LONDON CELTIC PUNKS WEB-ZINE

4″ BE 2″ – THE GREAT LOST LINK IN IRISH MUSIC

The 4 Be 2’s were a 2nd generation Irish Post-Punk formed in North London in 1979 and who disbanded in 1981. They are the great lost link in the development of Irish music – the very first band to ever raise an English born but defiantly Irish voice. The 4″ Be 2″s was Punk band…
CELEBRATING A CELTIC CHRISTMAS 2023. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS FAMILY

Celtic nations are renowned for their rich cultural heritage all have unique Christmas customs that reflect their history and traditions. Today we explore some of these. Celtic-Punk is also all about tradition so we also pick the seasons best Christmas themed song to showcase. Their was a time it was quite easy to choose which…
THE LIFE OF GRAINNE O’MALLEY – THE IRISH PIRATE QUEEN

Beginning a week of posts of pirates and shanties and of those who made their living on the ocean spanning centuries right up to the present day. We begin with the story of Ireland’s pirate queen Grainne Ni Mhaille. Legend tells us that when Grace O’Malley, the Irish Pirate Queen of Connaught and Queen Elizabeth…
WHO REMEMBERS WILLIE BRADY ?

This week sees the fifty-third anniversary of the tragically young death of Irish ballad and country singer and recording artist Willie Brady. Popular in Ireland and abroad in the 1950’s and 1960’s he was singing and recording ballads long before the ‘Ballad Boom’ arrived in Ireland and recorded over twenty albums before he very sadly…
BRYAN McPHERSON LIVE IN LONDON & SURBITON APRIL 20 / 21

Boston-born folk-punk singer Bryan McPherson sings dusty, dirty and downtrodden songs about the people living in between the cracks and crevices. Bryan arrives in these shores in the next few days and don’t miss this opportunity to see one of our favourite artists live. Here we present a retrospect of his career to date with selected…
INTERVIEW WITH POGUE | WALKER ROADER JAMES FEARNLEY

After a couple of interviews with fellow Walker Roaders Ted Hutt and Marc Orrell, our man in NYC, Ray Ball, finally gets round to the main inspiration for the band, James Fearnley. There at the very beginning, on the 4th October 1982 in Kings Cross – James is best known from his days in The…
REMEMBERING PATRICK FOWLER 1985-2022

Dance as if no one were watching, sing as if no one were listening, and live every day as if it were your last. Even in this internet age sometimes news travels slowly and is the way of things that it is usually sad news that travels the slowest. We just heard of the tragic…
CELEBRATING A CELTIC CHRISTMAS 2022. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS FAMILY

We think Celtic-Punk is about embracing the traditions of the past and bringing them to the present so here’s some of the Christmas customs of each of the Celtic nations. At this point we also pick the best Christmas themed song we’ve heard to showcase. Their was a time it was quite easy to choose…
THE BIG NASHVILLE STAR WHO WAS AN IRISH KID FROM BROOKLYN!

Famous for a string of hits during the 1970’s and early 80’s proud Irish-American Eddie Rabbitt was one of the most popular Country singers of his era. Here Kevin Rooney introduces us to his life and music. Eddie Rabbitt was a popular Irish-American Country singer best known for a string of hits in the late…
THE ROCKAWAY REBEL OF THE EASTER RISING – JOHN ‘THE YANK’ KILGALLON

“Of all the Irish-American towns in America, it had to be a Rockaway guy that wound up in the middle of the bloody battle at the Post Office” Often on these pages we have spoken of the Easter Rising. A somewhat mythical event doomed to failure when heavily outnumbered Irishmen and women rose up against…
BEANNACHTAÍ NA FÉILE PÁDRAIG ORAIBH 2022

It seems like ages since St. Patrick’s Day and well it kind of is. It was early March 2019 when the Covid lockdowns began and that years St. Patrick’s festivities were among the first to fall. So fast forward two years and here we are again except this time with plenty to be grateful for. …
CELEBRATING A CELTIC CHRISTMAS 2021. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS FAMILY

We think Celtic-Punk is about embracing the traditions of the past and bringing them to the present so here’s some of the Christmas customs of each of the Celtic nations. At this point we also pick the best Christmas themed song we’ve heard to showcase. Their was a time it was quite easy to choose…
INTERVIEW: RICHARD BALLS – A FURIOUS DEVOTION

We sat down with Richard Balls, the author of “A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan”. Watch the full interview here!
A CELTIC PUNK LOVE AFFAIR

Ever wanted to read a short story or novel about Celtic punk? What we have here will be right up yer alley.
IT’S A NEW FLOGGING MOLLY SONG !

A band that need no introduction! FLOGGING MOLLY We spotted a new song that appeared on You Tube a couple of days ago. Flogging Molly are one of the two BIG Celtic-Punk bands but do spend a lot of time in the Dropkick’s shadow due mainly to how busy the Murphys keep themselves. So it…
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED. THE MASSACRE OF THE MIAMI SHOWBAND

In 1975 The Miami Showband were riding high in the Irish music scene, known as The Irish Beatles and credited with being Ireland’s #1 band. The showband scene had enjoyed huge popularity from the late 1950’s, through the 60’s and on into 70’s… until one fateful night in July 1975. Here we discuss the background…
GUESS WHOSE BACK? THE SOUTH SHORE RAMBLERS ARE BACK!

It must be pretty hard being the sole Celtic-Punk representatiove for a whole continent but The South Shore Ramblers represented Africa superbly till they called it a day a few years back. Well the good news is their back at the wheel and with some free downloads to give away too! Formed out of the…
PUNKY BUT NOT PUNK, FOLKY BUT NOT FOLK. THERE WENT THE GLASGOW TREMENS

The 1980s weren’t all gloom and misery. Emerging from the smog of wars, strikes, unemployment, police corruption and pop charts clogged with over-produced music were a little-known Scottish band called The Tremens. They were loud, brash and full of it. They were like some kind of Glaswegian mutation of The Pogues and Tom Waits. They…
CELEBRATING A CELTIC CHRISTMAS 2020. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS FAMILY

Each December we pick the best Christmas themed song we’ve heard that year to showcase in our end of year message. Their was a time when it was a easy choice but over the years its become quite common, so much so that we will have a special feature on 2020’s Celtic-Punk Christmas songs on…
THE TOP TEN ANTI WAR SONGS

There hasn’t been a day since the invention of the phonograph record when the world has not been at war someplace. We are told that the world stands on the edge of a precipice, and there is very little we can do so instead of a fallout shelter I’ve built a list of the ten…
THE IRISH SOLDIERS OF MEXICO IN FILM AND IN SONG

The story of the legendary San Patricios battalion and their legacy as told in film, books and song from bands as diverse as The Chieftains, Black 47, David Rovics, Larkin, The Fenians, The Wakes and others. by Michael Hogan Next week sees the release of the debut album from Mexican Celtic-Punk band Batallón de San…
TEN OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES FROM THE JOHNNY CASH SHOW

John R. ‘Johnny’ Cash February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003 Songwriter. Six-string strummer. Storyteller. Country boy. Rock star. Folk hero. Preacher. Poet. Drug addict. Rebel. Saint AND sinner. Victim. Survivor. Home wrecker. Husband. Father. Son. and more… Today is the birthday of the ultimate Rock’n’Roll rebel the one and only Johnny Cash. We have covered Johnny’s life several…
CELEBRATING A CELTIC CHRISTMAS 2019. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS FAMILY

Each December we pick the best Christmas themed song we’ve heard that year to showcase in our end of year message. This year we are going to cheat a little and include two songs. The first is a song from last year which was too late to feature so here’s a band whose rise to…
IRISH SOUL STEW- THE POGUES

One man’s thoughts on what the Pogues Shane MacGowan were and are. The original Celtic-Punk band, formally known as Pogue Mahone (from the Irish Gaelic ‘póg mo thóin’ meaning ‘kiss my arse’) who later became known as The Pogues. Formed in 1982 their inspired use of traditional Irish instruments and poetic, often politically tinged lyrics…
NICK BURBRIDGE AND HIS TOP TEN INFLUENTIAL ALBUMS

To say we are overwhelmed to be able to publish this feature on his Top Ten Influential Albums by the the legendary Nick Burbridge is an understatement! Encompassing everything inbetween Folk to Celtic-Punk it’s a glorious ride through some famous and legendary artists and some little known outside the communities they hail from. Second gen…
REMEMBERING HUGH THE GREAT O’NEILL IN SONG

Concluding our short series on celebrated figures from Irish history immortalised in song. Today is the turn of Aodh Mór Ó Neill (anglicised as Hugh The Great O’Neill), 3rd Baron of Dungannon and 2nd Earl Of Tyrone. For our third and final part of the series we have opted for a song that is an…
REMEMBERING RODDY McCORLEY IN SONG

A short series exploring some of the figures from history immortalised in song and covered by all your favourite Folk and Celtic-Punk bands. You’ve sung the song but do you know the rich history behind the words? Today we celebrate Roddy McCorley, a young man executed back in 1800. He has been immortalised in both…
CELEBRATING A CELTIC CHRISTMAS 2018. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS FAMILY

Each December we pick the best Christmas themed song we’ve heard that year to showcase in our end of year message. This year we went with something a little different. LOCKS come from North London and while they may not be your typical Celtic-Punk band they have plenty of pedigree within their ranks. Their debut…
FILM REVIEW: BLACK ’47

Famine was quite deliberately employed as an instrument of national policy, as the last means of breaking the resistance of the peasantry to the new system where they are divorced from personal ownership of the land and obligated to work on the conditions which the state may demand from them… This famine may fairly be…
PHANTOM OF THE BLACK HILLS

Phantom of the Black Hills are one of the most innovative bands you will ever hear that has a banjo! This isn’t the Country music of Nashville or the Grand Ole Opry instead its angry polemic over bluegrass banjo, mandolin and upright bass mashed together with raucous punk guitar, blistering drums and dirty, snarling distorted vocals with extreme…
ALBUM REVIEW: THE MAHONES- ‘Love + Death + Redemption’ (2018)

30492-London Celtic Punks web-zine is amazingly five years old today. Bloody seems like it too… After a brief hiatus Celtic-Punk heroes and legends The Mahones have returned and are back with a bang with the first of a four album package slated for release in 2018. With new album Love + Death + Redemption they hit…
THE UNHOLY TRINITY- SHANE MacGOWAN, MARK E. SMITH AND NICK CAVE

We were saddened to hear about the death of Mark E.Smith grumpy front man of the influential Manchester post-punk band The Fall. So seems an apt time to remember the time, back in February 1989, that the British music paper the NME sent two of its journalists, James Brown and Sean O’Hagan, to the boozer with three of…
CELEBRATING A CELTIC CHRISTMAS 2017. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS FAMILY

Each December we pick the best Christmas themed song we’ve heard that year to showcase in our end of year message and this year the runaway victors are from just up the road from us in Berkhamsted. We give you Flatcaps & Fisticuffs and their wicked version of ‘Good King Wenceslas’. The EP it’s from is…
ALBUM REVIEW: DECLAN O’ROURKE- ‘Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine’ (2017)

Declan O’Rourke delivers an amazing album of extraordinary true tales from the most tragic period in the history of Ireland. Fifteen years in the making he takes the best of traditional Irish music and the heart of modern song-writing for something truly special. Sometime around 1570 Spanish soldiers returned from their ‘adventures’ in South America with a tuberous…
ALBUM REVIEW: CHRISTY MOORE- ‘On The Road’ (2017)

Christy Moore is one of a handful of people who brought Irish folk music out of the backroom sessions in pubs and homes and out in to the mainstream. With influences from rock, pop, and jazz music he is one of the architects of modern Irish folk music. Released this very day is On The…
TEN YEARS WAITING FOR FLATFOOT 56 AND NEARLY OVER!

I can’t believe it but yes it’s been a decade since they first stepped foot on our shores and Chicago’s Flatfoot 56 are back! That gig inspired the setting up of the London Celtic Punks so we are as happy as Larry to be able to present their gigs in North and South London at…
LONDON CELTIC PUNKS WANT YOU!

Another milestone falls as we reach our 400th post. There’s a hell of a lot of very good media out there featuring celtic-punk. We are only a tiny part of that and we certainly know our limitations. We have always though tried to be more than just a reviews page and while there are much…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: DICK GAUGHAN- ‘Handful Of Earth’ (1981)

AND FREE DOWNLOAD Considered one of the great folk voices of our time and acknowledged as one of Scotland’s most outstanding musicians. Handful Of Earth is renowned as not only his best album but also as one of the best folk album’s of all time. Though steeped in the traditions of folk and Celtic music, Scottish singer/songwriter…
HOW THE IRISH BECAME THE POGUES

by Jack Hamilton Last March I enjoyed the pleasure (and attendant hangover) of partaking in the annual ritual of alcoholic commerce that is St. Patrick’s Day in Boston. Although I had grown up in the area, and in a decidedly Irish-American household at that, I had spent the past seven such holidays as a resident…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: THE CLANCY BROTHERS AND TOMMY MAKEM- ‘Come Fill Your Glass With Us ‘ (1959)

ST PATRICK’S DAY BLESSINGS BE UPON YOU Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh (Byan-okht-ee nah Fay-leh Pawd-rig ur-iv) May those who love us, Love us. And those who do not love us, May God turn their hearts. And if He doesn’t turn their hearts, May He turn their ankles, So we’ll know them by their limping.…
ALBUM REVIEW: PLANXTY- ‘Between The Jigs And The Reels: A Retrospective’ (2017)

The word ‘legend’ gets chucked around with wild abandon these days but no other word seems fit to accompany an article on a band that truly were ground breaking and have gone onto have an everlasting effect on Irish music. Put together by Planxty themselves this is the ultimate retrospective of their music coming, as it…
ALBUM REVIEW: STEELEYE SPAN- ‘Dodgy Bastards’ (2016)

With the release of Dodgy Bastards, the 23rd studio album of their career Steeleye Span remain one of the most influential names in music. Pioneers of folk-rock, they changed the face of folk music forever. Taking it out of small clubs and into the world of gold discs and international tours. Steeleye Span have remained at the forefront…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: THE DUBLINERS- ‘A Best Of The Dubliners’

FREE DOWNLOAD! The Dubliners are without doubt the best known band in the Celtic music world. Formed in 1962 their first hit single ‘Seven Drunken Nights’ launched them into international stardom. Non stop touring and a stint with The Pogues ensured that the popularity of their music never ebbed. Without them it is highly debatable whether or not celtic-punk would have ever come…
OBITUARY: REMEMBERING ERIK PETERSEN

by Dave Hughes “So tattoo our arms and raise our glasses, call out your name at New Year’s Eve, maybe next time we kneel at a casket, we can say at least the story’s complete” Folk punk can get a bad rap. Out on the internet there are thousands of bad recordings of badly sung…
THE POGUES AND IRISH CULTURAL CONTINUITY

BY PÁDRAIC GRANT Shane MacGowan’s awareness and adaptation of trends in the literary world, along with the narrative quality and structural experimentation of his work, should cement his status as both a musical and literary figure. The Pogues (formerly Pogue Mahone, Irish Gaelic for ‘kiss my arse’) were formed in 1982 by a group of…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: THE GREATEST SONGS OF WOODY GUTHRIE (1972)

“I hate a song that makes you think you´re not any good! I hate a song that makes you think you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are either too old or too young or too fat or too thin or too that.…
ALBUM REVIEW: DEXYS- ‘Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul’ (2016)

Let the record show that Dexys do Irish and country soul… and do it well too! For those of you not in the know Dexys is the name now used by the band once known as Dexys Midnight Runners who during the 1980’s were quite possibly one of the most popular English pop bands going, having…
FILM REVIEW: THE REVENGE OF THE MEKONS (2013)

“the band that took punk ideology most seriously” Directer: Joe Angio Release Date: November, 2013 Running Time: 99 minutes “A loving ode to an unsung band” – LA Times “Marvelous” – New York Post “Jubilant” – The Village Voice Emerging soon after the first blasts of UK punk rock, the Mekons went from being a group of socialist…
THE POGUES ON MASTERMIND- THE QUESTIONS

Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit! “For each petal on the shamrock This brings a wish your way Good health, good luck, and happiness For today and every day” A couple of years ago John Abernethy competed on Mastermind (a English TV quiz show) and had The Pogues as his specialist subject. We know that that the…
HOW THE IRISH AND THE SCOTS INFLUENCED AMERICAN MUSIC

By Erik Devaney During the 19th-century, song-smiths in southern Appalachia, who had absorbed African rhythms from local slave populations, began fusing these rhythms with elements of celtic folk music, thus forming the basis of the country music genre. The influence of Celtic folk music in the South began before the start of the American Revolution.…
ALBUM REVIEW: ‘JOY OF LIVING: A TRIBUTE TO EWAN MacCOLL’ (2016)

Fearless and uncompromising Ewan MacColl’s influence is still felt far beyond the folk world. We owe him a lot… more than we can ever imagine. Regular readers of the London Celtic Punks blog will all know how much we like Ewan MacColl and we have regularly featured him within these pages. Though long gone Ewan’s massive volume…
ALBUM REVIEW: THE DEAD MAGGIES- ‘Well Hanged’ (2015)

Raucous cow punk and folk punk mixed with haunting murder ballads, timeless story telling and foot-stompin’, heart pounding rhythms from a bunch of beer swilling, shanty singing, flannle shirt wearing, mohawk-bearing musical peasants. The Dead Maggies come from Tasmania, the island at the bottom of Australia. As is the way with these kind of places a…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: EWAN MacCOLL- ‘Scots Drinking Songs’ (1956)

AND FREE DOWNLOAD! 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the legendary Ewan MacColl’s birth and although ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ and ‘Dirty Old Town’ remain his biggest ‘hits’ he also wrote and recorded hundreds of traditional songs baring the experience of the working class. A huge body of work that demands to be heard. We have…
THE BEATLES AND IRELAND

Never forget that The Beatles were, at heart, an Irish band. Everyone can see and hear that. Listen to Starkey’s half-on-the-rim, half-on-the-drumhead Mersey drumming and you hear the sound of Gaelic beat. Sing along with ‘All Together Now’, ‘Ob La Di, Ob La Da’, ‘Luck of the Irish’ or ‘I Will’ and you find yourself lost in…
BOOK REVIEW: ‘RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH’ by Jeffrey T. Roesgen

30 years to the day of the release of Rum, Sodomy And The Lash. Fleshing out The Pogues second album into a pocket sized, historical and musical mix of fact, fiction and nautical friction. Perfect for yer summer holiday, “You can smell The Pogues through the writing” Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of…
TRIBUTE TO CHRISTIAN CELTIC-PUNK BAND BALLYDOWSE

Rollicking, inspiring, group-singing, Pogues-inflected Punk with heavy multiple-world and Folk-genre borrowing thrown all around. Plenty of bands have come and gone over the years. Ballydowse were one such band. An American Christian Celtic-Punk band (though the Chicago Reader calls it shit-kicking Celtic crunch Punk) active between 1998 and 2003 they recorded two albums that concentrated…
FILM REVIEW: THE MOLLY MAGUIRES (1970)

“maybe its my Christian heart but I never could stand the sight of a man carrying a cross” Growing up in England the opportunities to express pride in your Irish roots were very few and far between. The rare moments would come along, we had St Patrick’s Day, Celtic, our pubs and clubs and church and lets face…
INTERVIEW WITH WILTSHIRE BAND MICK O’TOOLE

Well here’s a first for the London Celtic Punks web-zine… we have for you a video interview with Mick O’Toole a five piece southern cider swilling folk band from the deepest darkest Shire! The latest in our ever growing roster of bands we love. Now it wasn’t intended to be like this no. I expected…
‘THE SPIRIT OF WALFRID’ CELTIC CHARITY COMPILATION ALBUM OUT NOW

For Celtic Supporters By Celtic Supporters I tell you the Celtic Family never ceases to amaze me. While one bunch of supporters has come to the aid of a Celtic fan arrested unjustly in London recently (here) another has released this compilation album to help out several charities all close to the Celtic heart. The…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS- ‘The Little Red Box Of Protest Songs’ (2000)

AND FREE DOWNLOAD! The Little Red Box Of Protest Songs is a truly outstanding release. A three CD box-set full of the finest protest folk music from the USA of the early 20th century. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first American protest song book, ‘The Little Red Song Book’ this collection traces the…
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Scotball’ by STEPHEN O’DONNELL

a Celtic supporter working in the mainstream media trying to tell the truth about RFC’s liquidation finds out that the people in power not only don’t want to hear the truth but they actually want to hide the truth from the people… This is Stephen O’Donnells second book and the follow up to his critically acclaimed…
HELP BLUNDERBUSTER RELEASE THEIR DEBUT ALBUM

Who the Hell are Blunderbuster? Blunderbuster are a 5-piece Midlands-based celtic-punk band, seamlessly blending the memorable melodies and hooks of traditional Irish folk music with the upbeat rhythms and heavy guitars of punk and metal! Formed in the summer of 2010 Blunderbuster’s core members have 5-years experience of continuous live performances as a unit, with each…
‘JUSTICE FOR THE CRAIGAVON 2’ SINGLE RELEASED TODAY. BUY IT IMMEDIATLEY! GO ON!!

“The case of the Craigavon 2 will not fade away as is hoped by the establishment but it will continue until justice is done and seen to be done. Those politicians who claim to represent and speak for nationalist, republicans and the working class should be outraged by this judgement, they now have an opportunity…
‘JUSTICE FOR THE CRAIGAVON 2’ SINGLE TO BE RELEASED BY POL MacADAIM

“The case of the Craigavon 2 will not fade away as is hoped by the establishment but it will continue until justice is done and seen to be done. Those politicians who claim to represent and speak for nationalist, republicans and the working class should be outraged by this judgement, they now have an opportunity…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: LEADBELLY- ‘Easy Rider’ (1999)

FREE DOWNLOAD Huddie Ledbetter, known as Leadbelly, is a truly unique figure in American music of the 20th century. Often mistaken as a blues performer he was a profound influence on the folk stars of the 1940s such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, who in turn influenced the folk revival and the development of rock music from…
RED ROSES FOR ME AND ME

How one man fell in love with The Pogues by John McNally There is certain things that are so momentous in life we remember the exact moment they happened, where we were, who you were with , the colour of our underwear. For a great number of people of a certain age it was “Where were you…
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS- ‘Don’t Mourn. Organize!- Songs Of Labor Songwriter Joe Hill’ (1990)

Joe Hill’s powerful words have moved countless artists to blend politics and song and this dramatic tribute to the Industrial Workers of the World songwriter and activist Joe Hill, features songs by and about Hill performed by Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, Earl Robinson, Paul Robeson and others. An absolute treasure for anyone interested in American folk…
1916 CHANGE THEIR NAME TO THE ANGRY BRIANS

Hopefully not the start of a new trend but another fine celtic-punk band has decided to change their name with 1916 from California becoming The Angry Brians. Only last year Enter The Haggis became Jubilee Riots (article here) but it’s a bit understandable with 1916 also the name of another fine celtic-punk band from New…
FC ST.PAULI! A FOOTBALL SPECIAL OR SPECIAL FOOTBALL?

special guest post on FC St Pauli from the editor of the fantastic ‘This Drinking Life’ web-zine. by Rob Nesbit the football club that’s often described as the most left-wing team in the world Fußball-Club St. Pauli was founded on the 15th of May 1910, based in the lively St Pauli quarter of Hamburg, an…
TRIBUTE TO WELSH PUNK ROCK LEGENDS ANHREFN

FREE DOWNLOADS OF THEIR ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY ANHREFN THE WELSH CLASH! The Welsh Clash, apparently, although the Sex Pistols is an equally viable comparison. And very good they were, too. Not for them the mindless thrashings of hardcore, these guys wrote proper songs, with tunes. Playing fantastic melodic punk and only ever singing in Welsh they…
ENTER THE HAGGIS TO CHANGE THEIR NAME TO BECOME JUBILEE RIOTS

EXIT THE HAGGIS!!! Startling news from Toronto on a name change for one of North America’s most favourite celtic-punk/rock bands. Formed back in 1996 they released six studio albums and one live one, and in the process built up a massive following who called themselves ‘Haggis Heads’. Anyroad here’s what the band themselves have to…
TRIBUTE TO RONNIE DREW 1934-2008

best known for his long beard and his voice described as “like the sound of coke being crushed under a door” Born 80 years ago today Ronnie Drew (Irish: Ránall Ó Draoi) was for more than 30 years, the distinctive voice of the internationally famous Irish folk band the Dubliners. His gravelly voice, described by Mary…
THE DEAD MAGGIES FROM TASMANIA TOURING EUROPE SOON!

The Dead Maggies Sing About Dead People Stories of tragic Tasmanian folklore set to upbeat toe-tapping and thigh-slapping cowpunk and folk punk We are stoked (a suitable Aussie word learnt from years of watching Prisoner Cell Block H) to have this great band washing up in London town. Yeah we know its a bloody Monday but…
THE SCALLY CAP BRATS LAUNCH INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN

Oi! with a folk twist For the last couple of months Canadian celtic-punkers The Scally Cap Brats have been working on a new album called ‘Our Storied Past’ and will hopefully be released in October through their own label Take A Shot Records. “We’ve put our blood, sweat, and tears into this one and I truly believe…
OKLAHOMA CELTIC-PUNKERS THE RIGHS HANG UP THEIR STETSON’S

like a bar brawl between a local labourer and a sailor on shore leave Sad news reaches us from across the broad atlantic that the Oklahoma based celtic-punk band The Righs (pronounced ‘Rigz’) have decided to call it a day. Originally known as The Rivers, The Righs played Oklahoma City for nearly a decade from late…
THE TOSSERS MAKE MUSIC FOR US ALL

by Paul DeCamp 11 P.M. on the northwest side of Chicago, a corner at one of the city’s famous five way intersections. Or maybe its 6. Your sharpness with numbers has been dulling over the last few hours. The air is frigid and still, save for some laughs and chatter coming from the small group…
TRIBUTE TO SHANE MacGOWAN

With our St. Patrick’s Day hangover’s fast diminishing I thought I might as well write about one of Ireland’s most legendary boozers and hell raisers, the one and only Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan. By Beer Drinker Born into a strong Irish family in Kent, England, on Christmas Day in 1957. MacGowan’s early childhood, mostly spent in the…
TRIBUTE TO BRENDAN BEHAN 1923-1964

‘Streams Of Whiskey’ – The Pogues “Last night as I slept I dreamt I met with Behan Shook him by the hand and we passed the time of day When questioned on his views On the crux of life’s philosophies He had but these few clear and simple words to say I am going, I…
CIARAN MURPHY

Here’s the superb CIARAN MURPHY playing an Antifa gig we organised back in July 2010. The gig was the first night of the Emirates Cup at Arsenal in north London and the Bhoys were playing Lyon. So we booked the famous Mannions in Tottenham for a benefit gig. A great turnout meant we managed to raise…
THE EFFECTS OF NEW DIASPORA CELTIC PUNK: THE CREATION OF A PAN-CELTIC CULTURE

by Abagael McCauley “This is your heritage!” my dad said as he turned up the volume of the Chrysler Mini-Van’s stereo. We were parked along the St. Patty’s Day parade route, just two blocks from my house, and The Chieftain’s cassette was playing so loud that I felt the car shaking with the sound of…