NEW SINGLE: BARDS FROM YESTERDAY – The Muddy Road To Axa Briga

The best Celtic-Punk bands in Italy are heavily influenced by Trad-Irish-Folk and Bards From Yesterday are one of the best around at the moment. With such an authentic sound Ireland’s homegrown bands are green with envy!

With the release of their debut EP (EP)Demia in 2021 Bards from Yesterday stormed onto the international Celtic music scene. Heading straight to the top of the Folk/Trad Best Of chart for 2021 London Celtic Punk have been waiting impatiently for the follow up ever since. The new single from the five young talented musicians from northern Italy who  make up the Italian Celtic-Rock band Bards From Yesterday is ‘The Muddy Road To Axa Briga’ and these guys just love Irish music!

Bards From Yesterday from right to left: Mattia Gavin – Guitar / Vocals * Geppo Mastria – Bass * Luis Vásquez Vargas – Wooden Flute * Giovanni Davoli – Uilleann Pipes / Tin Whistle * Glauco Guala – Drums / Concertina *

The track is a set composed of three tunes with the first jig ‘The Road To Axa Briga’, the second ‘Dancing In The Mud’ and the last jig called ‘Raindrops Jig’. All three of the tunes are composed by Giovanni Davoli and arranged by the band themselves. The inspiration for the set came from one of their gigs at Axa Briga Festival in Northern Italy. At that time one of the members was working for a TV show and had the chance to ‘borrow’ (ahem!) one of the production’s tour buses to get to the gig. When the band arrived everything was fine, they sound checked, helped themselves to a few drinks and some food and then got on stage to play. Three songs in and an almighty storm kicked off. Rather than spoil the night as you would imagine the gig actually got even better. The crowd and band ended up covered in mud as well as every single cable, microphone and instrument… and the bus! While the rest of the band had no option except to clean the instruments and then the bus Giovanni the piper just sat drunk on a bench playing some tunes for the ladies and waiting for the last raindrops to fall.

A truly wonderful piece of Irish music and the joyful sound is replicated throughout the video too as Bards From Yesterday can’t conceal their happiness while playing. The video was directed by Lorenzo Testa of the utterly brilliant, and well on their way to be legendary, Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards in the small village of Ameno in the Italian region of Piedmont, north east of Turin. Every year the village hosts a great festival of Celtic, Traditional and Folk music. The audio was recorded by Maurizio Cardullo (Folkstone) at Crono’s Studio in Milan and at Bonsai Studio in Brovello Carpugnino by Federico Gibelli. The guys have a full length studio album out later in the month titled Many Miles From Land. Ten mostly original tracks of marvellous, modern day traditional Irish Folk.

Contact Bards Of Yesterday  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram

NEW ALBUM: ZECKYBOYS – ‘Dirty Brands’ (2022)

Hot on the heels of their debut single comes the debut album from raucous and rowdy Italian Celtic-Punkers Zeckyboys.

After the success of their debut single a release I have been looking forward to hearing was the full length album from Zeckyboys (there is no ‘The’). With a winning combination of trad Irish Folk and full throttle Punk Rock they are the latest in a long line of Italian Celtic-Punk bands that fully embrace the trad side of the genre. It helps then that the members of the band are all experienced musicians with long histories of touring and playing varied musical styles. Put them together and you have Zeckyboys!

Zeckyboys left to right: Beppe – Fiddle / Backing Vocals * Enzo – Guitar / Backing Vocals * Max – Diatonic Accordion / Backing Vocals * Mastro – Lead Voice / Guitar / Irish Bouzouki * Bill – Drums / Backing Vocals * Ricky – Accordion / Backing Vocals * Franz – Bass / Backing Vocals * (Photo by Michele Piccinini)

The album kicks off with their debut single ‘Damned Purple Bus’ and in the last few weeks their has been a run of great videos and add this to the list. Telling the tale of being late for work behind a bus that keeps stopping and that you can’t get past the frustration is described perfectly and with great humour and the music… well the music! Starting off with a mix of Folk’n’Punk the song soon slides into thrashy HxC Punk but then towards the end the Bhoys give us a touch of Ska before then turning into a trad Irish Folk band and ‘The Swallowtail Jig’. Awesome and from what I have seen made quite an impact on the Celtic-Punk scene. The music is has a heavy touch but is far from tuneless having an appeal I think to many non-Punky types too. Next song ‘The Dance Of The Passed Away’ is a good example of that played with a hardness but with a great Folky edge and sense of humour. On ‘Horsefield’ the emphasis is switched to Irish Folk but they keep the hard Punk edge and as can be witnessed on the video below they certainly get the audiences on the move!

(POV of Zeckyboys playing at the Bundan Celtic Festival 23-07-2022)

‘Seamus’ touches on medieval style music but again with that Punk edge. ZeckyVün’s vocals are pure Punk Rock so that even during the quieter moments, of which their are many, they can’t escape their Punk side. Loud and growly like a MacGowan / Waits hybrid he hits all the right notes for this aging Punk especially up next on ‘A Bit Of Punk’ which even amongst the hardcore squeezes some trad Irish in! On ‘Hold A Stone’ ZeckyMax and his diatonic accordion holds sway as his old fashioned intro leads into a song where the accordion is pushed to the fore and given full reign to rule. Zeckyboys concentrate on writing their own material and the album’s only cover is next up with a Dropkick Murphys influenced ‘Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya’. First published in London in 1867 and written by English born second-generation Irish songwriter and performer Joseph B. Geoghegan it has become deservedly one of the most popular ant-war anthems in existence. A solid version that is always timeless and always received well by audiences. A Metal influence is evident in the sludgy ‘Wonder Boy’ that again turns into raucous trad Folk romp that is the albums longest song at 5 and half minutes before the album’s final track the great ‘It’s A Conspiracy’.

(Zeckyboys recorded live at Drunk in Public 04-03-2022)

The Italian Celtic-Punk scene is large and very talented and friendly. It’;s only a few weeks since we hosted the amazing Dirty Artichokes here in London and plans are afoot for Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards to pop over to see us too. Both absolutely amazing bands and wonderful people. Thanks to the pandemic it took Zeckyboys two years before they could actually play live so these songs have been perfected before being released into the world and they are playing like a band trying to make up for lost time. With nine songs clocking in at nearly 40 minutes the way they switch from Punk to Trad is both astounding and seamless with them somehow managing it without you even noticing at times. This is a band with a lot to offer and sitting as they do on both wings of Celtic-Punk they will have a lot of appeal to fans of the genre at home and abroad.

Buy Dirty Brands  Spotify  www.zeckyboys.com 

Contact Zeckyboys   Facebook  YouTube  Instagram

NEW SINGLE: ITALIAN BAND ZECKYBOYS RELEASE ‘Damned Purple Bus’

Formed just before the pandemic Italian band Zeckyboys have continued right where they left off with a new single of raucous and rowdy Celtic-Punk with some quality Irish trad thrown in as well for free!

Zeckyboys (there is no ‘The’) get their name from a Swiss term for ‘grass trimmer’. Kind of apt for me seeing as that’s about half my job as a groundsmen! So an unusual name for a Celtic-Punk band that is far from your usual Celtic-Punk band! With plenty of influences alongside Punk and Folk through Heavy Metal and even Classical. It helps of course that the members of the band are all experienced musicians with long histories of touring and playing varied musical styles. Zeckyboys is just a bunch of guys (talented ones though) who play music, drink beer and have fun all in the name of Celtic-Punk.

The Bhoys have a new single out titled ‘Damned Purple Bus’ taking in the life long struggle against the clock and everything that causes you rage and frustration. From the moment your wake up you find yourself in a rush to arrive at work in time. The song tells of one of those days when everything that can go wrong does so. Rain, the last seconds of your favourite song on the radio, a traffic jam and that damned purple bus. It won’t let you pass due to the traffic, the people getting on and off and the bendy road slows you down even more so you can even hear the boss threatening to fire you if you’re late again. Everyday you curse that damned purple bus and curse because it looks like it does it on purpose!

Still got the signs of the pillow on my face
Ready to start let’s win the race
Get in the car the music is on
Fuck that song is already gone.

*
Clean my beard from the drool of sleep
Lay down the glass for a bit of breeze
Clogged streets and horns thrilling
Come on

*

Time runs faster minutes go ahead
You must be here the boss said
I see it it’s down the road
Many people are getting on board
*
That damned purple bus

It’s impossibile I can’t pass
The boss will kick my ass
Fuck that damned purple bus
*
Every day it’s always the same
Hands up who knows the blame
Stare at my face deep in my eyes
Not looking for trite lies

*
I could run on every street

Done the bend I sight it
With that colour it’s down the road
Like a big grand candy world

*
Time runs faster minutes go ahead
You must be here the boss said
I see it / it’s down the road
Many people are getting on board
*

That damned purple bus

It’s impossible I can’t pass
The boss will kick my ass
Fuck that damned purple bus

One of the best of the more recently formed Celtic-Punk bands Zeckyboys play fast as hell Celtic-Punk with the emphasis on the Punk but with the ability to break half way and start throwing out some amazing trad Irish Folk. As above where the song suddenly turns into the ‘Swallowtail Jig’ and I’ve always said to be a top notch Celtic-Punk band no matter how good you’re Punk side is you gotta learn a bit of trad. The video is a collage of the band’s gigs through the last summer and includes some short clips of trips, jokes, the various stages, music and of course a lot of beer and you can almost feel the good time vibes coming out through the screen!

Contact Zeckyboys  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram

CELTIC-PUNK LIVE AND LOUD IN DEPTFORD

The Lagan / Dirty Artichokes / Anto Morra at The Bird’s Nest, Deptford, London

Thursday 4th August 2022

It had been a while since we put on any bands and had even debated whether or not to keep doing so but presented with the opportunity to put on Italian band Dirty Artichokes we just couldn’t say no. On their way to Outcider Festival down south and (sort of) passing through the big smoke we rounded up a couple of the best the London Irish had to offer and let the bands do what they do best. Séan Cregan was there and enjoyed the night so much he had to get it into print!

A lovely sunny Thursday evening sees me heading down to Deptford south London. I arrive at the Little Crown, a small recently refurbished Irish pub, for a few liveners with Mark, Amy and Pat before making the short walk to the Birds Nest one of the few remaining live music venues where gigs are usually free (as tonight’s is) and the drinks are reasonably priced unlike the eye watering six pounds fifty at the New Cross Inn down the road.

The Birds Nest has also had a makeover in recent years, which was well needed as in the past you’d struggle to see the band stuck in the corner with no stage. This has now thankfully been rectified with a stage centre front of the bar, making for a small cosy up close and personal experience for both bands and punters alike.
As it’s Amy’s birthday the drinks are flowing and the bar is getting another makeover by way of London Celtic Punks stickers (get your own from the LCP Shop) liberally splattered about the gaff. The evening’s entertainment begins by way of Punk / Folk legend Anto Morra who warms up the still arriving crowd with his humour and medleys of Punk and Folk classics. For a Thursday night the place is jumping and it’s standing room only for the late arrivals. The Dirty Artichokes are a new one for me but boy were we in for a treat! The nine piece Italian band from Turin shuffle onto the stage filling every inch. The fiddle player had to stand on a speaker cab as there was literally no room left. We are then entertained for the next forty minutes by some of the most energetic Celtic Folk / Punk it has been my pleasure to witness.

(The Dirty Artichokes final song of the night recorded now for posterity!)

The lead singer is a bald, bearded, whirling dervish who engages the audience with his energy and passion. He also plays a mean tin whistle. The fact that most of the songs are in Italian matters not a jot to the crowd who have started jigging about loving every minute. I can’t recommend this lot enough and I was left wanting more and cheering like a lunatic. Nothing to do with the trays of Sambucas that have been necked to toast the birthday girl I’m sure.

The band finish with a rousing cover of the Anti Fascist favourite ‘Bella Ciao’ before leaving the stage to make way for the evening’s final turn. The Lagan (named after the Belfast river) are a five piece that play souped up traditional Irish Celtic-Punk at its best. I’ve seen them a few times now and they never ever disappoint and tonight is no different as they put on a blinder of a set, with loads of us singing along, as the night draws to a close. Well at the Bird’s Nest anyway. Check out their debut album ‘Where’s Your Messiah Now?’

We saunter off into the night well oiled and satisfied. We find the Amersham Arms still open and serving and drink into the small wee hours. Not too shabby for a Thursday night in South London.

Up the Celts!

Photos – Anto / Amy / Séan / Donny / Pat

We are pleased to welcome Séan Cregan to our ‘roster’ of London Celtic Punks writers. Séan is a second-generation London-Irish boy through and through. Lived here all his days and has absolutely no interest in ever moving away. “A man who is tired of London is tired of life” said someone once. He is currently in the process of writing his autobiography of a life well lived. His previous works include 24/7 – Prison Poems From An Anti-Fascist still available from https://www.paypal.me/AFpoems for £4 and we look forward to many more pieces here.

 

EP REVIEW: THE CLOVERHEARTS – ‘Still Pissed’ (2022)

New music just keeps on coming from Australian / Italian Celtic-Punk band The Cloverhearts. One of the scene’s more prolific bands its quality over quantity though and always incredible how they transfer their catchy melodies, tin-whistle ear-worms and energetic live performances into the recording studio.

From their debut EP in 2019 The Cloverhearts have never stopped! At a time when 95% of the Celtic-Punk scene went into lock down they carried on and continued to release music throughout those horrible times. Since Covid’s somewhat miraculous disappearance (!) they have carried on in much the same way. So far 2022 has seen the band record and release an acoustic version of their debut album, The Sick And The Sacred, a couple of singles (only one of which is included here) and three professional looking videos plus a successful tour of Italy and Czech Republic over St. Patrick’s weekend.

Live in Prague – 19.03.2022 * Photo – @crishfoot

Still Pissed came out on March 31 and is five original tracks written by the band themselves. They kick proceedings off with ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ and while their Punk side may owe much to the popular ‘Pop-Punk’ sound and not just in Aussie Sam’s distinctive vocals but also in their positive message. AS you can imagine the song is a joyous bagpipe driven 4-minute romp guaranteed to fill up any dancefloor.

The second of the five track’s was also released as the first single from the EP and ‘Whatshername?’ takes us off to a chance meeting at a Dropkick Murphys show as Sam searches after a elusive women he has taken a shine to and then lost. This time they let Ska take completely over and is reminiscent of the Ska scene’s most popular band at the moment, The Interrupters. Full blown Ska ain’t really my thing but I like this it must be said. Not one for a slow song usually but the Celtic-Punk 10 Commandments does state that you should have a ballad on every release and they do it pretty damn good with ‘Go Quiet Now’. A simple song but beautiful. They turn it up again next for ‘Pennies’ about as Punk as they get and as catchy as anyone could get. Fully embracing the ‘Pop-Punk’ of bands like Green Day, NOFX, Blink 182 (all in their cocky prime of course) and while their Celtic side takes a rest it is still recognisable as The Cloverhearts.  The curtain comes down on ‘All My Friends Are Alcoholics’ and they save the best for last with a Celtic-Punk monster of a song. The celebration of booze and drinking it finishes off a great EP on a real high. We have a funny relationship with the glorification of alcohol in the scene with the criticism it receives from outside more to do with the dislike of working class culture than anything else. Drink or not, drunk or not it’s all about celebrating life and you need to escape the shite sometimes and if drinking and Celtic-Punk is your thing then I’ll have a drink with you anytime.

Always innovative and unafraid to try new things The Cloverhearts will always have at their heart that Celtic base but their sound opens up opportunities to cross over into other genres ensuring their popularity both in and out of Celtic-Punk. Never a band to take themselves totally serious they cover some interesting topics from alcoholism, fist fights and love and loss, Still Pissed has it all. Fast, loud and with what has become the trademark Cloverhearts sound it’s also highly original in a scene that for most of the time prefers uniformity to be honest.

(You can download / stream Still Pissed via the Bandcamp player below)

Buy Still Pissed  Bandcamp

Contact The Cloverhearts  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram

THE CLOVERHEARTS NEW SINGLE ‘Thorn In My Side’

The brand new video from Aussie/ Italian Celtic-Punkers The Cloverhearts. ‘Thorn In My Side’ with a strong message against bullying. Lots of change for the Italian band. A new manager and band members but the same ol’ Cloverhearts sound at heart!

‘Thorn In My Side’ is a bagpipe-driven power anthem about staying true to yourself, and not letting the words of others get you down. In 2021, where the cowardly stalk their prey from behind computer screens, it’s important to remember the words of the weak don’t define who you are.

The Cloverhearts – Thorn in My Side

You were the thorn in my side, You were the thorn in my side.

I’m digging down, to cut you out.

You won’t break my stride.

*

Oh, the thorn in my side. Oh, the thorn in my side.

Keep diggin’ in, but you won’t win.

Oh, thorn in my side.

*

You’ve been the thorn in my side,

But you won’t get the best of me,

You won’t get the best of me, Oh no.

*

Your sticks and your stones,

Won’t break my bones, oh no.

Won’t break my bones, No they won’t.

*

Your words won’t work, No your words won’t hurt,

You won’t break this soul…

Your words won’t work, No your words won’t hurt,

I’m letting you know…

*

You’ve been the slap in my face,

But I’m ’a turn the other cheek,

I’m ’a turn the other cheek, I will.

*

Because your sad little words,

Come from insecurity,

And they won’t get the best of me, Oh no.

*

Oh, you won’t break these bones.

Oh, with your names.

Oh, you won’t break these bones.

Oh, not today.

Oh, thorn in my side.

*

Directed by Francesco Agostini Produzioni * Filmed at Spazio Webo

Music and Lyrics by Sam Cooper

The Cloverhearts are a Italian Celtic-Punk band, founded in 2019 – just months before the pandemic hit. From the start, the response towards The Cloverhearts’ music has been overwhelmingly positive! With a year of touring booked for 2020 and beyond, the future of the band was looking bright.

Then, pandemic. And then, nothing.

Now as we see glimmers of hope on the horizon, we’re looking to get back to work. We’re raising funds to pay off minor debts, and to pay for minor expenses such as merch production and travel costs to help us get back on the road in 2022. Coming soon will be an acoustic album supported on Kickstarter. To find out more watch the video where Sam explains the current goings on at Cloverhearts HQ. 

Download Thorn In My Side   Spotify  iTunes 

Contact The Cloverhearts  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram  Bandcamp

COUNTRY ROADS: THE GENTLEMEN Vs. THE CLOVERHEARTS

Two bands from completely different places and era’s pay homage to the late great John Denver with their version of his classic track ‘Country Roads’ done Celtic-Punk.

Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.
Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze.

*
Country roads, take me home to the place I belong.
West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country roads.

A long time ago now I came across a band on My Space (yes it was that long ago!) and even in the heyday of Celtic-Punk this really stood out. Fast, energetic, authentic Irish-American Celtic-Punk and while most bands talked up The Clash and The Pogues, The Gentlemen took their inspiration from Sham 69 and the Cockney Rejects and The Wolfe Tones! If I can be forgiven for saying they stood head and shoulders above everything the rest the scene had to offer. I think by then they had already split up but they did leave behind two fantastic records in a full length album Stick To Your Guns and an album of early recordings imaginative titled Greatest Hits.

(Both releases are compiled below on the Bandcamp player along with a couple of extra tracks for **FREE** download) 

A 9 (yes nine!) piece band from Morgantown in West Virgina it was perhaps inevitable they would turn their hand to John Denver’s classic song but it was with the video that people really sat up and took notice. Capturing the spirit of working class Irish-America they are a band that has never in the intervening years been off my stereo. Over the years we have tried to get in touch with The Gentlemen but to no avail so if anyone knows them send them over.

So it is that almost thirteen years later one of the current leading lights of the Celtic-Punk scene turns their hand to ‘Country Roads’ too. The Cloverhearts formed when Aussie Sam and Italian Chiara first met at a Rumjacks show in Manhattan, New York fresh from Chiara’s departure from fellow Italian Celtic-Punkers, The Clan. Soon joined by guitarist JJ, bassist Stefano and drummer Christian The Cloverhearts have not been slow at releasing new music onto the scene and along with some high profile support slots their rise has been meteorically and they have become one of the Celtic-Punk scenes bands to watch.

With a sound that veers off from Celtic to Ska to Punk and back to Ska again The Cloverhearts are that new breed of Celtic-Punk bands that don’t feel confined by trad Celtic / Irish Folk and just play the music that they want to. They have an new single out next week called ‘Thorn In My Side’ that you can pre-order from here: https://show.co/WHlE5cm

Ironically though the country roads in this song are set in West Virginia, John Denver had never ever set foot in West Virginia! Co-writers and married couple Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert were driving along Clopper Road in Montgomery County, Maryland when the song formed. Later that night they played with Denver and between the three of them wrote the song with Denver saying afterwards he instantly knew it was a hit. It  peaked at #2 in the Billboard US charts on release in 1971 and since has gone on to become John Denver’s most iconic song with it being adopted as one of the state anthems of West Virginia and is the theme song of West Virginia University where it has been played at every home football game since 1972.

ALBUM REVIEW: THE RUMPLED – ‘The Perfect Match’ (2021)

Another release from prolific Italian Celtic-Punkers The Rumpled. With a sound influenced by traditional Irish Folk they are already one of the best bands in the scene and a band to expect big things from in the near future.

The last few years have been quite a time for fans of Celtic-Punk in Italy. While the genre has always been popular due in no small part to to the friendly relations between Italy and the Celtic nations never before has Italy had quite so many great bands, among them some of the best in Europe. I won’t go into the names as I’m afraid to miss one of them but a simple search among the posts here will give you the opportunity to give your ears a real treat. The Rumpled are one such band and in their relatively short existence they have been as prolific as any band in Celtic-Punk. Formed in Trento in the north in 2013 it was five years before they got some songs down on record and the result was Ashes & Wishes, recorded and produced by Gianluca of Black Dingo Productions, who have supported The Rumpled ever since. A sixty date tour of Switzerland, France and Italy in 2119 promoting the Grace O’Malley EP was followed by another EP, Toss The Coin, and tour the following year. Of course Covid soon arrived and any plans the band had were shelved while the world came to terms with what was going on.  Despite this the band ploughed on and did manage to release both Home Sessions, a EP of covers with the help of some pretty well known faces in Firkin and Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards, and an acoustic EP Rumplugged.

The Rumpled from left to right: Michele Mazzurana- Drums, Backing Vocals * Davide Butturini- Guitars * Patrizia Vaccari- Fiddle * Marco Andrea Micheli- Lead Vocals * Luca Tasin- Bassman, Backing Vocals * Tommaso Zamboni- Accordion *

The new album is called The Perfect Match and was released late last month again for Black Dingo and while new material is thin on the ground, with it being basically a re-recorded and re-vamped compilation of The Rumpled’s last two studio releases it is still an outstanding release and the perfect place to enter if you are new to the band. The Perfect Match kicks off with ‘Time To Go’, the album’s only new song and which was also the lead single for the album. The song is dedicated to Italian para-olympian athlete Giuliana Chiara Filippi and her story of fortitude and resilience, despite her many obstacles to overcome, and her dream to represent Italy in the Paralympics. Inspired they choose her to be featured as the main character in the video. A truly Perfect Match.

A great rocking start and a lovely tribute. We wish her well. Talking about the single The Rumpled said

“The song is an invitation to return to life with energy and enthusiasm and move into the future, throwing the difficult situation of last year behind us. After this long break, our desire to restart, to get back on stage and perform for a crowd is uncontainable, that’s why we all sing the in chorus: “hey ho, it’s time to go, we’re gonna raise hell tonight – So let’s go to another show and everything’s gonna be alright”!”

Musically The Rumpled play an energetic and lively style of Celtic-Punk. While The Rumjacks influence casts a shadow over much of the Italian Celtic-Punk scene The Rumpled have always done their own thing with a sound influenced by traditional Irish Folk music as much as anything. ‘Stand Up’ was the opening track on the Toss The Coin and sees the band accompanied by the Bold Rumjacker himself Frankie McLaughlin. Accordion led and with one hell of a catchy chorus it’s fist in the air time here as you swing your mates round and round. The energy is unrelenting and continues throughout the albums forty minutes with only a handful of pauses for breathe.

The following six songs also come from the Toss The Coin with ‘Take A Drop’ and ‘The Gipsy Dancer’, a lead single from Toss The Coin and you will see where the EP gets its title from in the excellent accompanying video. ‘The Road’ is less ‘traditional’ and more modern sounding Celtic-Punk combining elements of Ska with some great ‘Woah-Woah-Woahh’ gang vocals. ‘One Love’ is the first of two songs to feature guests from fellow Italian Celtic-Folk-Rockers Folkamiseria from western Piedmont. More Folk orientated but still with that harder edge while ‘Broken Romances’ has a more harder edge.

‘Patty’s Jig’ was the final song on the EP but here marks half way. Accompanied again by Folkamiseria on bouzouki The Rumpled show they can go full on traditional with a self penned Irish Folk tune that could have been written a hundred years ago!! Song #9 here is the song that began the Grace O’Malley EP ‘Song of Ill Repute’, a speedy accordion and fiddle led whirling dervish of a song which is followed by the EP’s title track, a extended version, ‘Grace O’Malley’. With over 1,000,000 plays on Spotify and a place in the Top Ten Celtic-Punk EP’s Of 2019 on this here web-zine. Grace O’Malley was known as ‘The Pirate Queen’ and until recently was largely known only to Irish communities around the world with tales of her exploits being told and re-told through the generations. A fearless leader over land and sea, a politician and tactician, rebel and pirate, and the ’most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland’.

‘Fearless And Brave’ sees the band accompanied by Paddy O’Reilly from the awesome Celtic-Punk band Paddy And The Rats. Utterly brilliant the dual vocals work to great effect while the Celtic-Punk crosses into Ska and back. ‘Feelin’ Fine’ keeps up the pace going and finally ‘The Maiden’ brings down the curtain.

So while it’s a shame for us long time fans of the band not to have an album of brand new music its perfectly understandable that The Rumpled want to get their music out to as wider audience as possible and this is a great opportunity for them to do so. So if you’re a fan pass this on to someone who isn’t (yet!) and make their day. The album is available on both download and physical release and also why not read up on Grace O’Malley it really is a fascinating story.

Buy The Perfect Match  Here  Contact The Rumpled  WebSite  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube

Black Dingo Productions  WebSite  Facebook

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

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

ODDS’N’SODS. CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP FEBUARY 2021

Our regular monthly feature of all the Celtic-Punk news that’s fit to print. Band news, record releases, videos, tours (not individual gigs though yet sadly), live streams, crowd funders etc., send it into us at londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or through the Contact Us page. All will get a mention but I need YOU to help if it’s going to work.

We kick off this months Odds’n’Sods with two London-Irish bands. The first is the latest from CLAN OF CELTS and ‘My Eternal Tomb’. Their first single in three years a haunting tune of a strickened deportee ship leaving Ireland heading towards the penal colony in Australia, with a cargo of chained prisoners getting caught in a typhoon and being hauled to the bottom of the ocean and perishing. Available on all platforms to stream and download.

Next a new song/video from one of our most favourist bands CROCK OF BONES. ‘Nothin Worse’ is an original song and it’s mighty fine of course!

So nice to hear a band that you thought had split up is still active and one of my favourite bands KITCHEN IMPLOSION from Novara in Italy have indeed been constantly releasing music since the last I heard of them the brilliant ‘Pretty Work Brave Boys!’ album from 2014. They put out an EP Analfabeta Esistenziale in 2019 and the single ‘Coprifuoco’ last year available for download for a Euro.

Scots band THE CLELANDERS formed in 2017; with three brothers and a mate of theirs, bringing together a love of Irish and Scottish Folk music and throwing in a bit of Punk and Rock. All members grew up in the small mining village of Cleland in North Lanarkshire. They’ve a load of music up on their Facebook page but soon as they can are going to be recording more. They’ve a single out ‘Favourite Son’ about local Bhoy and Celtic (and Manchester United) legend Jimmy Delaney in benefit of their local Celtic Supporters Club Charity Fund named in honour of Jimmy. The song has been played at Celtic Park and is available for download for only 99p.

More from Scotland with the new video from THE CUNDEEZ of ‘Horo Gheallaidh’ one of the highlights of their recent album Teckle An Hide. A cover of a track by fellow Scots band Peat & Diesel. Fast, thrashy guitars telling the tale of a night out in the Highlands. Brilliant!

German band THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS have long become one of my favourite bands and they follow up last years cracking album Dogs On The Leash with a Christmas release for the single ‘Joy Of Life’ that passed us by at the time. The Bhoys kick out a ballad which they are equally good as the kick arse Celtic-Punk they more famous for.

Pogues legend Terry Woods has contributed banjo, mandolin and veillette to a new song ‘Wide Eyed Lady’ by Irish/singer songwriter LOU McMAHON. Originally released in 2010 it has been remixed, re-mastered and released as a single as part of an album release in 2021. ‘Wide Eyed Lady’ is a dark folktale that interweaves Goth-Rock with Folk, guided by mythology, folklore and fantasy.

The fantastic Texan Celtic-Punkers THE DEAD RABBITS have a new album out soon on Roach Guard Records. These guys have the best graphics in Celtic-Punk!

London based RANAGRI (pronounced Ra-na-grye) release their new single ‘Follow Me Up To Carlow’, on February 8th. Pre-release here.

If you are looking for quality Celtic-Punk and for the bargain price of absolutely nothing then Oxford based LIDDINGTON HILL have only gone and made their last three singles free to download over on their web-site.

MICK McLOUGHLIN aka ‘Mick The Busker’ has been busking along Henry street in central Dublin for the last 10 years and has finally got some songs down on disc. The Busker is his third release but his first featuring his own material. It’s available on CD from him and download from Bandcamp.

TIR NAN OG – Sing Ye Bastards (Album)

BARDS FROM YESTERDAY – Demia (EP) -See Reviews

YE BANISHED PRIVATEERS – Drawn and Quartered (EP)

JASON STIRLING AND THE BLUE MOON BAND – Locked Doors And Lost Keys (EP)

TOXIC FROGS – My Lucky Own (EP)

Remember if you want your release featured then we have to have heard it first!

A new project out of Brittany with influences sometimes trad, sometimes rock. The BRETONS collective is 15 musicians on stage evolving on stage like a storm, ready to bewitch the halls of Europe!

More from the forthcoming new Rumjacks album with the release of title song ‘Hestia’ last week. Out in early March and available for pre-order here.

The debut studio album from Jay Terrestrial and the Firepit Collective dates back to 2014 and the band continues to play and record today. Recently they have had a string of sold out dates cancelled-rearranged-cancelled- rearranged-cancelled in London due to the ‘clampdown’. Jay is better known as the singer from London Punk/Dub band the Inner Terrestrials while the Firepit Collective has become his folky side project. This album combines new arrangements of trad songs and tunes along with original material. Here Jay and Chezney Newman are joined by friends Jess Cahill, Jez Hellard, David Garner, Rosie Nobbs, Chris Bowsher and Del Wilson.

German Celtic-Punkers MUIRSHEEN DURKIN have announced a St. Patrick’s Live Stream free on Facebook. Playing live from the Sauerland Theater in Arnsberg at 6pm on Saturday 20th March. Join the FB event to reminded nearer the time.

Canadians THE PEELERS have a new album out in March called Down And Out In The City Of Saints on Stomp Records.

MacSLONS IRISH PUB RADIO have announced the next installment of their Raise Your Pint compilation album series titled Corona Sessions. They are looking for 20 bands that have recorded songs during the course of the pandemic. If you want to take part in this please contact them at raise.your.pints@macslons.com

A plug for some good friends of ours over on Facebook. The Dropkick Murphys- Fan Page and the Celtic Punk, Folk And Rock Fans are two of the best music forums on FB let alone Celtic-Punk. Ran By Fans For Fans. Just like and join in the fun!

All we need to do now is for you to help fill this page with news and remember if you are new to the London Celtic Punks blog it is easy to subscribe / follow and never miss a post. Also if anyone is interested in helping out on the reviews front then let us know via the Contact Us page.

EP REVIEW: BARDS FROM YESTERDAY – (EP)DEMIA (2021)

The first review of 2021 features the new EP from Italian band Bards From Yesterday. Five young, capable and multi-talented musicians , originally from the areas of Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta, in northern Italy have chosen to embrace an ancient and distant culture, just as the bards did, Celtic minstrels who wandered from land to land, looking for as many incredible stories to retell and entertain.

And so 2021 carries on from where 2020 left off… Nevermind we get on with it and carry on the best we can don’t we? The Bards From Yesterday emerged over the last twelve months onto the Celtic-Punk scene despite being formed originally back in 2015. With 300+ gigs behind them and two official releases: Barney! their studio debut an EP with their favourite songs and Live In Brintaal! This was the culmination of over sixty gigs across northern Italy and Switzerland, ending at the Brintaal Celtic Folk Festival where the album was recorded. The album also contains the first song entirely written by the band, ‘Johnny Is Ainm Dom (Johnny Is My Name)’. So there you go this wee site carries just a drop in the ocean of all the bands out there and it is a battle we are more than happy to keep losing as it shows the scene is in a healthy state!

On (EP)Demia they have again recorded five songs and they are all covers bar the opening track. I was a bit disappointed initially as this is a band with undoubted talent and potential so it would be nice for them to take a risk and push their own material. I am sure they are more than capable of doing it and doing it extremely well. Still that disappointment subsided when I played the EP. Instantly a band we are very fond of’s influence can be found. That of fellow Italian Celtic-Punk band Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards. Both bands strive for as authentic as possible Irish music. One of the most beautiful and powerful instruments in the world are the uileann pipes and similar to Uncle Bard they are used to tremendous effect here and they give the songs that authenticity missing from some Celtic bands. Giovanni (who also plays the flute and tin whistle here) really is an excellent player, as are all the members of this great band!

(the Bhoys blasting through three traditional polkas as recorded in their homes in quarantine during while they should have been on their St. Paddy’s Tour Of 2020. Titled ‘The Unlucky Paddy’s Set’. Enjoy)

The EP opens with the trad instrumental ‘Pali’s Jig’ and the sound of the uileann pipes is a truly wonderful thing. How their aren’t more players in the Celtic-Punk scene I don’t know as it adds so much to the songs. Here the band go ‘hell for leather’ and it just emphasises they they should try and branch out with their own material if they can write songs like this. Utterly brilliant. Next up are a couple of live favourites and Irish music staples ‘Rocky Road To Dublin’ and ‘Star Of The County Down’. Both have almost been done to death but their is no denying they are fantastic songs and really when it comes down to it I never tire of hearing them. Especially of course when they are done with a bit of flair and individuality and Bards Of Yesterday give them plenty of both. Mattia’s vocals are clear and ‘Rocky Road’ is hard enough to keep up with in your native tongue so he does a great job not missing a beat while ‘Star’ starts off nice and slow before becoming exactly what you’d expect! A nice jolly upbeat romp to bump into people on the dance floor to. Next up is the pipe heavy Irish trad tune ‘Mick O’Connor’s Reels’. The song, written by north-west London based banjo playing Mick O’Connor, is quite simply superb and has an Horslips/Planxty feel to it. It also reminded me of the great late 80’s Yorkshire band You Slosh. Turning away from from Irish music for the EP’s final track with a song titled ‘Hector The Hero’. A beautiful song and one I first heard by The Bothy Band but the Bards Of Yesterday again give it their own stamp and refuse to just give us a straight cover but do their own thing. Which is exactly how it should be! It may also be familiar to any Mickey Rickshaw fans out there! Composed by Scots fiddler James Scott Skinner to honour Major-General Hector MacDonald, who had a distinguished career in the British Army, rising up the ranks from enlisted soldier. He tragically committed suicide in 1903 in Paris.

Bards Of Yesterday from top left to right: Mattia Gavin – Vocals, Guitar * Alessandro ‘Pali’ Lovisi – Greek Bouzouki, Mandolin * Glauco Guala – Drums * Giuseppe ‘Geppo’ Mastria – Bass, backing vocals * Giovanni Davoli – Low whistle, Tin Whistle, Uilleann Pipes *

So our first review of the year and already an absolute corker. Much more trad and less ‘punk’ than Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards but cut from the same cloth as regards how they treat and play Irish (and Celtic) music. One great thing the band do is a series of videos where they play a song like ‘Drunken Sailor’ or ‘The Parting Glass’ and tell of the history of the song and how to play it. Sadly for me it’s all in Italian! The friendly links between Ireland and Italy go back further than anyone can imagine and their have been many great Italian bands who play better Celtic music than the Celts do and Bards From Yesterday could just be another one.

“We’re storytellers that tell myths and legend about alcohol and shenanigans.
From the fairy tale of the drunken sailor till the mad dance of the premier bootleggers of Connemara.”

Buy (EP)Demia  Amazon  Apple

Contact Bards Of Yesterday  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2020!

Well here we go again. It seems an awful long time since we were compiling all the votes into 2019’s Best Of. Last year saw The Walker Roaders triumph but with this year being a lot quieter on the Celtic-Punk front thanks to the lockdowns around the world bands have found themselves unable to tour and promote new releases so have held onto them till things got better. Still that’s not to say it was a complete wash out and as you can see from below their have been some absolute knock-outs during the year.

Remember this is only our opinion so feel free to comment, slag off or dissect our lists. The Readers Poll is back again this year so you can even vote on your favourite release of 2020 yourself. We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

(for more information click on the release title in green)

Was very close between the top three this year but Ogras seem to have been not only our favourites but also most of the Celtic-Punk medias too. A lot less albums may have come out during the year but still plenty more that didn’t make the cut. Don’t be down hearted if you are one of them it could just be that one of the judges hadn’t heard that album. Again if we don’t hear your album we can’t review it so the massive majority here are ones that were sent in to us. We only need a download link (NO Spotify!) and we’re happy. Out of the 30 albums 18 countries were represented including 2 from the Celtic nations Scotland #4 and Brittany #13 and our first from Hawaii!

1. OGRAS – No Love In The City

2. UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS – The Men Behind The Glass

3. FINNEGANS HELL – Work Is The Curse Of The Drinking Class

4. THECUNDEEZ – Teckle And Hide

5. KRAKIN’ KELLYS – Burn Your Flag

6. THE GO-SET – Of Bright Futures And Broken Pasts

7. BLACK WATER COUNTY – Comedies And Tragedies

8. McSCALLYWAG – Songs For The Wicked

9. BATALLON DE SAN PATRICIO- Hermanos De Guerra

10. THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS – Off The Leash

11. THE REAL McKENZIES – Beer And Loathing

12. THE MUCKERS – Irish Goodbye

13. CELT & PIPER – No Mercy

14. THE FEELGOOD MacLOUDS – Life On A Ferris Wheel

15. FEROCIOUS DOG – You

16. THE KONA ROGUES – Batten Down The Hatches

17. PADDY WAGGIN- Race To The Bottom

18. BLACK ANEMONE – Chasing The Sun

19. PADDY MURPHY – Rams Rebels Goats And Girls

20. THE STUBBY SHILLEAGHS – Glass To Mouth

21. CELKILT – The Next One Down

22. THE DEAD MAGGIES – More Than Just Ghosts

23. KELTIKON – The Black Boar

24. THE CELTIC SOCIAL CLUB – From Babylon To Avalon

25. BARBAR O’RHUM – Journal de B’O’R

26. JAMESTOWN BROTHERS – Rebels, Rogues And Regrets

27. SMZB – Once Upon A Time In The East

28. THE NEW RUFFIANS – Shenanigans

29. GRASS MUD HORSE – Beijing Bikini

30. NEVER SAY DIE – Punk Rock Pirates

Several bands have taken the chance during the lockdown to release compilations of sorts. While it would be a little unfair to include them in the main ‘Best Of’ section they still deserve a mention. Among these were two 30 year celebrations from two of Celtic-Punks most successful and popular bands in THE MAHONES – This Is All We Got To Show For It and FIDDLER’S GREEN – 3 Cheers For 30 Years. Both fully deserve a round of applause, a raise of the pint and a tip o’ the hat! Band compilations included ANTO MORRA – Twenty, THE DEAD RABBITS – The Dead Rabbits, LEXINGTON FIELD – Here’s To You Ten Years Of Fiddle Rock and LQR – Barrel-Aged. A couple of live albums THE STANFIELDS – Welcome To The Ball and ShamROCKS – FCP Live were both well received, you may have heard that a little known band THE POGUES put out a new album of previously unreleased material BBC Sessions 1984-86 and Quintessential Quarantunes was a 6-band compilation released in the Summer featuring the Bible Code Sundays and The Reels. MacSlons Irish Pub Radio also released volume 5 of Raise Your Pints the best Celtic-Punk sampler around of 19 of the Celtic-Punk scenes best bands.

You have to go back to the beginning of January for 1916’s release and though many more would challenge it stayed top of the pile all year long. Some great debut releases here from bands that will I am sure go on to bigger things. This time last year I was crowing about Shanghai Treason and how much I was looking forward to seeing them play… well I still am!

1. 1916 – Meant To Be

2. SHANGHAI TREASON – It’s Treason

3. BEAVER SECRET HANDSHAKE – Beaver Secret Handshake

4. KILMAINE SAINTS – Off The Wagon Acoustic Sessions

5. LEXINGTON FIELD – Win The Day

6. 7 STOUT CLAN – 7 Stout Clan

7. THE CLOVES AND THE TOBACCO – Jalan Pulang

8. LUCKY LAD GREEN – Get There Somehow

9. BRAVE THE SEA – The Murders Three

10. THE PLACKS – My Dearest Friend

BATALLON DE SAN PATRICIO- Hermanos De Guerra

This year’s winner of Best Debut Album comes from a continent where Celtic-Punk appears to be booming! The South American scene has been dominated in the past by bands from Brazil and Argentina (last years winners in this category were Aires Bastardos from Argentina) but with Batallón de San Patricio from Guadalajara in Mexico things are changing with several bands popping up over the last couple of years. The last twelve months have seen Batallón de San Patricio garner favourable reviews from various singles and live streams. Hermanos De Guerra/ Brothers Of War is delivered entirely in Spanish and spans the length of Celtic-Punk from trad Irish up to Celtic-PUNK making it fully deserving of the award.

Always the hardest list to compile as it covers so much ground. Some of these bands play Trad Folk with a Punk Rock heart like Clover’s Revenge while others didn’t quite fit as Celtic-Punk releases but the winners are the Rose family from NY state otherwise known as The Wild Irish Roses. An album that took us by surprise and managed to please everyone.

1. THE WILD IRISH ROSES – Full Bloom

2. CLOVERS REVENGE – Truants And Absolution

3. 6’10 – Carried In Retrospect

4. RUNA – The Tide Of Winter

5. MAGGIES FLOCK – Party At The Cemetery

6. PYROLYSIS – Alotsie

7. PATRICKS – Rocky Road To Ireland

8. HUGH MORRISON – The Other Side

9. TC COSTELLO – The Bluebird

10. PEAT & DIESEL – Light My Byre

Now this section is tinged with sadness. There is no question which site has the biggest impact on the Celtic-Punk scene over the last year and while not strictly a web-site the CELTIC PUNK, FOLK AND ROCK FANS group on Facebook fully deserved this years award. Sadness because the group founder Mike Kilroe very sadly passed away at the beginning of the month. Created back in February 2019 it was around the time of last years ill fated St. Patrick’s day and the subsequent Dropkick Murphys live stream show that membership of the group exploded and has now passed over 8000 members. If on Facebook they should be your first port of call, alongside us of course! We had a great interview with the founder of the group Mike back in May that you can find here and of course our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

We are not alone in doing these Best Of 2020 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  *  PADDYROCK

So there you go. Remember we have never pretended to be the final word on things in fact have a look at the other Celtic-Punk media’s Best Of’s and I’m sure they are all pretty different. Our Best Of’s, as usual, cajoled and bullied out of the admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page and then tallied up over a few pints in Mannions in north London. One important thing to note is that not all of us heard the same albums so like all the various Best Of’s ours is also subjective.

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Nine years we’ve been doing these lists now. It seems incredible looking back at some of the previous winners and also-rans how so many bands are still with us from Year 1. If you would like to check for yourself then just click on the link below the relevant year.

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Alongside the Best Of polls we also run a special Readers Poll where you get to pick your favourite release of the year. This will be The Readers Poll’s third year with Krakin’ Kellys and Mickey Rickshaw previously champions! There is only room to list the Top Ten albums but there is an option to write in your favourite release of 2020. You are allowed to vote for up to two releases but not for the same artist.

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

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2021

ALBUM REVIEW: UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS- ‘The Men Beyond The Glass’ (2020)

It’s been quite the year for Italian Celtic-Punk so far and Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards prove once again that they are ‘Premier League’ with their third album all set to light up the Celtic-Punk world yet again!

Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards are without doubt one of the world’s best Celtic-Punk bands. There I said it. It’s out of the way now. One of the most authentic bands in the scene they have a unbelievable crossover appeal to both Punks and Folk fans though they themselves think that they’re

“Too rock for the Folkies and too folk for the Rockies. The Bastards could please or disappoint almost everyone.”

Formed back in 2007 and based in the north of Italy most of the band have lived or spent time in Ireland and have fallen in love with Irish music and culture, playing a completely unique blend of Folk-Rock and Traditional Irish Music. In fact it’s safe to say that Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards are unlike any other Celtic-Punk band.

The Men Beyond The Glass is the Bhoys third album and both their previous albums have scored enormous success across the Celtic-Punk world. Debut album Get The Folk Out came out of nowhere to hit #1 as the London Celtic Punks album of the year for 2014 while their follow up album Handmade made #13 in 2017 in what has since been considered the strongest year for Celtic-Punk in recent times. These albums were good enough to earn them a slot at the Dublin Irish Festival, the United States most important Irish music festival, in Ohio in 2019 where they went down a storm and made many friends. Besides the US the band has toured internationally and played more than 400 gigs worldwide, including several times supporting Celtic-Punk legends The Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly as well as world renowned traditional Irish acts like The Dubliners, De Danann, Four Men And A Dog, Beoga and Cùig.

The Men Behind The Glass kicks off with ‘Hey Men’ and the glorious drone of the uileann pipes. Much harder to master than Scottish bagpipes and with a much ‘sweeter’ sound it was originally known as píobaí uilleann which translates literally as ‘elbow pipes’. A sound not heard very much in Celtic-Punk but when it is it moves a band from the same league as Leyton Orient up into Champions League territory. Not only that but Luca has truly mastered the instrument and provides an amazing backdrop for the Dirty Bastards to work alongside. The song was written by vocalist Guido whose aching vocals provide a powerful sound for the opening track. This is followed by the first song released from the album ‘Back On Your Feet’ and a song that is perhaps more usual fare for the band than track one.

Fast and catchy with an unmistakable Irish sound it’s a song with both a dark edge and a real catchiness about them and the band are also known for their intelligent lyrics and positive message.

“We spend a life to make it work
It takes a minute to ruin it all
We spent days, months, years
Trying to make it work
But that bloody one minute was worth it all

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again.
Fail again. Fail better.”

‘If Only He Applied Himself’ carries on in the same vein but with the band embracing the Celtic-Punk sound more and more. Think of them as an acoustic Punk band with Silvano’s understated electric guitar works just right in the barrage of sound here. Not only a master of the pipes Luca also excels on the Irish flute and tin whistle. On an album of such quality it is heartening to see that it is truly a band effort with Lorenzo, tenor banjo and mandolin, this time taking on the words and music for ‘Man Of The Storm’. A slow song but with a heavyness to it.

There’s a wealth of good songs here so hard to pick out the best but ‘Happily Misplaced In This World’ is one with a great singalong chorus and Lorenzo’s lyrics emphasise how much affection he has for that wee island on the edge of Europe.

“It’s springing in Dublin this March
And the crowd for Paddy’s day is gone
As I lay down and wait for the first sun
It’s just me and Charles Parnell”

On ‘Wish’ the song tells of a musician looking out on his audience and dreaming. A slow burner with a lovely Irish air to it provided by Luca Rapazzini on the fiddle and a nice touch with trumpet towards the end. ‘Devils Are All Here’ strays into bluegrass a smidgen but still fast and Celt and another killer chorus. ‘Life’s Grand’ has the best lyric of the album without a doubt and though they have that dark edge it’s undercut with a lovely dark humour too’

“Cause life is grand
Yes life is grand
Even when you step into dog shite
And life’s a curse but could be worse
And we would do it all over again”

‘The Count’ opens with the sound of Irish dancing from Irish dancing duo Perla Davide and Letizia Perin and then some of the albums heaviest guitars but still firmly entrenched in their trademark trad Irish sound. Luca’s pipes reign in the catchy and ‘pop’-ish  ‘The Make-Sense-Law’. A great song and a standout here with a real foot tapping/ thigh slapping beat and that piping to die for. ‘Empty Glasses’ gives the Bhoys a chance to ramp it up and get the audience on their feet. With the energy of a Flogging Molly anthem like ‘Drunken Lullabies’ the song rolls along until album closer ‘Get Some Rest’ and a delicate ballad sees the curtain closes on The Men Beyond The Glass. A beautiful song from Lorenzo that fits Guido voice nowhere better.

The album has several interesting guest appearances with Luca Rapazzini on fiddle, Diego Lambertini on trumpet, Lucia Picozzi on accordion and piano, Andrea Verga on clawhammer banjo and Daniele Rigamonti on bodhran with Andrea Rock and Anthony Hind on backing vocals. It was recorded, mixed and mastered at Greenriver Studio, Cavaria con Premezzo by Tancredi Barbuscia who has done an outstanding job in gathering the bands sound together. The power in even the slower songs and ballads shines through the entire album. I’ve said several times this year that I thought that album of the year had already been decided with the debut release from Norway’s Ogras but now I’m not so sure.

In a scene where it is remarkably easy to fall into the cliches of Irish music everything the Bastards put into their music screams originality. It may seem their isn’t always a lot of room for the boundaries of Celtic-Punk to be stretched but Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards are as good as band in the scene at stretching them. Fifty minutes that subvert the usual drinking songs that you usually hear on these pages. From the twelve original songs to the very title of the album The Men Beyond The Glass aims to show something different from just them drinking songs, jolly jigs, reels and sombre ballads. Not that the Bastards can’t turn their hand to those songs as well as these songs welcome you behind the artist and past the drinker to meet the men beyond the glass…

Buy The Men Beyond The Glass  CD- FromTheBand

Contact Uncle Bard  WebSite  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube

EP REVIEW: THE RUMPLED- ‘Toss The Coin’ (2020)

Yet more brilliant Italian Celtic-Folk-Punk has arrived on the London Celtic Punks doorstep. The new seven track EP from the Rumpled is here!
“Are you ready to face fate? Are you going to accept your
destiny or will you challenge it? Toss the Coin!”

The last month has seen a resurgence of Italian Celtic-Punk with several releases around St. Patrick’s Day of bands like Patricks  and The Cloverhearts who have both featured on these pages in the last few weeks (and not only that but probably the best band in the scene Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards have a new album due out very very soon!!). The Rumpled have appeared on these pages several times and although only formed in 2013 have long become a solid fixture on the Italian Celtic-Folk-Punk scene. Based in northern Italian city of Trento they have a steady collection of releases behind them including their debut album Ashes And Wishes in 2018 recorded and produced by Gianluca Amendolara of Black Dingo Productions. Last year saw the well received release of Grace O’Malley, a 5-track EP based on the story of the Irish pirate Queen that made the Top Ten Celtic-Punk EP’s Of 2019 on this here web-zine.

The Rumpled from left to right: Michele Mazzurana- Drums, Backing Vocals * Davide Butturini- Guitars * Patrizia Vaccari- Fiddle * Marco Andrea Micheli- Lead Vocals * Luca Tasin- Bassman, Backing Vocals * Tommaso Zamboni- Accordion *

Toss The Coin continues The Rumpled story with seven self penned original songs that maintains The Rumpled way of fresh and original Celtic-Punk. As I have stated before the Italian scene in particular has very strong links to Ireland and Irish music and culture and this comes across in their Celtic-Punk music. Toss The Coin begins with ‘Stand Up’ and sees the band once again accompanied by the Bold Rumjacker himself Frankie McLaughlin. The Rumjacks influence on the Italian scene is immense and allthough many of the bands take inspiration from The Rumjacks sound you won’t find many ‘covers bands’ here! Singing in English and accordion led they blast through the longest song here (only 3 and 1/2 Minutes) in a fast and breezy way with Frankie doing what Frankie does best and his unmistakable voice. The song tells of the time when it doesn’t matter which side of the coin falls. ‘Take A Drop’ has an Irish air but has still plenty of Punk Rock energy. Again the accordion is the fore and Tommaso is certainly a very very good player. ‘The Gipsy Dancer’ was the first single to be released from the EP from back at the beginning of March (seems a lot longer!!) and one thing that is quite common among Italian Celtic-Punk bands is the quality of their videos and The Rumpled like to make theirs interesting and The Gipsy Dancer’ is no different so be be sure to check it out.

Again it’s the story of tossing a coin. Head or tails? Fate speaks to us and while the coin spins there is the illusion that anything is possible. Next ‘The Road’ and for me the EP’s high point. Less ‘traditional’ or maybe more modern sounding Celtic-Punk that combines elements of Ska it’s a great song and I always love a bit of group ‘Woah-Woah-Woahh’ gang vocals. ‘One Love’ features another guest this time on banjo from Andrea Verga from fellow Italian Celtic-Folk-Rockers Folkamiseria from western Piedmont. A more Folk orientated song and catchy as hell while ‘Broken Romances’ has a harder edge to it and Marco’s vocals shine here. All the songs are sung in English and very easy to understand. My guess is we will be seeing a lot more videos like this but even with the restrictions imposed them they still manage something interesting and worth a view. The Bhoys go full out for the last song and ‘Patty’s Jig’ is the perfect way to bring the curtain down on an album of class Irish Punk. Accompanied again by Andrea and this time by Jacopo Ventura from Folkamiseria on bouzouki here they show they can go full on traditional with a self penned Irish Folk tune that could have been written a hundred years ago!!

The EP came out in St. Patrick’s week and was set to be followed by a massive series of dates across Europe labelled the ‘2020 Saint Patrick’s Tour’ similar in size to their 40 (!) date ‘Ashes And Wishes” tour which was them hitting 60+ stages and festivals. They were set to be joined on stage at several of those gigs by their friends The Rumjacks and the last I heard most of these have been re-arranged for later in the year so check the press for details.

#StayRumpled

Buy Toss The Coin  Here  Contact The Rumpled  WebSite  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube

Black Dingo Productions  WebSite  Facebook

EP REVIEW: THE CLOVERHEARTS- ‘The Sacred’ (2020)

The second EP from one of the brightest new bands in the Celtic-Punk scene has descended! The Cloverhearts follow a great tradition of Italian bands that capture perfectly what Celtic-Punk is about. 

Only a few months after their debut release The Sick took the Celtic-Punk scene by storm The Cloverhearts return with another blockbuster EP. Like their debut its six original tracks that pull in influences from around the scene and their obvious affiliation to The Rumjacks sound is not just down to Sam their Australian singer but one that doesn’t overpower their own sound. The Sick came a very respectful 4th in the London Celtic Punks Top Ten EP’s/Singles Of 2019 for last year. Not bad at all for a release that had only been out a matter of weeks before the Poll took place.

(you can stream The Sick on the Bandcamp player below)

So The Cloverhearts stick to exactly the same format for The Sacred. Six songs all original compositions and they even come in at virtually the same length of time (only one minute short!). The EP begins with the single ‘Caught Ya In A Lie’, basically a ‘Pop’-Punk song with some fantastic bagpipes laid on top. When you have a piper that is good as Chiara is then it makes perfect sense to fit the songs around her piping. The Folk melodies are left at the dock as The Cloverhearts concentrate on their harder edge and Punkier sound. Catchy as hell melodic Punk and definitly the right choice to lead the EP.

A song about people trying to get the better of you and the consequences of lying. A great start to things that they follow up with the pipes heavy ‘Drunk Tank’ where Sam tackles that most prevalent of Celtic-Punk subjects! On ‘I’ll Be Home Soon’ they showcase a whole raft of genres with Celtic and Country among others. The most folky of all their songs so far but still that melodic Punk attitude. Sam’s vocals are great and unusually for Celtic-Punk he makes absolutely no attempt at a Shane MacGowan drawl but croons away magnificently! A very personal song for Sam about never feeling at home after a lifetime spent living in Australia, Singapore, England and Italy. They return to harder material on ‘Walk’ with plenty of band “Wo-Oh” chants and chugging guitar and a cool chorus it’s a class song that at four minutes has plenty of time to develop. It leads us nicely into ‘Gutters To Graves’ another catchy number and though I may be making it sound like I’m reviewing the same song six times The Sacred is a very diverse sounding EP. It all revolves around the tight melodic Punk sound with Sams clear as crystal vocals and Chiara’s excellent piping. I wouldn’t come to The Sacred perhaps as a lover of Celtic music but if you like your Punk well played and gimmick free then The Cloverhearts are a band that you will love. The last song here ‘Where Did We Go Wrong?’ just goes to show how wrong I can be with a song that revisits the Celtic/Country sound from earlier but much more blatantly and I bloody love it!!

So another successful release but tempered with the sad news that their most ambitious tour to date has had to be cancelled due to the current medical crisis in Italy. A tour that would have took them to Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and around Italy so hopefully it will be re-scheduled soon. Their are some utterly fantastic Italian bands around and its good that The Cloverhearts have found their niche among them. A bunch of bands that fit nicely together with all them sounding just that bit different from each other. A while back I went to a Psychobilly all-dayer and it got a bit boring but a all-dayer starring The Cloverhearts, The Rumpled, The Clan, Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards, Tullamore and Dirty Artichiokes  would be one hell of a gig. Any millionaires out there give me a shout!!

(Stream The Sacred before you buy it on the Bandcamp player below)

Buy The Sacred EP  FromTheBand  AppleMusic

Contact The Cloverhearts  Facebook  YouTube  Twitter

Black Dingo Records  WebSite  Facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: PATRICKS- ‘Rocky Road To Ireland’ (2020)

“When we need to escape from reality, and it’s not possible to take a trip to the green land, have a couple of glasses of mead instead and fly inside the head to the land we love so much”
Rocky Road to Ireland is the second full length album from Italian band Patricks does much the same thing!

When this album popped through the letterbox I took one look at the cover and thought “Oh, an Irish band” and on putting on the disc inside I was further impressed by this ‘Irish’ band. Came as quite the shock then to find out that Patricks may play top quality Irish Folk-Rock and have all the attributes of an actual Irish band but they hail many miles from the Emerald Isle in the Italian home of famed doomed lovers Romeo And Juliet- Verona. Formed in 2012 in no short time Patricks had played right across the north-east of Italy bringing their energy to both the big stages of festivals and their warmth and joy to intimate small pubs venues. In 2014 and 2015 they went down a storm at the ‘Ireland In Festivals’ in Bologna and Padua, opening for Cisco (formerly the legendary Modena City Ramblers). Their debut album, Tales From Irish Waves, hit the shops in June 2016 after eighteen months of hard work. Recorded at Verona’s Bass Department Studio the album was very well received and led to them being invited to headline the 2017 Triskell Celtic Festival in Trieste and for the last couple of years the main spot on St. Patrick’s Day evening in the centre of Verona making over 3,000 people dance for two hours! Tales From Irish Waves was a collection of Irish folk favourites like ‘The Rising Of The Moon’, ‘Star Of The County Down’ and ‘Leaving Of Liverpool’ all done in Patricks very own individual manner. With over 150 concert behind them, these Veronese continue to impress and with the release of Rocky Road To Ireland international growth beckons.

The Rocky Road To Ireland carries on from their debut album in much the same way. Ten tracks of popular Irish folk songs but this time the collection has a lot less emphasis on the more popular songs and includes instrumentals and even a couple of originals too. You actually get almost twenty here with songs mashed together in a incredibly seamless way taking it as far away from the realm of cover albums as you could possibly get. The album starts with ‘The Kesh Jig / Blarney Pilgrim’ and while it may not be only be Irish music that has songs instantly recognisable without words not many also come with the ability to cheer. As is common with a lot of Irish/Celtic bands in Europe the flute is to the fore here while the band cheerfully get through both songs in under three minutes. Next up we are introduced to Margot on vocals whose beautiful voice leads us through ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ a banjo heavy tune owing a lot to the Dubliners famous version though it sounds a little odd not having Ronnie Drew’s gravelly voice (or even Mike McColgan!) accompanying the song! Next is ‘Spancil Hill’ one of the saddest (and let’s face it the competition is immense!) of all the Irish emigration songs. The longest song here at over five minutes and played upbeat rather than its usual slow and maudlin. Margot’s voice dominates as is usually the case with Irish music (see bands like Runa and Solas). I still remember listening to this song for the first time. I had heard it 100’s of times growing up but the first time I took care to listen to the words brought a tear to my eye the sadness of it all.

“Then the cock he crew in the morning, he crew both loud and shrill
I awoke in California, many miles from Spancil Hill”

Here though the famous last lines are missing and replaced with a different last chorus I had never heard before. Next a bunch of songs unfamiliar with me on paper, ‘ ‘The Butterfly / Golden Stud / The Man Of The House’, but ‘Golden Stud’ was recognisable at least. Accordion, fiddle and flute pushing the boundaries and while at times you do wish they would really really cut loose they still manage to beat up the floor. The Dubliners influence here is not just confined to the album’s title with ‘The Rocky Road To Dublin’ played at a steady pace and seeing as i can never quite keep up with the lyrics here Margot does a wonderful job especially in the chorus about bashing up two Liverpudlians! Another song I wasn’t sure I had heard before was ‘P Stands For Paddy’ but on hearing realised i had heard a version of it by German Celtic-Punk band Fiddler’s Green but whether it was this version, a love song, or the one written by Gerry Carney, a bittersweet tribute to the Irish in England that never made it I can’t remember. Here the influences from English Folk-Rock scene of the 70’s are evident with Patricks sounding remarkably like Steeleye Span in places. The Dubs return with a rowdy pub setting performance of ‘Whiskey, You’re The Devil/The Silver Spear/The Mountain Road’ and a professional sets of reels and jigs ‘Glasgow Reel / Aaron’s Key / Banshee Reel’ before we settle down to a modern day Irish folk music classic. ‘The City Of Chicago’ was written by Barry Moore and made famous by Christy Moore the song is a tribute to those who battled all the odds and made it to relative safety across the oceans during the great Hunger.

“Some of them knew fortune
Some of them knew fame
More of them knew hardship
And died upon the plain
They spread throughout the nation
They rode the railroad cars
Brought their songs ant music to ease their lonely hearts”

A fantastic song that that brings the curtain down but NO that’s not it! For they have squeezed in a bonus track at the end!

‘They’re Taking The Hobbits To Isengard / The Fellowship / The Shire’ are songs recognisable from the Lord Of The Rings films and show a sense of humour that has is evident in all the best Irish folk music. So almost forty minutes of quality Irish folk music as interpreted bu one of Europe’s best Irish bands. The album was recorded, mixed and produced by Max Titi at Maxy Sound Studio in Verona for Maxy Sound and if I did have one mixed opinion on the album I would like the band to follow though it is that they should ‘rock out’ a bit more and really go for it but Rocky Road To Ireland is still a fine album and a great way to start March off which is always traditionally our busiest month at London Celtic Punk for obvious reasons!!

Contact Patricks  Facebook  YouTube  Spotify  Instagram

Buy Rocky Road To Ireland  FromTheBand

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2019!

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.

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-es

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-Oq

https://goo.gl/RXNtMC

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-21o

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-29L

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-37h

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-3EI

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: THE CLOVERHEARTS- ‘The Sick’ (2019)

From false friends, to (temporary) sobriety, to lovable junkies and the world’s worst public transport however you like your Celtic Punk’n’Roll – the debut release from The Cloverhearts will have you covered!

No country in the world had had such a relationship with Ireland and the Irish as Italy. From the poverty stricken roots of our mass migration to the new world and then living side by side in American slums to the eventual ‘coupling’ of their communities to the influence of a shared religion that dominated every strand of life back home and that they also helped spread around the world. When I was a kid on holiday back in the ‘auld country’ it was pretty common to bump into foreign travellers and in my experience the Italians always outnumbered everyone else. Even these days its common to meet young Italians experiencing the real Ireland away from gentrified Dublin. These links have now gone full circle and we have those same Italians going back home with a love of Irish culture and music (that many sadly in Ireland no longer have) and re-inventing it. To that end no countries in Europe have adopted Celtic-Punk as Germany and Italy have. With The Rumjacks Italy has took them to their bosom and several bands have hit the streets with an obvious affiliation with The Rumjacks sound.

The Rumjacks sound is a good place to start here as both they and The Cloverhearts have a very unusual thing in common. The Rumjacks have a Italian drummer and The Cloverhearts have a Australian singer in Sam Cooper not only that but Sam and Italian tin-whistle/bagpipe extraordinarie, Chiara de Sio first met at a Rumjacks show in Manhattan, New York fresh from Chiara’s departure from fellow Italian Celtic-Punkers, The Clan. Fast forward and joined by guitarist JJ Bassi, bassist Stefano ‘Cione’ Becce, and drummer Christian Amendolara The Cloverhearts have unleashed their first record alongside two recent high profile support slots with (them again!) The Rumjacks. So considering the band have only been together for just a short time their rise has been meteorically and this new EP is a great way to start.

The Cloverhearts left to right: Cione Becce – Bass, Backing Vocals *Christian Amendolara – Drums, Percussions * Chiara De Sio – Tin Whistle, Bagpipes * Sam Cooper – Vocal , Songwriter * Luigi JJ Bassi – Guitar, Backing Vocals

The Sick came out at the beginning of last month on the Italian record label, Black Dingo Records and has six new songs all written by Sam and the band themselves. The EP begins with ‘Always Monday’ which was the first single and shows how much those Europeans love their ska. I’m not such a big fan myself preferring sad tearful songs about hunger, famine and forced emigration to happy-go-lucky joyful bouncy Ska like this! I know this all makes me somewhat of a pariah. “How can anyone not like Ska” has been said to me many a time. Luckily this song has a tough edge to it and threatens to turn Punk at any moment meaning that I can just about tolerate it. Basically a song everyone else will love and enjoy so just ignore this miserable bastard.

I’m in much more favourable territory next with what I consider the EP’s standout track, ‘Black Eyes And Broken Hearts’. Kicking off with chunky loud guitars and bagpipes the music has the same sort of Pop-Punk air to it as Dutch Celtic-Punk band Drunken Dolly or more famous bands like NOFX or Blink 182. Catchy as hell with great lyrics smothered in black humour and Sam has a great voice too for this. I was also a big fan of Chiara and her piping while with The Clan and here again it is absolutely note perfect. This leads us onto ‘Drinking Songs’ and with its tin-whistle opener it is more yer typical standard Celtic-Punk song. Played fast and with passion this is a sure fire dance floor filler leading us onto ‘Fuck Trenitalia’, a story about Italy’s national rail way service. Funny enough I first heard this while waiting for a train that was running late whilst in deepest Surrey so can sympathise 100% with the sentiments expressed. I’m guessing a lot of people in Italy would as well as within ten days the video had amassed a staggering 170,000+ views on You Tube!

(Warning- “this video may be unsuitable for some”)

Loads of ‘effing and blinding’ throughout this exceedingly catchy number. Again played at full throttle and plenty of The Cloverhearts usual humour. No time for any ballads on The Sick and ‘Junky’ keeps the pace going. About a junky friend of the band and we should remember that inside everyone cursed with this terrible addiction is a real person who needs support to rid themselves of it. Anyone immersed in the punk scene will know a person who has lost everything to addiction and the sentiments in ‘Junky’ are beautiful. Not a bad song either and the catchiness keeps coming at you with the EP’s final track and a return to some Ska with ‘No Time For False Friends’. No lecture from me this time as the whole EP (including the Ska-ish) tracks have grown on me and it’s an excellent song to bring the curtain down. Veering from Ska to Punk and back to Ska again the whole band sound magnificent. The bagpiping sounds fantastic and though the bagpipes don’t appear on every track you can hear that the songs have been written with the pipes in mind and they haven’t just been tacked onto any old song. 

The Cloverhearts opening up for them Rumjacks recently in Bergamo

So there you go the debut EP from a band that has only been together for a blink of an eye and already one of my favourite releases of the year. We always delight in the arrival of another new band on the scene and its unusual for a band to come straight out the blocks and find their niche straight away but The Cloverhearts have done just that. They may be influenced by others in the scene (who isn’t?) but they have come out with an EP that has their individual sound stamped all over it. Highly recommended!

Buy The Sick EP  FromTheBand  AppleMusic

Contact The Cloverhearts  Facebook  YouTube  Twitter

Black Dingo Records  WebSite  Facebook

EP REVIEW: THE RUMPLED- ‘Grace O’Malley’ (2019)

Italian Celtic/Irish Rockers The Rumpled follow up last years debut album with a digital only 5-track EP. Five different stories about love.

After last weeks review of The Clan’s new 4-track EP, Quattro Giorni Fuori Porta, it’s time for another Italian Celtic-Punk to be featured and another EP as well. The Rumpled haven’t been around as long as The Clan and are in fact one of the newest of the bunch of bands that we consider make up the Italian Celtic-punk scene.

The band were formed in 2011 in the northern Italian city of Trento and began with the name Seven Deadly Folk but as is often the way with bands with so many members it’s hard to keep everyone together and with the coming and going of new and old members the band decided in 2014 to change their name to The Rumpled. Last year saw the release of their debut album Ashes & Wishes for which they also took on a mammoth tour of home that saw them play every corner of Italy. The album was a surefire hit among the Celtic-Punk community and saw the band placed in all the various Best Of’s the scenes media had to offer. In the London Celtic Punks Top Thirty of 2018 they managed a very respectable #14. Not bad at all for a debut album.

In common with bands like The Clan and Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards The Rumpled embrace a certain kind of Celtic-Punk sound. It’s neither the Dropkicks or the Murphys but a Celtic-Punk that is very much focused on Irish traditional music. That may sound strange as you may think that is what all Celtic-Punk is but it is in fact quite rare. Irish folk music and Irish traditional music are different things and when Punk is added to it it can sound very different.

Is love an ideal? Is it love we feel for some friends? Can love be also sad or even frightening? Can love become an addiction, a source of pain or even violence? All is answered on this EP titled as a tribute to the legendary Grace O’Malley but more on her in a moment as the disc kicks off with the raging ‘Song Of Ill Repute’, A swift accordion and fiddle led whirling dervish of a song that you can imagine couples swirling each other round a dance floor. The Irish sound is paramount here but with both feet still in Celtic-Punk. It’s kind of untraditional traditional music if you will! This is swiftly followed by a extended version of the title track ‘Grace O’Malley’. Now Grace has become quite famous in the last few years. She was born in Ireland in around 1530 and was a fearless leader over land and by sea, politician and tactician, a rebel, pirate and matriarch, and the ’most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland’. Although she was always famous as The Pirate Queen in Ireland and among Irish communities, notorious for their long memories ( I remember being told bed-time stories about her taking on the British Empire’s fleets as a small child) and glee at being able to rely a story in which the Irish didn’t lose to the English for a change! Her life is far too complicated to take up in a review of a single song so take the time to read up on her fascinating and inspiring story. Anyhow back to The Rumpled and the song ‘Grace O’Malley’. The song has racked up an incredible raked more than 50,000 streams in less than a month on Spotify and has been chosen for two of the most important playlists curated by the platform (New Punk Tracks & Celtic Punk).

Great lyrics, with thanks for assistance from Stephen Trollip, and Marco’s raspy tuneful voice telling the tale in English , not that that matters on first listen you’d never be able to tell his first language wasn’t English. Next up is another song that has set the internet alight and on ‘Fearless And Brave’ you may recognise the voice that is accompanying Marco and yes its the fearless Paddy O’Reilly from awesome Celtic-Punk band Paddy And The Rats. A utterly fantastic song with Paddy and Marco sharing vocals to great effect while the Celtic-Punk crosses into Ska but by hell it certainly doesn’t get much more catchy that this I tell you. The story is again dedicated to Grace O’Malley and steams along at a healthy pace that would be totally accessible to both Folk and Punk fans. On ‘Feelin’ Fine’ the song keeps up the same pace and has a ‘piratey’ feel to it with the heavy sound of the accordion while the final track ‘The Maiden’ brings down the curtain on 15-minutes of proper brilliant Celtic-Punk that will only go to further The Rumpled’s reputation.

(the full 5-track ‘Grace O’Malley’ EP by The Rumpled)

The album has been produced by Gianluca Amendolara of Black Dingo Productions (who look after any Celtic-Punk band who hits Italy through being a independent record label, booking gigs and general management) who started his many appearances on these pages as drummer with The Clan before setting sail to join Aussie bhoys The Rumjacks. He has done an incredible job here and a special mention also for our Frankie out of The Rumjacks who has taken The Rumpled under his wing and assisted them throughout their career, who appears here as ‘vocal coaching and supervisor’ which must be a first for a Glaswegian! To celebrate the release of the EP The Rumpled have set sail on another massive tour that will take in Italy, Switzerland and France and will I am sure gain them legions of new fans.

Buy Grace O’Malley  Here  Contact The Rumpled  WebSite  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube

Black Dingo Productions  WebSite  Facebook

(have a listen to their brilliant debut album below on the Soundcloud player)

EP REVIEW: THE CLAN- ‘Quattro Giorni Fuori Porta’ (2019)

Another release from one of the most productive and popular bands in Celtic-Punk. The Clan from Italy balance high tempo folk and country alongside Celtic-Punk to make one of the best records of the year so far.

It has been a funny week in the world of Celtic-Punk! Fresh from catching the superb Dropkick Murphys live in London last Friday two EP’s land on our doorstep on the same morning from very well respected Italian Celtic-Punk bands. The first was from this band, The Clan. One of the first bands heard and a band that has featured several times on these pages with previous album reviews. The second was a relatively new band The Rumpled who arrived on the scene properly in 2014 but it was with last years highly rated Ashes & Wishes album featuring guest vocals from The Rumjacks Frankie McLaughlin.

But more on The Rumpled later in the week for now we have The Clan. Probably the better known of the Italian bands in the scene. Along with bands like The Clan and The Rumpled, Modena City Ramblers, Kitchen Implosion, Dirty Artichokes and Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards all the Italian bands share a deep love for Ireland and it’s culture and musical traditions. If Celtic-Punk was about taking the folk tradition and the punk tradition , moulding them together but still staying true to those traditions then it is the Italians who do the job best. There is a sort of generic Celtic music that incorporates music from all the Celtic nations and though instantly recognisable as Celtic-Punk it doesn’t belong to one place in particular. The Italian bands are different and has produced a truly unique style of Irish music. The Clan hail from the small town of Muggiò in Lombardy which is in the north of Italy and have been together since 2013. With a bunch of fine albums behind them, three in five years, The Clan in 2014, All In The Name Of Folk in 2016 and last years Here To Stay, here on their new EP they have carried on their progression and taken a new direction to forsake English and decided to record the EP’s four songs in their native language. It’s understandable that bands think they need to sing in English, with the vast majority of Celtic-Punks fanbase in English speaking countries, but we have long been supporters of native languages so sing on Bhoys. We’ll still get it you know. 

The title of the EP is Quattro Giorni Fuori Porta which translated into English means Four Days Out Of Door and though it only has four songs they are sung and played with the same passion that The Clan are renowned for. To this par of big Irish ears the words, sung by guitarist/mandolin player Angelo, sound great. Italian is famous for being a beautiful language and it fits the music here perfectly. The music itself flits from Celtic to upbeat Country and Folk and sounds jolly and fun though the subjects contained in the songs are not always! The EP begins with ‘Il Giorno Più Freddo Dell’anno’ (The Coldest Day Of The Year’) which is a song about animal-rights, a subject The Clan have visited before and a cause close to their hearts. The longest song here at over four minutes its sound leans heavily on Francesco’s fiddle and is against hunting as it tells of a day spent with a mother and her puppies out in the wild. The sound sits fairly perfectly between Country and Celtic but as with The Clan they don’t make music to stand still to! They follow this up with ‘Il Giorno Con Te’ (‘The Day With You’) and the bands sound is perfect with Francisco’s fiddle again leading but venturing from manic to melancholy and while it is annoying not to know what the words are about this is only because The Clan have nailed it on their lyrics in the past and I have always enjoyed reading them. Still it’s a small price to pay to hear the songs sung as they should be. ‘Il Giorno Prima Di Morire’ (‘The Day Before Dying’) keeps the tempo right up and is a hymn to freedom. The time we have here on earth is fleeting and we must each make the most of all we have. Catchy, fast and passionate it’s another corker and leads us nicely onto the final track ‘Il Giorno Migliore’ (‘The Best Day’) which, for me, is the standout track here with its upbeat  sound that would move even the shyest mans feet!

The Clan have announced their may well be an English version of this EP but for now this is to show their appreciation to their Italian fan base and why not? The balance they have between genres is quite the feat and yet they still remain at heart a Celtic-Punk band more in the acoustic tradition say of Flogging Molly but with a sound all of their own making. The Clan have carved out quite the movement behind them thanks to intelligent lyrics, well made videos, respect for folk tradition and the love of a bloody good time! In common with those previous releases it’s been excellently produced and the whole band shine through. This is a great EP and though part of me is looking forward to hearing the English versions another part wants to leave it like this.

Buy Quattro Giorni Fuori Porta  Spotify  iTunes  Amazon  Deezer

Contact The Clan  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram  Twitter  ReverbNation

There’s an interview with The Clan here at Traks magazine where you can play the whole EP. I couldn’t work out how to embed the EP from Spotify! Remember to translate from Italian though!!

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2018!

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.

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-es

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-Oq

https://goo.gl/RXNtMC

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-21o

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-29L

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

EP REVIEW: MOSCHE DI VELLUTO GRIGIO- ‘Of Pain And Glory’ (2018)

The untraditional Anti-Folk punk band.

Mosche Di Velluto Grigio are an Italian Celtic-punk band and while their name may not trip lightly off the tongue of anyone who cannot speak Italian it’s certainly more poetic and beautiful than the English translation, Gray Velvet Flies! The name appears to come from an old Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento. The band were founded in 2000 and hail from Canneto sull’Oglio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, home of fellow Celtic rockers The Clan and Strawdaze. Celtic-Punk has always been popular in Italy and relations between their Irish and Italians have always in the main been friendly, except perhaps in the USA in the past where two poverty stricken immigrant communities lived side by side in ghettos.

Mosche Di Velluto Grigio from left to right: Matteo De Ieso aka Malle The Beaver: back vox, drums • Francesco Fornasari aka Frankye “The Baker” Squillace: electric guitar, double bass, back vox, harmonica • Andrea Cagnini aka TheKing Cagno: voice, folk guitar, bagpipe, irish bouzouki, harmonica • Christian José Cobos aka CJ: electric bass, acoustic bass, kahuna bass ukulele, back vox • Pietro Arfini aka Rapax: back vox, mandolin, banjo Font row: • Laura Cagnini aka Lalla: sax, flute, tin whistle, trombone • Fabio Dall’Aglio aka Phabius from Garlic: concertina, accordion, amon, sax, trumpet

Famous for their DIY ethos Mosche Di Velluto Grigio were first conceived in the late nineties when singer Andrea and his sister Laura were inspired by their love for NOFX and the 90s punk scene. Together they went on to recruit others and the first incarnation of the band was gathered around them. Collectively they have become one of the more successful Italian Folk-Punk bands and though influenced by the likes of The Pogues and Dubliners on one wing and Stiff Little Fingers on the other their is more than a ounce of the legend Johnny Cash in there as well. These days members of the band come from not just Lombardy but from all over Italy and even Mexico.

I first came across them on their 2016 album Old School. It never made the reviews here as it was a couple of years old by then but I was impressed and have kept up with them since waiting for a chance to make things right. That album was, as far as I am aware, all traditional folk songs from North America and back Ireland and home to Italy. Internationally renowned songs like ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Waltzing Matilda’ go up against classic Celtic songs like ‘The Foggy Dew’ and the ‘Fields Of Athenry’ and a rake of songs that I had never heard before. The new EP, Of Pain And Glory, carries on in the same vein except with one exception all the songs are penned by the band. Beginning with ‘A Whisper From My Cigarette’ and it’s classic Celtic-Punk. Loud and bombastic and massive. The song is not particularly fast but catchy and tuneful while Andrea sings out the lyrics, no doubt through a cloud of cigarette smoke! His voice is so raspy he makes Tom Waits sound like the singer in a boy-band. Accordion and tin-whistle grab you here until mid-way when the song suddenly shoots up in tempo. An excellent start that leads into ‘Glasgow Town’ and this is no ordinary Celtic-Punk band as witnessed by the sound of a saxophone wailing away in the background.

Again its catchy as hell and this time a much more straight forward punk rocker of a tune. They slow it down again next for ‘Seven Ships’ and even add in a bit of Country’n’Western twang. Balanced between country and folk it threatens to take off but stays a nice gentle folky foot-tapper with a couple of Celtic touches thrown in for good measure but… then it does go off for last few bars ensuring I’d say a messy dance floor when played live. ‘Pieces Of Glass’ begins as the most Celtic of the songs here with accordion at the forefront before the chugging guitars come in and lead the song on a right merry Celtic-Punk dance. The third single from the EP is ‘Laura’ and we couldn’t have timed this review any better as just three days ago they released the new video and its a great production as many of their videos seem to be.

The EP comes to an end with Mosche Di Velluto Grigio’s favourite song, ‘The Parting Glass’. I say favourite as it also featured on Old School and was released as a single inbetween that record and this. First heard in the late 1700’s the song has been recorded by far to many to mention here but the sad but defiant song has rarely sounded different here. Starting off as barroom ballad they soon up the ante and turn the song into a killer punk rock tribute. Love it.

Bands like Mosche Di Velluto Grigio don’t make covers in the traditional sense of the word. I would prefer to call them re-interpretations. They have taken some old traditional songs of their home, of the Celtic nations and further afield and have made them their own. Mosche Di Velluto Grigio are a utterly fantastic band and if you can get past the distinctive vocals then I’m sure they’ll gain a bit more recognition outside of Italy. While the music has crossover appeal Andrea’s vocals place it firmly in the Punk side of Celtic-Punk but also shows these lot will never be found watering it down.  

Buy Of Pain And Glory

iTunes  Amazon  Google

Contact Mosche Di Velluto Grigio 

Facebook  WebSite  Soundcloud  Spotify  Twitter  YouTube

ALBUM REVIEW: THE CLAN- ‘Here To Stay’ (2018)

Here To Stay the third studio album from the Milan based Irish rockers The Clan. Celtic rock band formed 2013 from a group of musicians coming from diverse musical directions but with the same deep love for Ireland and its unique sound. 

Back in 2016 The Clan were one of the first bands on the site that had been reviewed a second album. Time marches on and here we are now reviewing third third album and if we ranted and raved about the previous two then prepare yourselves for some more of the same as this album rates up there with both of them! The Clan hail from the small town of Muggiò in the province of Lombardy in the north of Italy and have been playing music together since 2013. The relationship between Italy and Ireland has in my own experience been a happy one. At my Catholic school here in England the two communities got on well while in the States, as far as I know, there has always been a high degree of inter-marriage. Plenty of Italians have passed through Ireland over the decades and more than a few have passed the other way with pretty much all of my Irish relations having chosen Rome for their honeymoon destination! We are both sitting out the World Cup too!! The Celtic-Punk scene in Italy is also quite unique as the scene is so bound up with the music of Ireland. There is a sort of generic Celtic music that incorporates music from all the Celtic nations and though instantly recognisable as Celtic-Punk it doesn’t belong to one place in particular. The Italian bands are different. The music from bands like The Clan, Modena City Ramblers, Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards, Kitchen Implosion, The Rumpled and Dirty Artichokes (coming to London in August!) all have the same deep love for Ireland, it’s culture and musical traditions. That love dominates their music throughout and has produced a truly unique style of Irish music.

As we have said many a time it’s no good expecting the best Celtic-Punk bands out there to have Celtic blood in them as you will be sorely disappointed! The Clan come from a beautiful place and play beautiful music that fills your heart with cheer and will surely plant a smile right across your face. Here To Stay begins with a kick-arse tune from the very off with ‘Pocket Money Heroes’ and it may start as if it’s heading down the hard’n’heavy route but before you know it’s completely changed track and your listening to a high energy poppy punk song with reggae interludes and great bagpipes and fiddle that change the direction of the song on arrival. A massive gang chorus of ‘whoah’ the opener covers everything and shows their songwriting abilities from the first beat. The Clan to more trad territory next with ‘Glory Waits’ and one of the standout tracks here for me.Mandolin and tin-whistle and one hell of a folk rocker with a dead nice country feel to it. Catchy as hell and just what we came here looking for. The next song up is ‘Jail Times’ and I have to say it’s not my cup of Barry’s. It’s well played and will especially appeal to fans of bands like Rancid with even a organ interlude! We are back on more solid ground next with ‘Rebel Town’ and finally the Irish influence comes spilling out. Now this is Irish-punk music with a brilliant singalong chorus and a foot stomping beat that will fill the dance floor. That a band can take two such diverse genres like punk and trad folk and then mix them into something so infectious it would get even the most miserable onto their feet is always something that never ceases to amaze me. The bagpipes open for ‘Johnny’ along with the drums giving its a Scots feel before the ‘whoahs’ start again and it’s a catchy punk number with Angel’s voice given full range and his gravelly strained tones portray a passion for what he’s doing. ‘Rat Race’ again takes the standard Celtic-Punk weapons of tin-whistle and mandolin and teams them with punk and comes out with a real beauty of a track. This is followed by the album’s title tune and ‘Here to Stay’ is a lively upbeat reggae infused number that’s duel vocals give it a Black Water County feel. There’s more of a punk rock influence here then before but it still sits within the Rancid description I think. The pipes are back again for ‘Prodigal Son’ and Chiara’s playing is immaculate as The Clan throw out yet more ‘whoahs’ making for a great audience song where arms are flung aloft and lungs are loosened and beer is no doubt spilt. Catchy as hell as is the whole album The Clan have an ear for a good tune. ‘Seize the Day’ is the album’s nearest tune to a ballad with Angel accompanied for most of the song only by a frantically strummed acoustic guitar though later Frisco joins in with some exquisite fiddle playing. Finally we reach my favourite song of the album, the western influenced, in style and content, ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ and if I was to make a Top Ten Celtic-Punk videos then The Clan would feature heavily so don’t pass by without watching the great video below. The music like the video is heavily influenced by both western and country but with that unmistakable Clan Irish-punk feel to it.

We are nearing the end and ‘Vesuvius’ is up and the album’s only instrumental and takes Irish music to another level. You may hear stuff like this every now and then but rarely, i repeat rarely, do you hear it so well played and executed like this. It takes all the best elements of The Clan and exploits them to good use especially Chiara this time on the tin-whistle. Brilliant Irish folk music played by Bhoys from Milan. One to get up the noses of the folk snobs! Absolutely fantastic. The album goes out though on ‘Easy Roller’ and The Clan love a heavy metal song and here they sound like the band they love, AC/DC, thrashing it out with the bagpipes. There were a couple of bonus tracks on my download and the earlier track ‘Johnny’ is re-recorded in Italian as ‘Johnny Non Parla’ and finally Here To Stay comes to an end with another Italian version of the album’s opening track this time called ‘Rievoluzione’ and the band are accompanied by Cippa and Paletta of the Italian punk band Punkreas.

Fourteen original songs that rocks in at just under fifty minutes Here To Stay was released last St. Patrick’s Day eve on the 16th March 2018 on Black Dingo records. It’s a fantastic album and, as others around the world’s Celtic-Punk media have written, a definite contender for those end of year Best Of polls. The Clan have been one of the best bands within the scene for a few years now coming to the fore on the strength of a handful of excellently produced videos but have managed to keep up the quality and prove they are no novelty outfit. While the posh wankers can whinge and groan about so-called cultural appropriation bands like The Clan take Irish music and play it with a love and respect for the past while keeping an eye to to the future.

(Here’s that video. Yes that one!)

Buy Here To Stay

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ALBUM REVIEW: THE RUMPLED- ‘Ashes & Wishes’ (2018)

Dance, scream, jump, sweat, clap hands and wear out your feet. Italian celtic-rockers The Rumpled come wrapped up with heaps of enthusiasm and energy and on hearing this they  will soon have you trapped in their spell!

If you ever think that celtic-punk music is confined only to the Celtic nations and the Celtic diaspora then you couldn’t be more wrong! Those days are long ago, if indeed they ever really existed at all, and these days celtic-punk music is spread literally all over the globe. Today’s review is of Italian band The Rumpled’s debut album Ashes & Wishes and if celtic-punk was designed as a vehicle to take elements of traditional Irish folk and punk rock and blend them together while staying true to both genres roots then The Rumpled have nailed it.

The band was born in 2011 in the northern Italian city of Trento and began with the name Seven Deadly Folk but as is often the way with celtic-punk bands with the coming and going of new and old members the band decided in 2014 to change their name to The Rumpled. This led to the release of a 4-track demo in June 2015 and the change of name did them no harm and in the summer of last year they won the prestigious European Celtic Contest organized during the Montelago Celtic Festival. Having already performed over a hundred concerts at pubs, festivals, on the street and many more unlikely places and with this award under their belt and the release of their album last month they set off later this month on their biggest ever tour of Italy.

(the first demo release from The Rumpled)

The celtic-punk scene in Italy leans very heavily towards the Irish side of things and in bands like The Clan and Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards Irish traditional folk music is referenced heavily. Another band I have started to notice being referenced quite often, and for good reason, is Aussie celt’s The Rumjacks. Kicking off with ‘Rumpled Time’ and its catchy, riff laden, accordion led celtic-punk heaven! Its more the folky side of things but still with plenty of bite to it and, in common with the above Italian bands, Marco, the vocalist, has a strong voice and when singing in English is perfectly understandable. Following this is ‘Just Say No!’ and the Irish influence is strong on a song that bounces along with tin whistle leading this time. So far the emphasis has been on good time music but the Bhoys ramp it up for ‘Jig Of Death’ and was the second single released from the album the week after St. Patrick’s Day. According to the video the ‘vocal supervisor’ was one Francis D. McLaughlin so we could have half expected them to singing in broad Scots!

Another thing they have in common with The Clan is their elaborate and well made videos. Take a few minutes to check them out as they are well worth your time. The album carries on with ‘I Wanna Know’ and by know I’m getting the vibe off them that they are very much a live band. Music like this belongs in the public house but they have made a very decent job of transferring it onto disc so well done lads. The Rumjacks connection continues with ‘The Ugly Side’ featuring the Rumjacks themselves. Don’t these guys ever intend returning to Australia?? One of the punkier songs on Ashes And Wishes but without losing any of its catchiness. The bagpipes are loud and proud for next song ‘Don’t Follow Me’ the video of which features the local Celtic interest group Il Clan della Fossa. This was the lead single released last November and sparked up a lot of interest in the band around Europe.

As I already mentioned Italian celtic-punk bands have really embraced the sound of trad Ireland and on ‘County Clare’ The Rumpled take that music and inject it with a healthy dose of punkiness and an energy oft times missing. The song is again led by the accordion and Marco’s voice combine for the album standout for me. The album continues with ‘Bang!’ and a catchy ska beat knocks shoulders with a country folk base and nice wee track with very well played fiddle from Patrizia. We are nearing the end and still no covers just some excellent original celtic/Irish influenced folk punk. ‘Dead Man Runnin’ continues the punkier side of things before ‘Ramblin’On’ brings us back to their more folky side. Again its catchy as hell and finally the album comes to an end with ‘Letter To You’ and if the only thing missing from Ashes And Wishes was a lovely wee ballad then they almost pull it off with this wonderful song that they can’t quite help sticking a jig in the middle of it. The sort of song Springsteen would do if he ever records an Irish themed album.

Ashes And Wishes is a real fun album the sort of music that would see you certain of a good night out among friends and comrades. With the spirit of great Irish bands like The Dubliners, The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly infused here celtic-punk is not a genre built entirely on originality in fact it skates by on a massive dose of nostalgia as much as anything else. In which case it’s sometimes hard to judge bands and with the best place to hear this kind of music being the pub its the feelings it evokes that tell us whether the music is good or bad or in between. What you have here is just plain good old time party music. There is no hidden meaning to it just the wish from The Rumpled for us, the listener, to enjoy ourselves and to forget our troubles.

Which is exactly what I did for thirty-four minutes!!

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ALBUM REVIEW: THE JOHNNY CLASH PROJECT- ‘The Johnny Clash Project’ (2018)

The most novel and interesting covers album you will ever hear! The debut album of The Clash re-imagined as The Man In Black. 1977 punk as boom-chuka-boom-chuka country’n’western with the roots of original rock’n’roll showing.

By some quirk of fate I came across the Italian band The Johnny Clash Project and purely on the name decided to check them out. Well to say I was impressed is an understatement. I was further intrigued to find they would soon be touring the UK so I dropped the lads a message on Facebook to find out if they were playing London but sadly the answer was no. Well a couple more emails and a bit of jiggery pokery and dates swapped round and we landed them to play at the London Celtic Punks show later this month in Leytonstone. More on that later but you may now be wondering what was so special as to warrant all this interest… well here you go.

Covers are not unknown in the Celtic-Punk scene and I dare say 95% of Celtic-Punk releases include at least one or two but The Johnny Clash Project’s album is all covers. Not only that but they are of the same band, The Clash. It is in fact a song-by-song tribute to their self-titled debut album from 1977. Now there’s two ways to record a cover (three if you include f*cking it up like Ed Sheeran’s recent version of ‘Fairytale Of New York’) you can either copy it closely or else breathe new life into it and try and record it in a new style. We are used to hearing both here and they both have value as long as they are recorded with love and respect. The Johnny Clash Project have taken the second route and recorded a whole album that is so God-damn memorable and catchy, its songs haven’t left my brain alone for over a week!!

What they have done is take the songs of The Clash and recorded them in the style of the great and legendary country outlaw Johnny Cash. Yes The Man In Black himself. There’s plenty of elements of blues, Americana, folk and rockabilly but essentially this is country of Johnny Cash of the Folsom Prison Blues era. Cash – 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… Johnny Cash the ultimate music villain both widely loved and respected by all passed away in 2003  and so this is also a loving tribute to him as well.

The Johnny Clash Project formed in January 2013, in Bologna in northern Italy, and stars Lorenzo Mazzilli (voice and guitar), Paolo Cicconi (guitar and banjo) and Zimmy Martini (double bass). All three are active in other bands, The Giant Undertow, Lucky Strikes and Muddy Worries but here they are united in having only one purpose- to take the songs of the one band whose influence in Punk has never waned and re-imagine them in the style of that ultimate Country outlaw, Johnny Cash and to make them their own and this they have done. With several tours of home behind them and a two month tour last year that took in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and England they have been causing waves and their live show has been receiving plaudits from all and sundry.

Taking the boom-chuka-boom-chuka of Marshall Grant’s double bass and piling on top a voice that is so close to Johnny’s that it will make you do a double take this album is an absolute must have. It all kicks off with ‘Janie Jones’ and it’s one of a handful of songs here that the original tune stays intact but most of the album is done in the style of ‘Remote Control’ and ‘I’m So Bored With The USA’ where the tune is completely different and it’s not until the chorus that you start to recognise things. There are several high points but to be perfectly honest from start to finish this album is an absolute belter. ‘White Riot’, ‘London’s Burning’, ‘Career Opportunities’ keep the energy of the originals and the fast tempo while  ‘What’s My Name’ and ‘Cheat’ are played as emotional ballads and the curtain comes down with outstanding ‘Garageland’, accompanied by Marc Santò on fiddle and Anna, Carlotta and Giulia on backing vocals, from fellow Bologna band Le Birrette, it even manages to stand out more. Fourteen songs and just over forty-five minutes of musical heaven. There is something about knowing the words to a song that brings you closer to the music and here you often find yourself singing along before you know what the song is!

As said Johnny was the ultimate musical outlaw. Had he been born twenty later perhaps he might have embraced Punk himself. Ever faithful to both the spirit of The Clash and the sound of Johnny Cash this is pure unabashed Country-Folk but would they have got away with it if Lorenzo didn’t sound so much like Johnny Cash? Probably not but so what. Backed by Paolo Cicconi and Zimmy they are also joined here on drums by Matteo Dall’Aglio whose simple rhythms and changes of pace take you back to those halcyon days of the 1950’s. The album was released on St. Patrick’s Day eve this year and has been released on Milan label Rocketman Records. The sound is completely authentic sounding and the whole project reeks of care and attention to detail. Normally we come across albums we love with a sense of joy crossed with dejection. Joy at the discovery of music that will warm your soul but dejection at the realisation that you will never (probably) get to see the band in question perform. Well for some of you those feelings will remain while for Londoners the timing is perfect as we can catch The Johnny Clash Project in the flesh in just a couple of weeks time. Don’t miss this great band and while I do have a tendency to wax lyrical about records I love that the songs on this album are still swimming inside my head as I write this a week after I first heard it so that has to be the best recommendation hasn’t it?

(listen/ stream/ download the whole of The Johnny Clash Project at the link below)

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The Johnny Clash Project will be joined on Friday 27th April by Dutch Celtic-Folk-Punkers Drunken Dolly, also playing in London for the first time, and London’s #1 Celtic-Punkers The Lagan. Live at one of East London’s most popular Irish pubs The Plough & Harrow, 419 High Road Leytonstone, London E11 4JU. Halfway along Leytonstone High Road the nearest tube is an easy 8 min walk from Leyton tube. For up to date information join the Facebook event here.

Full tour dates- Tuesday 24th April at The New Inn, Canterbury * Wednesday 25th April at The Liver Hotel, Liverpool * Thursday 26th April at the Craft Taproom, Liverpool * Friday 27th April at the Plough & Arrow, London and Saturday 28th at the Fez in Margate.

EP REVIEW: RAISE MY KILT- ‘A New Tartan’ (2018)

All the way from Argentina it’s the new EP from Raise My Kilt. Celtic-Punk that is 100% attitude and  100% fun!

Well what can we say except that its become common these days for bands in the celtic-punk scene to schedule their releases around St. Patrick’s day and 2018 has been no different and we have been overwhelmed here at London Celtic Punks with both the number and the quality of recent releases. One such band is relatively new to me. Raise My Kilt hail from Buenos Aires in Argentina and are one of a handful of bands ion that country playing celtic music. Last year they self-released their debut EP, Gaitas And Tanos, which received a great review over at Celtic Folk Punk And More which brought them to many people’s attention and thank Heavens they did. The title of the EP refers to Gaitas which is a local Argentinian word for people from the celtic nation of Galicia and also the word for Bagpipes while Tanos is the local word for Italian people and as the band are all  of Italian and Spanish descent.

Raise My Kilt from right to left: Mariano Miramontes- Guitar, Vocals * Manuel Magariños- Drums * Damian Giancarlo- Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals * Diego Moreno- Banjo, Acoustic Guitar * Carlos Scelzi- Bass, Vocals * Pablo Gadea- Bagpipes

Their new EP, A New Tartan, consists of six songs and similar to that debut has a fine balance of traditional folk songs and original compositions. While some may roll their eyes at some of the bands choice of covers its important to remember that not everyone has grown up on these songs and while I may have first heard ‘Dirty Old Town’ in the womb I respect everyone who chooses to do their own version of it. As long they inject it with a bit of life and a bit of their own personality then Good Luck to them. Its also worth remembering that this is not for our market here it’s for their own country where many wont have heard them before.

Raise My Kilt have trodden a similar path to many of their contempories in the celtic-punk scene in that a bunch of friends in the Buenos Aires punk and hardcore scene had started to listen to some traditional folk music and before they knew it an idea to start a band had formed. To take the trad folk of Irish legends like The Dubliners and The Chieftains and to mix in the energetic and raucous sounds of Celtic-punk legends like the Murphys, McKenzies and Mollys. That was October 2013 and little more than a year later the band played their debut show. With over three years of shows behind them we would much rather be reviewing an album but I suppose a EP will have to do… for now!

The EP kicks off with the title track, ‘A New Tartan’, and if you like bagpipes then this is the band for you. Obvious comparisons to major league hitters like The Real McKenzies and Pipes Or Pints but these guys have their own take on things too. The drone of the pipes begins the song and its a sound that fills my heart. You can hear why the sassenach would often run from it in battle or why you would follow it into battle. The band chip in half way through and run it down as an instrumental trad punk number. Now I was expecting more of the pipes’n’punk but ‘New Arcadia’ takes me by surprise and is a much more trad folk-punk number with the banjo leading and some ace gang vocals. To top they close out the track with ‘John Ryan’s Polka’. This song may have been a better choice to close the EP but what the hell do I know. No pipes in that number but they are back for a healthy version of ‘Dirty Old Town’. Chugging guitars and them wonderful pipes give it the Raise My Kilt stamp and yeah it may be done to death here but fecking hell when it’s played this good you’ll forget you ever heard it before. After all Ewan MacColl who wrote the song hated The Pogues version so whose to say anything! Again they surprise you with ‘1982’ up next. Played as a a straightforward punk rock number with the pipes coming in and out its catchy as hell and a real foot tapper. A great song and shows the bands versatility in the different strands of celtic-punk on display. Nearing the end and we get a celtic cover of the Cock Sparrer favourite ‘We’re Coming Back’. The banjo and pipes accompany on a song that I’m sure will have any dance floor filling. The EP comes to an end with a fast and furious version of the Scottish anthem ‘Scotland the Brave’ that would have many a other band diving for cover.

With the recent retirement and somewhat resurrection of Black Tartan Clan and bands like Krakin’ Kellys and The Clan raising the pipes throughout Europe it would seem that Bagpipes in the celtic-punk scene have not gone away. Some would say that the sound may be an acquired taste but when you have band’s that really care about how they use the instrument in their songs it really makes a huge difference. These are not just punk bands with a piper attached playing along to the tune these are songs where the pipes are an integral part of the song every bit as much as say the drums or guitar are. Raise My Kilt are a solid addition to the worldwide celtic-punk scene and as one of only a handful of bands in the South American continent playing Celtic-Punk we ought to get behind them and show them our support. Here they have only whetted our appetite for a full length release and I for one cannot wait to hear it.

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EP REVIEW: TULLAMORE- ‘Déš An Pr’i Strà, Déš An Int ál Bar’ (2018)

Italian Celtic-Punk from the swamp influenced by the Dropkick Murphy’s, Flogging Molly, The Tossers, beer and a certain brand of Irish whiskey!

Tullamore were founded in northern Italian city of Pavia in 2007 and this EP is released to celebrate their tenth anniversary together. The EP’s title translated to English means ‘Ten Years On The Streets, Ten Years At The Bar’ and is pretty apt for a band named after one of Ireland’s premier whiskeys! The original idea being to bring together the traditional folk of the Celtic nations with good old fashioned Italian punk rock. The first incarnation of the band were together three years and released their first demo in 2010. Four songs that included the first song the band ever wrote, ‘Sogno l’Irlanda’ (‘I Dream Of Ireland’), the first song that Tullamore ever wrote and which these days they end all their concerts. As is the way with most bands members come and go and with a few changes in personnel it was decided that the band should move towards a more powerful celtic-punk sound with Albe abandoning electric guitar in favour of the mandolin and Iora becoming the bands vocalist leaving the bass in the hands of Sandrone, and at the end of 2011 Perni joins the band on electric guitar. In January 2013 Tullamore released their first EP of seven songs that showed the band’s potential and hit the streets running. Fast celtic-punk sung in Italian that got a great reception on release and is now available as a Free Download/Pay What You Want on Tullamore’s Bandcamp page- link below.

More band members came and went and the band began to play and tour a bit more often and started to make a name for themselves outside their home area. In October 2016 the band released their debut album titled ‘Palude’ (-‘Swamp’) and again it received plaudits from across the celtic/folk-punk scene. Now with a fiddle player added to the mix and even the odd song in English the LP is a successful mix of fast but not too heavy punk rock and trad Irish tunes. With a strong anti-fascist sentiment throughout the album the band pay tribute to freedom fighters around the world and produced a very good album of celtic-punk with their own sound.

And so the Tullamore adventure continues and at the beginning of 2017 original member Misu leaves  leaving Perni on guitar and Bert is recruited on accordion. Today’s Tullamore are raring to go and to celebrate ten years on the road they have recorded this EP of five songs with three unreleased collaborations with friends, a cover and a re-recording of that first ever song.

Déš An Pr’i Strà, Déš An Int ál Bar begins with that original song ‘Sogno l’Irlanda’ and accordion kicks us off before the band jump in and its fast and furious music made for the dance floor. The balance between celtic and punk is just right and they are quite right to be proud of their first ever song. They follow this with the first of their collaborations with Bebe of Livorno based streetpunkers Urban Vietcong taking over on vocals but with a fantastic gang chorus of

“30 years old, another victim here’s to you, fire of freedom”

with the whole band singing along. The song is about the life of Mairéad Farrell. She was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army who was executed in Gibralter in 1988 during a British Army operation aimed at preventing the bombing of the ceremonial changing of the guard. A fitting tribute. A documentary well worth checking out is Fourteen Days which examines the events that began with the SAS operation in Gibraltar that left three members of the IRA unit dead, including Mairéad and the chain of events that followed leaving a further nine people dead and more than 50 injured. The film is on YouTube here but for how long is anyone’s guess. The series of events would go on to define the war in Ireland for generations to come.

Next up is ‘Pronti ad Offendere’ (-‘Ready To Offend’) and features Alex Alesi on vocals and shows, like all the best celtic-punk bands, a more gentler side to Tullamore before the band launch into more spirited and manic celtic-punk. While the bands music has seen a softening Iora’s vocals remain firmly embedded in the punk scene giving Tullamore a much harder edge than many fellow celtic-punk bands. Rowing towards shore we have ‘Ribelle Senza un Perché’ (-‘Rebel Without a Why’) which again features a guest vocalist with Giulio from fellow Italian punk’n’Oi! band 5MDR. It’s all great fun and made for the dance floor before the Bhoys wrap it up with a cover of the auld Irish rebel song ‘Come Out You Black and Tans’. Sometimes it takes a non-Irish band to inject some life into a song and Tullamore certainly do that here. The song may be nearly 100 years old and covered by many in the folk scene but here its given a lift with Perni singing the verses with the band joining in the chorus over the snap of the drum to keep beat and get your Irish blood pumping! The lads have been over to Ireland countless times including last years celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising making friends young and old. A inspiring band!

Tullamore standing from the left: Fra (fiddle), Teo (bass), Santo (drums) and Perni (guitar). Crouched from the left: Bert (accordion), Iora (vocals) and Albe (mandolin)

Released last week this is a fantastic EP and a great way to celebrate your anniversary. As everywhere these days there are some fantastic Italian celtic-punk bands and the one thing I have noticed is that they all manage to bring their own sound to the genre and Tullamore are no different. Brilliant band with sound politics and one to mark out for greater things.

(you hear all of Tullamore’s great  EP for **FREE** before you buy by pressing play on the Bandcamp player below)

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LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2017!

Yes I know it only seems like five minutes since the last one but it’s that time of year again when we give you, for what it’s worth, our opinion on who made the best music in the celtic-punk scene over 2017. 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. So read on to find out who came #1! 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. We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

1. FLATFOOT 56 (Chicago)- ‘Odd Boat’  here

2. THE TOSSERS (Chicago)- ‘Smash The Windows’  here

3. THE BIBLECODE SUNDAYS (London) – ‘Walk Like Kings’  here

4. THE PEELERS (Canada)- ‘Palace Of The Fiend’ here

5. FEROCIOUS DOG (England)- ‘Red’  here

6. BLACK WATER COUNTY (England)- ‘Taking Chances’  here

7. THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS (Germany)- ‘Sign of the Fighter’  here

8. IN FOR A PENNY (USA)- ‘One More Last Hurrah’ here

9. LES RAMONEURS DE MENHIRS (Brittany)- ‘Breizh Anok’  here

10. MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS (England)- ‘As The Tide Turns’  here

11. KILMAINE SAINTS (USA)- ‘Whiskey Blues & Faded Tattoos’  here

12. ORTHODOX CELTS (Serbia)- ‘Many Mouths Shut’  here

13. UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS (Italy)- ‘Handmade’  here

14. THE SILK ROAD (England)- ‘S/T’ here 

15. FLOGGING MOLLY (USA)- ‘Life Is Good’  here

16. THE LUCKY PISTOLS (USA)- ‘Where The Orioles Fly’  here

17. THE REAL McKENZIES (Canada)- ‘Two Devils Will Talk’  here

18. DRUNKEN DOLLY (Netherlands)- ‘Alcoholic Rhapsody’ here

19. CASSIDY’S BREWERY (Serbia)- ‘One Brew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’  here

20. THE MOORINGS (France)- ‘Unbowed’ here

21. CRAIC (USA)- ‘Sounds Of Vandemark’  here

22. JOLLY JACKERS (Hungary)- ‘Blood Sweat and Beer’ here

23. THE SCARLET (Hungary)- ‘Hardfolk Shanties’ here

24. THE DISTILLERY RATS (Germany)- ‘Tales From County Whiskey’ here

25. CELKILT (France)- ‘Stand’ here

26. DROPKICK MURPHYS (Boston)- ’11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory’  here

27. O’HAMSTERS (Ukraine)- ‘Где бы мы ни бывали’  here

28. SONS OF O’FLAHERTY (Brittany)- ‘The Road Not Taken’  here

29. THE BABES (London)- ‘Greetings From London’  here

30. CHEERS! (Czech Republic)- ‘Daily Bread’ here

Just bubbling under:

THE TEMPLARS OF DOOM (USA), GHOSTTOWN COMPANY (Germany) McSCALLYWAG (Netherlands)

No surprise here at all as all four admins voted #1 for Flatfoot 56 and their utterly brilliant ninth album. Not only that but we also all gave second spot to The Tossers, making it a Chicago #1 and #2! The year began with news of two new Dropkick Murphys albums coming but we only got the one and it met with, well quite a muted response to be honest. Saying that they were fantastic live and they certainly added a new dimension to these new songs when played in the flesh. The list leans heavy towards the bands from these shores it has to be said but it was always going to be with bands we get to see live regularly. It’s especially fitting to see The Bible Code Sundays in there too. In a year when every ‘big’ celtic-punk band released an album the competition was great so well done to all. Keep them coming. If you are not here then it just means we didn’t all agree or even all hear it and maybe we didn’t receive it too. The amount of debut albums from loads of these bodes well for both the scene here and internationally with a great mix of bands from thirteen countries.

BLACK WATER COUNTY- ‘Taking Chances’

This was a very hard category to fill with so many new bands arriving on the celtic-punk scene this past year. Soooo many to choose from but in the end we pumped for our very own Black Water County who just pipped Cassidy’s Brewery and In For A Penny to the title!

1. BLACK ANEMONE (Sweden)- ‘In It For Life’  here

2. RAIN IN SUMMER (Indonesia)- ‘Discordant Anthem From The Gutter’  here

3. IN FOR A PENNY (USA)- ‘Every Day Should be Saint Paddy’s Day’  here

4. THE BOTTLERS (Australia)- ‘The Bottlers’  (here)

5. BLACK RAWK DOG (Indonesia)- ‘Suburban’s Folk Stories’  here

6. BogZH CELTIC CATS! (Brittany)- ‘Kazh al Lagenn’  here

7. THE CRAZY ROGUES (Hungary)- ‘Rebels’ Shanties’  here

8. THE McMINERS (Brazil)- ‘Tales of Betrayal and Deceit’  here

9. BORN AGAIN HEATHENS (USA)- ‘Born Again Heathens’  here

10. THE DEAD MAGGIES (Australia)- ‘Wild Dogs And Flannies’  here

Stand out winner here from Sweden’s Black Anemone which none of us were sure was either a big EP or a small album so we gave it the benefit of the doubt and placed it in here. Outstanding! Two representatives of Indonesia’s fantastic celtic-punk scene made up for no album releases from there last year and one band from a Celtic nation with the BogZH Celtic Cats! The Bottlers sneak in as they only sent it to us the week before Christmas. Glad they did though.

1. DECLAN O’ROURKE- ‘Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine’  (here)

2. ShamROCKS- ‘Ye Ould Chariot’ EP  (here)

3. CRIKWATER- ‘Crikwater’  (here)

4. BEOGA- ‘Before We Change Our Mind’

5. FOLLOW THE CROWS- ‘West is East’ EP  (here)

6. PLASTIC PADDY- ‘Lucky Enough’  (here)

7. DAMIEN DEMPSEY- ‘Soulson’

8. GALLEY BEGGAR- ‘Heathen Hymns’  (here)

9. I DRAW SLOW- ‘Turn Your Face To The Sun’

10. ANTO MORRA- ‘From The Vaults’

Absolutely no question who romped home here. from the first time I ever heard Declan O’Rourke’s monumental album Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine I was simply blown away. I simply cannot recommend it enough. Go and acquire a copy now. A mix of folk and trad makes up the rest of the list with a special mention for Ukrainian band ShamROCKS who play Irish folk as if they were naturals! We would like to feature more trad and folk on these pages in the future hopefully. Also Vince Cayo had a fecking brilliant album but was neither celtic-punk nor folk. Was tempted to make a separate list just for him!

MERSEY CELT PUNKS

This use to be the Celtic Folk Punk And More Best Celtic Punk Web-Site award so often did they use to win but last year it went to the new kid on the block, our good mates over at Mersey Celt Punks. Well we were in a bit of a quandary about who would win this week but then in the last few weeks of the year the Mersey Bhoys upped their game and won a unanimous vote. They finally started to use their Web-Site (here) and published a whole host of great reviews and things like a events/gig section. You can also join in their fun and games at Twitter and Facebook and we heartily recommend you do.

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 four admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page. The assorted scraps of paper and beer mats were then tallied up over several pints of Guinness in Mannions. Not all of us heard the same albums so like all Best Of’s ours is subjective.

CARLTON HUNT

Of course we cannot go any further without mention of the saddest news of the year. That of the passing of Carlton , the drummer of The Bible Code Sundays. A friend of London Celtic Punks and an absolute diamond stand up guy he will be forever sadly missed by all who met him. We are grateful To Ronan for penning a few words for him.

We lost Carlton on 3rd November 2017 unexpectedly and it has left a massive hole in our family. Carlton joined The BibleCode Sundays some twelve years ago when we were still called Slainte.

His work ethic was second to none, he even dragged us into the studio to record our first CD, he did a lot of pushing in the early days and the Lord knows we needed it!

He was always the first to say yes to any gig, whether it was a small Irish pub like The Old Crown in Hayes or The Shawl or whether it was some of our bigger gigs. Over the years we played some fantastic gigs and venues, such as The Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Beacon Theatre, The House of Blues in Boston, Shepherds Bush Empire, The Roundhouse, Glasgow Barrowlands, Indigo at The O2, Glastonbury Festival, Finsbury Park, London Irish, on the pitch at Twickenham Stadium and at Celtic Park (the night Celtic beat Barcelona). We’ve played with Elvis Costello, The Dropkick Murphys, The Wolfetones, John Lydon’s Public Image Ltd, the Saw Doctors and he even got to realise a dream when we shared a stage with Thin Lizzy. They were minus legends Phil Linnot and Gary Moore but this mattered not to Carlton, his hero Brian Downey was still behind the drums. Carlton got to meet his idol and even got some Thin Lizzy drumsticks as souvenir, he was like an excited little kid that night. We did TV appearances on Sky Sports, BT Sport and even a live St Patrick’s Day performance on BBC’s The One Show.

We got to travel around on trips and tours all around the UK and Ireland as well as Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA to mention a few. This was all just topping up the stamps on his passport that he had accrued in his days with Bad Manners, Feast of Fiddles and The Melody Fakers and many more as he spent so many years on the London Irish music scene.

Not many would know that he also wrote poetry and song lyrics, they are very clever with pun-tastic wordplay and generally came out sounding like Bernard Cribbins songs with titles like ‘Breakfast Epiphanies’ or the Brighton-themed song ‘All Things Brighton Beautiful’. He used to always say

“I try to be serious but the humour always takes over”

He did, however, manage to pen two of the best songs on our latest album, he was very proud of his songs ‘Disorganised Crime’ and the beautiful ‘Clouds’. Drummers writing songs?! Whatever next?! He truly was the engine room of the band, a quiet and gentle man off stage who turned into a one man wrecking ball when he was sat behind his drum kit.

Things will never be the same without him but he would want us to and we will carry on making music and playing his songs.

Ladies and Gentlemen, on drums.. Mr Carlton Hunt

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This is the 5th 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.

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

FOLK’N’ROCK

PADDYROCK

MERSEY CELT PUNKS

SHITE’n’ONIONS

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

CELTICPUNK.PL

remember any views or comments we would love to hear them…

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2018

ALBUM REVIEW: UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS- ‘Handmade’ (2017)

Italian celtic-punk band Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards play fantastic celtic-punk but spice it up it with pure traditional Irish music. With uilleann pipes, tenor banjo and Irish flute no other band in the celtic punk scene can compete with these Bastards in their knowledge of Irish trad music…

as well as that they are a great bunch of lads!

It’s a long time now and in this modern age we are taught to have short memories but back before the now deceased ‘celtic tiger’ roared it’s last breath Ireland was a land of plenty. High wages, plenty of work and regular masses promised opportunities for all good Catholics that washed up on it’s shores. Plenty of Italians flocked to the dear auld sod and among those emigrants were members and friends of the band Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards. These Bhoys weren’t tourists they were there to work and their love of Ireland was inspired from living, working, and visiting there. So in 2007 the celtic tiger having croaked and the work dried up many of those Italians returned home but a part of their hearts remained in Ireland.

Day by day we found there what we were searching for in our entire life, something that would change us forever. That’s how we fell in love with Irish music and how we learned it”

The boys got together and with a few songs learnt in the pubs and streets they began to practise what has gone on to become a real tour-de-force within the celtic-punk scene. From dingy wee backrooms in pubs to massive rock festivals to small mountain huts Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards have gone down an absolute storm wherever they have set foot.

(video filmed by our good mucker Rory over at This Drinking Life web-zine here which also included an extensive interview with the Bastards so click and go there.)

They released their debut album, Drinking Not Thinking, in 2011 and soon after set out on a busking tour of Ireland, Wales and England where they fine tuned their sound and began to write some of their own material. On their return home they were joined by Irish traditional folk musician Luca Crespi who added uilleann pipes, tin whistle and the Irish flute to the bands repertoire. ‘Up The Bastards’ EP followed before 2014’s absolute stunning Get The Folk Out! took us all by surprise. Not knowing them I opened up their e-mail and my first reaction was “not another band with Bastard in the name”. I sat down to listen and my bloody jaw hit the floor with amazement. Get The Folk Out! is a masterpiece. Straddling both the Irish trad sound and celtic-punk it easily fits into both genre’s. The addition of uilleann pipes moved the bands sound into something quite incredible. You can read our review of Get The Folk Out here. The album went on to walk away with the London Celtic Punks #1 Album of 2014 here, something unheard of for a ‘unknown’ band to do.

Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards left to right: Silvano Ancellotti- Electric Guitar * Luca Crespi- Uilleann Pipes, Irish Flute, Tin Whistle * Luca Terlizzi- Drums * Guido Domingo- Vocals, Acoustic Guitar * Lorenzo Testa- Tenor Banjo, Mandolin. Seated: Rob Orlando / Uncle Bard- Bass Guitar.

So with such high praise and expectation it was with wonder i sat down to listen to their new album Handmade. Could they live up to what we now expected of them? Well within one listen I realised they were onto another surefire hit! Released a fortnight ago on February 9th, 2017 they have managed to squeeze more than a hour onto the CD and have done it without a single weak moment. Uncle Bard And The Bastards start the ball rolling with the album’s title song ‘Handmade’. A short refrain starring Guido and his perfectly raspy and hoarse vocals and that’s it. The words explain the bands philosophy to what they do. A beautiful song and the perfect start.

“For a labour of love, Makes a work built to last”

They swiftly turn to their more raucous sound next with ‘Gipsey Geezers’ and them uilleann pipes fill the speakers but don’t be thinking that they rely solely on them. The whole band is extremely talented but you still need the songs and these Bastards do have them. As catchy a song as any on Get The Folk Out! it’s been a couple of years and I realise how much I have missed them. Not that only that but they finish the song with a jig called ‘The Arses Of The Lasses’ written by Lorenzo the like of which you will NEVER hear a fellow celtic-punk band play.

‘Too Old To Stop Now’ explains being in a band these days is more a labour of love than anything. Fortunes are to be made but only if you do as you are told and sell your soul for success. Things the Bastards have never and will never do. Again the celtic-punk of the main tune contrasts nicely with a polka tacked seamlessly onto the end. ‘Stay Untamed!’ again shows the songwriting talents of this band. Shared between them all it amazes how people who have English as only their second language can write such brilliant words. Never be afraid to take chances is the thing here and wrapped around a real foot-tapper. The tin whistle and punky guitar leads on a right celtic-punk classic that slows and speeds up with the fastest banjo I have heard in ages. ‘The Man Who Spoke To The Earth’ speaks of the the rich man in his castle and the poor man and again the song is interspersed with some absolutely amazing Irish folk tunes.

“I am just a poor man, On his own. But they will never know, What I’ve known”

The Bogman again written by the talented Lorenzo starts the section that concludes with Séamus Egan of Solas ‘The Czar of Munster’ and the trad ‘Coleraine’s Jig’. All played as expertly as you will hear. They leave the celtic-punk behind next and present further evidence that this band can whip up a traditional celtic folk storm as good as anyone. ‘The Donegal Lass/Butler of Glen Avenue/Tell Me About You’ has the fiddle and pipes giving it all. Never afraid to dip their toes in another genre we get the first taste on Handmade with ‘The Ferryman’. Bluegrass and ‘proper’ country spice up a song written by the legendary Irish songwriter Pete St John. ‘The Ferryman’ tells of the closure of the Liffey Ferry service in 1984, the loss of jobs and the end of a 320 years-old tradition that perfectly pictures how Dublin was changing during the 70’s and 80’s. The pipes are out in force for ‘Anger’ while the short and gentle banjo and flute piece ‘The Clarenbridge Fair’ is dedicated to Fintan and Tom Cussen where Lorenzo spent time in their Galway workshop.

“I dedicate this banjo composition to both of them, with a sense of gratitude for the great instruments they build and for their unequalled kindness”

‘The Streets Of Dublin’ is Lorenzo’s ode to the city that forever captured his heart. It’s not the saccharine sweet version of Dublin presented for the tourists but the warts an’all kind. Having watched Dublin change during the years and get through the economic crisis with more homelessness and teenage drug problems than ever there is hope. The Home Sweet Home movement is occupying offices in the centre of Dublin, to give shelter to homeless people for the winter and raise awareness of the problem. The music is again superb the mix of old and new never better while the lyrics speak of the same.

“Dublin me darlin’, What’s left for those who will come?”

Lorenzo again excels as a singer-songwriter on ‘Lads From The Countryside’ where he tells of the benefits of being born in the country. That they can follow a serious song such as ‘the Streets Of Dublin’ with this speaks volumes of their talent. Their is a phrase much loved by the foreign born Irish, like myself, “More Irish than the Irish themselves” and on ‘The Luck Of The Irish’ Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards prove they are indeed.

“So tell me, oh dear Where’s our pot of gold? I stumbled ‘till West Clare, To find there was none. At the top of me lungs, Leaned out over the cliffs I shouted ye oversea “Lucky me arse!”

the title reminded me of the John Lennon song which had much the same theme but without any of the Bastards humour. With British occupation, war, genocide, immigration heaped upon the Irish race where is this f’ing luck I keep hearing about? Now obviously I am drawn to the next song like a moth to a flame. The phrase ‘Plastic Paddy’ is well known to us outside Ireland. We can never be Irish enough for some people, mostly those who never suffered the necessity of emigration to survive rather than as some kind of student gap year.

It was released as a single last year but has been re-recorded and tweaked for inclusion on Handmade to make it a whole lot better!

“I went back to Temple Bar in great haste and fear
since I wanted to preserve the teeth I had in me mouth
I paid my seven euro for an iced pint of stout
but as everyone knows Guinness here is not the same
thanks goodness I found a few americans there
so we went out singing aloud along Merchant’s Quay
First “Whiskey in the Jar” and then a Garth Brooks’ song
Could it be a better way to celebrate today?”

Told again with great humour and is the longest song here. Have a good read of the lyrics over at the YouTube video. The music as ever is catchy as hell and the Bhoys admit they’ll be contributing to the whole mess themselves on St Patrick’s/Paddy’s/Patty’s day! My favourite song on Handmade is up next. ‘Rust’ is a beautiful song that  is more celtic-rock than punk but Guido’s great voice and his lyrics raise the song high. Superb banjo playing and the song has epic written all over it. Nearly at the end and ‘The Flat Above My Pub’ is Silvano’s turn at telling a tale. He reaches into his dark past and shares them with us in a happy-go-lucky song because

“when life hands me a lemon I just go to the pub and I ask for a pint or two. I don’t like lemonade too much”

Fast and furious and still catchy the song is possibly the best example of Uncle Bard And The Bastards on Handmade. Everything that makes them truly unique within the celtic-punk scene is here within this brilliant song. The album ends with the modern Irish folk classic ‘The Town I Love So Well’. Not much to say here except its a faithful version Phil Coulter’s classic personal lament about the war in the north of Ireland, specifically in Derry city, a republican stronghold. Written about his childhood the song begins by telling of the simple life he grew up with till he emigrated and then returned finding how his hometown become plagued with violence. Dennis Jelly, of the brilliant French celtic-punk band The Moorings, takes over on vocals and sends this album off triumphantly.

So there you go. It may not be up to Get The Folk Out! standards but fecking hell there’s only a small handful of celtic-punk albums EVER made they do. Handmade is absolutely brilliant in every way. Buy this and give it to any Irish folk/trad music fan and they will see celtic-punk in a completely different light. They don’t have producers, record labels, arrangers, lyricist’s or anyone backing them. Piece by piece Handmade was truly a labour of love. Every aspect of this album has been produced by this group of friends themselves not just from the lyrics and music arrangements and the recording but also the excellent ,and massive, CD booklet containing photos, lyrics and song explanations. This album is truly handmade and made with a genuine passion missing from most modern music. At a time when the most popular bands in celtic-punk are releasing album’s you should definitely not miss out on this album I have an inkling it will again be troubling them at the top of the Best Of charts again at the end of the year.

Discography

Drinking Not Thinking – 2011, Up the Bastards! EP – 2013, Get The Folk Out! – 2014

Buy The Album

FromTheBand  iTunes  Amazon      

Contact The Band 

Facebook  WebSite  Twitter  ReverbNation  YouTube

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2016!

Yes I know it only seems like five minutes since the last one but it’s that time of year again when we give you, for what it’s worth, our opinion on who made the best music in the celtic-punk scene over 2016. 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. So read on to find out who came #1! Remember though this is only our opinion and these twenty-five 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. We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

TOP 25 CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS

1. THE RUMJACKS (Australia)-‘Sleepin’Rough’  Review

2. THE NARROWBACKS (New York)- ‘Arrogance & Ignorance’  Review

3. THE CLOVES AND THE TOBACCO (Indonesia)- ‘Across The Horizon’  Review

4. MICKEY RICKSHAW (Boston)- ‘Behind The Eight Ball’  Review

5. THE WAKES (Glasgow)- ‘Venceremos!’  Review 

Absolutely no surprise here at all. For the first time we had an unanimous vote from all the admin’s that sees The Rumjacks sail away with the #1 spot for the second year running. It’s been an outstanding year for the Bhoys and with an American tour on the horizon they about to take another giant step in their campaign of world domination! Other notables were NYC’s Narrowbacks whose second album really showed the depth of their songwriting and could just have easily won the folk/trad best of too! The Cloves And The Tobacco deserve plaudits galore in another fantastic year for Indonesian celtic punk bands while Mickey Rickshaw could probably be said to have won the ‘unified title’ across all the various celtic-punk sites. In all we have twenty five bands from fourteen countries including USA x 6, Australia x 3, Indonesia x2, Germany x2, Netherlands x2, Catalonia x 2, Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Czech Republic, Russia and Belarus with The Wakes being the only Celtic country based band which goes to show how international the scene has become.

6. THE CLAN (Italy)- ‘All In The Name Of Folk’  Review

7. HOIST THE COLORS (USA)- ‘Mourners’  Review

8. SIR REG (Sweden)- ‘Modern Day Disgrace’  Review

9. FOX n FIRKIN (Australia)- ‘No Vacancy’  Review

10. FIDDLER’S GREEN (Germany)- ‘Devil’s Dozen’  Review

11. LUGH (Brazil)- ‘Histórias Do Mar’  Review

12. JAY WARS AND THE HOWARD YOUTH (Australia)- ‘Love In The Time Of Fear’  Review

13. BUNCH OF BASTARDS (Netherlands)- ‘My Drinkin’ Ain’t Done’  Review

14. SIGELPA (Catalonia)- ‘Rabant Original’  Review

15. TENHOLES (Indonesia)- ‘Loyalty’  Review

16. THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS (Germany)- ‘Seven Hearts One Soul’  Review

17. 13KRAUSS (Spain)- TheEnd Is Nigh’  Review

18. DRINK HUNTERS (Catalonia)- ‘Shameless’  Review

19. PIRATES OF THE PUBS (Czech Republic)- ‘Drunken Forever’  Review

20. THE MUCKERS (USA)- ‘The Muckers’  Review

Whiskey Outlaws (2016)

21. LQR (Netherlands)- ’10 Pinter’  Review

22. THE Пауки/THE PAUKI (Russia)- ‘La Isla Del Muerto’  Review

23. Всё CRAZY (Belarus)- ‘По Морям’  Review

24. RUSTY NAIL (USA)- ‘Bitter Ale, Bitter Heart’  Review

25. THE LANGER’S BALL (USA)- ‘Whiskey Outlaws’  Review

A special mention here to the ever prolific and always a pleasurable experience The Mahones who released a greatest hits entitled The Very Best: 25 Years Of Irish Punk which couldn’t be included in the Top 25 but if it did would have given The Rumjacks a run for their money!

TOP TEN CELTIC PUNK EP’S

1. MICK O’TOOLE (England)- ‘A Working Class Battalion’  Review

2. THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY (Australia)- ‘Whitewashed Graves’  Review

3. DRUNKEN FAIRY TALES (Russia) – ‘Пьяные Сказки’  Review

With The Rumjacks returning a year later to sweep the Album Of The Year it’s no surprise then that Wiltshire lads Mick O’Toole follow up last year’s win in the EP Of The Year awards to do the same thing. A great year for them that has seen them play less and less within the celtic-punk scene and really start to make waves outside of it. A foreign tour and more support slots to various punk rock legends than most bands play in a lifetime and all in the space of twelve months. The Ramshackle Army EP got lost in the post leaving us to do a rush-job review and given time I’m sure they may have given the O’Toole’s a run for their money. Drunken Fairy Tales impressed everyone and Matilda’s vinyl only release deserve a mention as well Mick O’Toole grabbing the 5th spot too.

4. MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS (England)- ‘Crowleys Curse’  Review

5. MICK O’TOOLE (England)- ‘False Flag Collapse’  Review

6. BAY STREET BASTARDS (Canada)- ‘Small Batch’  Review

7. LEXINGTON FIELD (USA)- ‘Redwood’  Review

8. HANDSOME YOUNG STRANGERS (Australia)- ‘Battle Of Broken Hill’  Review

9. MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS (England)- ‘The Organworks Recordings Session’  Review

10.  BALSALL HEATHENS (England)- ‘Life’s Too Short’  Review

TOP TEN FOLK/TRADITIONAL RELEASES

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1. ANTO MORRA (London)-’16’  Review

2. THE LOGUES (Ireland)- ‘Comin’ Of Age’  Review

3. MICKEY RICKSHAW (Boston)- ‘Wild Atlantic’  Review

Possibly the hardest Best Of List of them all to do is this one as so many releases cross over the genres between rock and punk and folk and trad but our good friend Anto Morra, the ‘London Irish folk-punker’, just edging it from The Logues with his superb tribute to the 1916 Easter Rising. Mickey Rickshaw swept to third with their specially recorded acoustic EP that came out for their European tour and ShamRocks put out an album of high quality and original Irish folk with imagination galore. A special mention for Blackwater Banshee whose EP came out later in the year and shows enormous promise and one or two original songs would have seen a much higher position I am sure.

4. ShamRocks (Ukraine)- ‘Captain’s Log’  Review

5. LARKIN (USA)- ‘A Toast To St. Jude’  Review

6. FOLK THE SYSTEM (England)- Unrest In The Wolds’  Review

7. SHAMBOLICS (Australia)- ‘Riot On Race Day’  Review

8. CLEAR THE BATTLE FIELD (USA)- ‘Set Me Free’  Review

9. SOLAS (USA)- ‘All These Years’  Review

10. BLACKWATER BANSHEE (Bristol)- ‘Blackwater Banshee’  Review

TOP CELTIC PUNK WEB-SITE

Now this has over the years become the Celtic Folk Punk And More Top Celtic Punk Web-Site award so often has that esteemed site walked away with the top spot but there’s a new kid on the block and this year we are happy to award top spot to our good mates over at Mersey Celt Punks. They only kicked off the site a few months ago but super regular postings on all manner of celtic-punkness has seen them triumphant. You can join their fun over at Twitter and Facebook and we heartily recommend you do. A special mention here also for Viva La XV another new kid on the block which looks amazing but sadly as none of us can read Spanish we can’t tell if it’s as good as it looks! We’re sure it is and you can check it out for yourselves at the Blog or over on Facebook.

Right now the details. The Best Of lists were cajoled and bullied out of the four admins on the London Celtic Punks Facebook page. The various scraps of crumpled paper were received and then tallied up over several pints of Guinness in Mannions in north London while watching the football on the telly.

We are now in our fourth year of doing these Best Of lists so if you would like to have a look at the previous years best in celtic-punk then click the link below the relevant year.

https://londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/best-of-2013-polls-results-in/

https://londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/london-celtic-punks-presents-our-best-of-2014-2/

https://londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/london-celtic-punks-presents-our-best-of-2015/

all the major players in celtic-punk do Best Of lists so click below to check out what they thought

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

PADDYROCK

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

CELTIC-ROCK.DE

remember any views or comments we would love to hear them…

Only one more thing to mention about 2016 and that is to remember here Erik Petersen the lead singer of the influential folk-punk band Mischief Brew who sadly passed away earlier this year. I still find it hard to believe that he has gone but he will always be commemorated.

“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”

Read our obituary for Erik here and raise a glass the next time you get the chance to.

 Rest In Peace comrade.

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2017

ALBUM REVIEW: THE CLAN- ‘All In The Name Of Folk’ (2016)

The Clan. As influenced by AC/DC , punk rock and traditional Irish folk music!

We have now been at this for so long that we have recently been doing album reviews of bands that we have already featured before and The Clan are one of those bands. Back in December 2014 we reviewed  (here) their superb self-titled debut album and boy did we rave on and on about how good it was! Well this is the follow up to that and we can confirm that it is indeed equally good, if not better!

The Clan hail from the small town of Muggiò in the province of Lombardy in the north of Italy and have only been together since 2013. Maybe its a Catholic thing but their has always been a good relationship between the Irish and the Italians. I can’t speak for America (maybe one of our US readers can fill us in but I did hear their was a lot inter-marriage between us) but here in England we got on fine. A couple of my best mates at Catholic school were Italians and they were big Celtic fans too. Their has always been a lot of traffic between Ireland and Italy and so I suppose it’s only natural that some Italians will find solace in Irish music. It’s also clear that Italy’s top celtic bands like The Clan, Kitchen Implosion, Dirty Artichokes and Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards all have that same deep love for Ireland and it’s culture and musical traditions.

All In The Name Of Folk hit the streets the day after this years St Patrick’s Day on the 18 March which as many of you I’m sure will know it’s the a day not particularly well known to many Irish people! It came out on OnAirish Records and lasts nearly fifty minutes and where as their debut album was a straight up 50/50 mix of traditional folk covers and originals I am especially glad to report that apart from one brilliantly amazing cover these are all The Clan’s own songs.

The album begins with the sound of an ocean in ‘Overture’ which features the first of their many guests, the self taught bagpiper and whistle player, Iain Alexander Marr of The Sidh. A highly original and innovative Italian band whose combination of contemporary and electronic celtic music has led to plaudits galore. It’s a slow dirge with military style drumming that soon explodes into The Clan’s signature tune ‘Folk ‘N’ Roll’ where Iain again guests on the pipes and it’s pure 110% celtic-punk-rock!!! Utterly brilliant with a tonne and a half of energy that bursts out the speakers at you. They follow this up with ‘Second Chances’ and we are joined by fiddle and banjo and with no let up at all with Angel Rock’s vocals shining through. ‘Let Me Go’ features good mate of the band and TV and radio personality and rock star Andrea Rock and again it comes off brilliantly. ‘Jenny Porter’ was the first song they released to the world off the album via the superb video below. An absolute blinder and it has to be said that The Clan do make bloody good videos. Get yourself a beer and a pack of biscuits and be sure to check out their YouTube channel below and treat yourselves.

I don’t have a clue who Jenny Porter (bar that she’s the “queen of the pub”) is but she must be well chuffed to have such a kick-ass song written about her. The album continues with the instrumental ‘Whole Lotta Jig’ featuring one of Italy’s foremost flutists and expert Irish flute player Tommaso Tornielli. The song is yer proper authentic Irish folk jig that if I hadn’t just told you you’d have never have guessed it was played by Italians. ‘Irish Sky’ has a Poguesy feel to it led as it is by the tin whistle while ‘Angel of the Sea’ is one of those swirling around on the dance floor moments with yer arms wrapped around friends and foe alike while yer beer spills down someone’s back and grand it is too. It features Francesco Moneti fiddle player of the amazing Modena City Ramblers and has a seriously good Waterboys sound to it. ‘Horns up and Fight’ turns the volume up again kicking off with the pipes and the fastest/punkiest song on the album is heading yer way. ‘Ulysses and the Siren’ keeps the speed up but is much more traditional based while ‘Reel O’Fire’ is another class instrumental featuring both Stefano Iascone and Jacopo Ventura and comes up trumps again with a trad number that is simply outstanding with the great addition of trumpet making it stand out loud and proud. It’s possibly the best song here and shows The Clan at what they do best. ‘Home of My Heart’ slows the pace down a little but still sounds perfect Clan! They save maybe not the best for last but certainly the two songs that will stand out among the majority of celtic-punk fans. ‘True Story’ featuring the #1 geezer in celtic-punk Francis McLaughlin of Aussie band The Rumjacks who need no introduction and Frankie’s dulcet tones dominate the song as per usual everything this Bhoy turns his hand is simply magnificent and finally the album comes to an end with another Aussie connection. You may heard ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top’ before especially as just recently its been all over Facebook as performed by the brilliant AC/DC on the back of a van driving down some street in Australia (check it out here). Their are bagpipes in the original and I guess we could definitely consider it celtic-rock (even celtic-punk) these days but The Clan add to it some fiddles and mandolin among the pipes and crank the rock up too making this the perfect ending to a great album. If you can please excuse my language for a moment IT FUCKING ROCKS!!!

A fantastic album and, as others have written, a definite contender for those end of year Best Of polls. This is perhaps not ‘celtic-punk’ in as much as it is Irish-punk as their love of Irish music seeps through every pore of All In The Name Of Folk. Not a single bad track here in fact the absolute opposite. This is how celtic-punk should be played with love and respect for the past and a eye to to the future and all the time keeping it relevant for everyone from yer old folkie with a finger jammed in his ear to the young skate punker sitting in his bedroom annoying the hell out of his parents with his music. Get this album it’s far too good to miss out on!

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ALBUM REVIEW: TRIBUTE TO THE POGUES- Various Artists (2016)

A huge compilation of songs written by the world’s #1 Celtic-Punk band as covered by today’s generation of modern celtic-punk bands from every single corner of the world!

FREE DOWNLOAD!

We were sent this brilliant album by our good mate Vladimir, who also did the fantastic artwork and also seems to do the artwork for most Celtic-Punk releases in Russia, just before St Patrick’s Day. I had to warn him that we wouldn’t be able to do it justice in time to put a review up on release day as we would all be in the pub busy celebrating our Irish ancestry so here a few days late is our opinion on this years must hear compilation album.

As far as I know this is the first international tribute to the Godfathers of Celtic-Punk – THE POGUES! Everything we hold dear in Celtic-Punk comes out of the influence of The Pogues and their seminal and legendary front man Shane MacGowan. What they mean to Celtic-Punk is unmeasurable and the only question you must ask of this album is whether or not this is a worthy tribute to them or not and the answer is of course is that it most definitely, certainly  is!!! The whole thing clocks in at nearly ninety minutes and has 27 bands from right across the entire globe with just about every corner covered. The list of countries here goes from the obvious ones like the USA, Norway, England, Italy, to some ones that may surprise you like Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic,  and Russia to some that will downright shock you like Indonesia, Ukraine or Belarus. They have all combined to bring you The Pogues most popular London Irish ballads from the era of safety pins, ripped jeans and disheveled hair!

Now this has been put together by our mucker and artist Vladimir from Novosibirsk in Russia and has a whole host of bands that are both new to us as w