ve noticed about playing this album is that it speeds by so fast. That is a sign in itself that I must be enjoying it. Loads of humour dotted throughout like on next song ‘Kinky Mary’ and it’s great to see a band not taking it all too seriously and obviously enjoying themselves. ‘When I Die’ stops and starts and is guess what… catchy with great singalong chorus. ‘Come And Get Some’ begins a tone heavier but soon settles down into a sorta celtic-metal-rap song while ‘Lovely Jess’ is a nod to the bagpipes and if there’s a song here that could pass for the Murphys it’s this one. Gang vocals, the pipes and measured tribal style drumming combine for a beast of a song that wouldn’t be out of place on last years 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory. We are back in cracking form for ‘Hey Bro’ before finally we get to that song and even though I must be responsible for about half it’s views on You Tube it has lost absolutely none of it’s power. ‘One Way’ was without a doubt my favourite song of 2017 and on hearing it I’m sure you will agree. Again accompanied by a fantastic video and again thanks to band guitarist Matthieu Hendrick for his marvellous work. The song could be early Dropkicks but (and I better whisper this) a lot more celtic-punk.

The album is nearly up and still no sign of a ballad here I’m afraid. On ‘Giving Up’ its yet more of the same catchy stuff as we have seen. There isn’t a weak song on this entire album and to prove it they go out with ‘Garry’s Battle’ yet another brilliant trad-infused punk-rock track. A whole album of standout tracks!

So there you go and I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up at the top of the Best Of 2018 polls it is that good. Full of energy and bounce and humour this is downright drinking music. There’s no revelations about politics here and no songs about nuclear war and I can only say thank heavens. Sometimes we need music to take the pressure off us. To take our minds away from the daily grind and that’s where celtic-punk comes in. Its music to drink to, to dance to, to meet folks and make friends and Krakin’ Kellys have delivered unto us the ultimate celtic-punk album. It’s not often I use the words this is a must have album but this is a must have album!

(you can have a *FREE* listen to Promised Land on the Bandcamp player below. Just press play and away you go!)

Buy Promised Land

FromTheBand Pre-order of the album. You get 3 tracks now and the complete album the moment it’s released on March 17, 2018 with some exclusives bonus items!

Contact Krakin’ Kelys

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The third single of Krakin’ Kellys ‘The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough’ released on 1st September 2017 and written and composed by Cyndi Lauper!

GET IN THE FESTIVE SPIRIT WITH THIS CHRISTMAS CELTIC PUNK TOP-TWENTY!

Belguim, Best Of's, Boston, Christmas, Compilation, New York, Spain, Sweden, Traditional, USA December 1, 2017 Comments: 13

It’s December so let your pint glass be half full for a change and get into the festive spirit with what started as a Top Ten but but soon became the London Celtic Punk’s Top Twenty of the best kick-arse Christmas Celtic-Punk tunes ever written and absolutely no surprises at #1.

20. THE PRIESTS FEATURING SHANE MacGOWAN-  ‘Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth’

Yeah you read that right. It may not quite reach the heights of Bing’n’Bowie but feck it nothing this man does is anything short of brilliant!

19. THE RUFFIANS- ‘Christmas In Killarney’

The Ruffians cover the holiday classic ‘Christmas In Killarney’ on their 2005 Christmas EP Together at Christmas.

18. REILLY- ‘Paddy’s Christmas’

Milwaukee Celtic punk band Reilly’s version of Snoopy’s Christmas, now called ‘Paddy’s Christmas’ on their 2008 album Kick Ass Celtic Christmas.

17. THE GOBSHITES- ‘Christmas Eve In The Boozer’

Boston Celtic punk band The Gobshites’ cover of the Yobs’ Christmas Eve in the Boozer. On The Gobshites’ album When the Shite Hits the Fan.

16. IRISH ROVER – ‘Christmas Time In Hells’

Performed entirely by  Rover MacChroi and one for the miserablists out there. This guys glass is definitely half empty!

15. DROPKICK MURPHYS- ‘AK47 [All I Want For Christmas Is An]’

Proof the Murphs can do no wrong…

14. THE REAL McKENZIES- ‘Auld Lang Syne’

Now not strictly a Christmas song but I’ve met Scots who actually enjoy Hogmaney (New Years Eve) more than Christmas!

13. THE MAHONES- ‘Angels Without Wings/Merry Christmas Baby’

From The Mahones 2012 album Angels & Devils here is their awesome Christmas song featuring Felicity Hamer.

12. SHANE MacGOWAN- ‘Christmas Lullaby’

Gotta love this tune. Irish blues with a punk rock edge. McGowan nails it again.

11. STIFF LITTLE FINGERS- ‘White Christmas’

Belfast punk rock legends, and still going from strength to strength, cause Bing to rotate in his grave with this which appeared on the B-side of ‘The Edge’ 7″ in 1979.

10. SHILELAGH LAW- ‘Christmas In New York’

Christmas is many things to many people. I will always remember that a good mate Steve died on Christmas Eve and so it’s also a good time to think of those who have passed and raise a glass to them. Here’s a tribute to the victims of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, by NY’ers Shilelagh Law.

9. LEXINGTON FIELD- ‘Christmas At The Pub’

This spot was originally held by the Spanish/German band Malasaners but their video disappeared overnight during the clampdown so the search was on for a replacement and last years Yuletide tidings from American- Irish fiddle rockers Lexington Field seemed an obvious choice seeing as we have spent most of the year outside pubs looking in!

8. FINNEGAN’S HELL- ‘Drunken Christmas’

Sweden’s Finnegan’s Hell deliver an unorthodox Christmas anthem and yeah, yeah, yeah some Irish stereotyping sure but get over yourselves. What is it you think The Dubliners sang about? My house at Christmas was more like this than what you see on the BBC I can tell you. Anyway judge for yourself!

7. CelKILT- ‘Santa Santa!’

CeltKilt from France even released a full album of Christmas themed songs Kiltmas Songs! in 2015 and as they say themselves, and it sounds better in French I think, “festive celtic rock celtique festif”.

6. THE WAGES OF SIN- ‘Merry Christmas From The Wages’

Enjoy the festive sights, sounds, and smells of the season with Wages Of Sin and their first, and possibly last, holiday single!

5. DARBY O’GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE- ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’

Possibly a bit much for this Catholic Bhoy to bare so if you of a delicate disposition skip to #6. It is hilarious though from this Oregon band from their 2007 album Christmas Songs for Drunken Atheists.

4. KRAKIN’ KELLYS- ‘Christmas In Kelly Green’

This space was previously occupied by West Virginian Celtic-Punk legends The Gentlemen but the You Tube account closed and the video has been lost in the ether so after a bit of thought I settled upon Krakin’ Kellys 2018 Christmas themed track ‘Christmas In Kelly Green’. The hottest new band in Celtic-Punk its hard to imagine these Belgian rockers only formed in 2017!

3. THE NARROWBACKS- Prodigal Son (I’ll Be Home For Christmas)

Part filmed at Paddy Reilly’s in New York this song actually brought a tear to my eye when I first heard it. After a couple of years of not speaking to my Mammy after a stupid argument we had only just made up. Kids look after your family. Keep them close and love them lots.

2. THE DROPKICK MURPHYS- ‘The Seasons Upon Us’ (2016)

Unfortunate to go up against The Pogues this is The Murphys superb Christmas epic. Hilarious video of Irish-American life. Sure to lift the spirits.

1. THE POGUES FEATURING KIRSTY MacCOLL- The Fairytale Of New York

When you see other Christmas best of list’s they always put ‘Arguably the greatest Christmas song of all time’ well we’ve no time for that bollocks. It is without a doubt THE greatest Christmas song of all time so there! R.I.P Kirsty

so there’s our Top Twenty. If you think we missed any post in the comments as is usually the way with these things we couldn’t stop there so bubbling under here’s one to play loud and proud!

…and so we end with some great words “let’s not fight tonight”. Just listen to The Ramones instead.

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