NEW SINGLE: UKRAINIAN CELTIC-PUNKS O’HAMSTERS ‘September’56’

Not even full-scale Russian invasion can stop Celtic-Punk!. Check out the absolutely brilliant new Celtic-Punk release from O’Hamsters out of war torn Kyiv. 

O’Hamsters are back. Perhaps surprisingly considering that their country is the middle of a war having been invaded. Fresh from last years fantastic album From Green Hills to Raging Sea. An album that would feature in the London Celtic Punks Top 30 albums of 2022. Songs about Ireland, women, alcohol, football hooligans, pirates and genitalia, reflections on the war and the brotherhood and unity of the Celtic-Punk scene all play out on this great album. You can stream or download the album for just $7 with all money raised going to HMV.UA – the team of volunteers headed by the band’s friend Alex Sedov helping the army of Ukraine.

We chatted briefly to Anton from O’Hamsters (their is no ‘The’) who said the track grew out of a rehearsal jam and all it took was about fifteen minutes. At first, at first it wasn’t even considered worthy enough to be included on From Green Hills To Raging Sea but time is a great healer and now the guys reckon it’s one of the best songs they’ve ever written… and they are not wrong! The final part of the track is a stoner riff – quite atypical for O’Hamsters.

The plot of the song is based on a real incident that happened in a soviet forced labour camp in the 1950’s. Three prisoners escape from a prison located in the desert, they walk for miles and miles through the desert without food and water and then two of the fugitives turn on the third and decide to kill him with the aim to drink his blood. However, when they kill their accomplice, his blood immediately coagulates due to the heat, dehydration and hunger and so the murder turns out to be meaningless. In a real-life case that took place in what is now Kazakhstan, two fugitives who were experienced criminals stabbed a Ukrainian accomplice to death, even though he had promised them that they would find a water source very soon. The killers then reached the source just a few minutes later. In addition to frontman Anton’s voice you can also hear the vocals of the well-known Eugene Tymchyk from Ukrainian bands Septa and The Nietzsche. O’Hamsters were looking for someone to record this track for a very long time, and Eugene helped us a lot, and asked to send their gratitude to him via our pages.

O’Hamsters from left to right: Anton Skvortsov – Vocals / Acoustic Guitar * Ruslan Viter (down) – Guitars * Andriy Ganzevych (up) – Mandolin / Tin-Whistle * Volodymyr Mazur – Accordion * Denys Zhukowsky – Drums * Maksym Sokolov – Bass *

As for our plans – they’re kinda blurry right now because of russian invasion and war which tends to exterminate any plans at all; the only thing that helps musicians and bands to do anything in Ukraine is the bravery of out Armed Forces. We’re having a Saint Patrick’s Day gig in Kyiv in a couple of weeks, that’s all we know now.

We would also ask you to help Ukraine to defeat russian invasion and support Ukraine

https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate-en/

https://prytulafoundation.org/donation

https://linktr.ee/hmvua

Contact O’Hamsters  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube  Bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: O’HAMSTERS – From Green Hills To Raging Sea (2022)

Delayed, delayed and delayed again the fourth album from O’Hamsters, Celtic-Punk band from Kyiv, Ukraine, finally sees the light of day. Not even a full-scale Russian invasion can stop Celtic-Punk! Ireland, women, alcohol, football hooligans, pirates and genitalia, reflections on the Ukrainian-Russian war, the brotherhood and unity of the Celtic-Punk scene and a daring story of prisoners’ escape from jail all feature on this great album. 

The release of From Green Hills To Raging Sea has been on the cards for a while now. First along came the Covid pandemic and then came the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. With no end to the war in sight O’Hamsters have decided to put the album out and raise awareness of the invasion and to raise money for HMV.UA, a group of volunteers lead by friend of the band Alex Sedov who aid the Ukrainian army. One of the many tragedies around the war in Ukraine is that the first time I heard of O’Hamsters was on the compilation album Ex-USSR Tribute To Dropkick Murphys, which featured eighteen Celtic, Punk, Celtic-Punk, Hardcore and Oi! bands from Russia and Ukraine. The album is still available for free download and is heartily recommended. So their existed a very friendly relationship between bands from both countries and whatever happens in the future I really hope that this friendly relationship can survive.

From left to right: Anton Skvortsov (top, looking somewhere far away) – vocals, acoustic guitar *  Ruslan Viter (bottom) – guitars, backing vocals * Andriy Ganzevych (top) – mandolin, whistle, backing vocals * Volodymyr Mazur (bottom) – accordion, piano, backing vocals * Denys Zhukowsky (top) – drums, backing vocals * Maksym Sokolov (bottom) – bass, backing vocals

O’Hamsters have been together for twelve years and have well over 200 gigs under their belts from playing across Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Belarus. Their previous releases include Alcophilosophy (2011), Kyiv /Dublin /Alcohol (2014)2014 and Wherever We Go (2017) and two EP’s Sassenach, Go On Home (2010) and Kiss My Irish Ass (2015) as well as contributing songs to the compilation albums Ex-USSR Tribute To Dropkick Murphys (2013), see above, and the Worldwide Tribute to The Pogues (2016).

The album begins with ‘Cath Ghleann Molúra’ and the rat-a-tat-rat beat soon explodes into full on accordion led Punk slammer. From the first notes you get the idea of where O’Hamsters are going and its great! The tune is dedicated to the Battle of Glenmalur from 1580, when a united army of Irish clans defeated the English army in the mountains of Wicklow setting the mood for the rest of the album. They have in the past sung mainly in their own language but on ‘Black Sails’, their first video in almost five years, it is also the first time they have sung in English. Dating from five years ago it shows how long the planning for this album has been and tells of the fate of James McGraw aka Captain Flint, renowned pirate from the book Treasure Island and the 2014 television series Black Sails.

“As a kid you dreamed of leaving a port town you’ve grown up in 

And you saw yourself a captain like your dad has always been 

Years later you are smiling, standing firmly on the deck 

Famous storm of seas and oceans sailing under the black flag”

Both the lyrics and the context of the songs and adjoining history is superb and instilled with meaning.  ‘Пісенька про Капітана Бена Лаферті / Captain Ben Lafferty Song’ is a song of two halves kicking off as a mental instrumental before bursting into the story of a brave seaman. Anton on vocals has a voice that rivals Ronnie Drew himself for its gruffness. Ronnie was once described as having a voice “like the sound of coke being crushed under a door” and Anton is not far behind! For a band that rocks so heavily Irish Folk melodies still play an enormous part in everything they do and ‘До Ірландії / To Ireland’  tells of an Irish rebel dying in Brixton Prison who asks of the priest who comes to hear his confession if his soul will have one last journey to Ireland. It’s an unusual song here in that it is quite mellow but filled with symbolism. ‘September’56’ features Eugene Tymchyk, vocalist from Ukrainian bands Septa, The Nietzsche and others. It is no surprise that the war dominates this album and O’Hamsters borrow from the Irish rebel songbook next with a updated Celtic-PUNK version of ‘Mій Армалайт / My Little Armalite’ with a Ukrainian fighter taking on the Russian army with the help of his Armalite rifle. Next up is ‘Rocky Road to Odesa’, a song recorded originally by a O’Hamsters side project. ‘Пагорби Дніпра / Dnipro Hills’ springs along spiritedly almost Ska-ish at times but most definitely catchy as hell at all times in a love song to their home city! Finny McConnell has been a busy man of late popping up on these pages in the last few weeks guesting on the recent Paddy Waggin’ single ‘Life On The Booze’ and then when his band The Mahones released their outstanding album Jameson Street last month. Here he is again guesting on vocals for the next song here, ‘Together As One’. The song is one of the albums highlights and was the second single to come out. The video is a tribute to everyone who has supported O’Hamsters over the years. Former members, bands they have played with, the fans and crew.

“In these difficult times, when an army of barbarians is trying to conquer Ukraine, it is more important than ever for us to be Together As One”

Like us O’Hamsters see the link between football and Celtic-Punk and ‘За Свій Клуб / For Your Club’ is for everyone who fights for their team. Lots of “Oi! Oi!” gang vocals and another standout. This is so bloody catchy!! ‘Пеггі Летермор / Peggie Lettermore’ short but fast tune telling of a man whose life was made a misery by the aforementioned Peggie. The fiddle here is played by ex-O’Hamster Dmytro Danov. Like many European countries many, many people left their homes for an uncertain future in north America and elsewhere. Over a million Americans declare themselves of Ukrainian descent many of whose ancestors arrived escaping from ‘the red terror’ after the events of 1917. My industrial home town in northern England, like many others nearby, has a thriving Ukrainian Centre for example. ‘Наш Дім / Our Home’ is the story of those Ukrainian immigrants who sailed West to start new lives. The curtain comes down on Green Hills To Raging Sea with‘П’яний Скрипаль / Drunken Fiddler’ featuring Anatoliy Khomenko of fellow Ukrainian Celtic-Punk band ShamRocks on fiddle. A uttely superb way to end things witha swirling heavy but gentle (!) Celtic-Punk pint (or fist?) in the air moment. Speaking of nostalgia for youth, friends that have left us and music that is capable of creating utter joy. A time for unity and a time to contemplate what these poor guys are going through at this exact moment in time.

The album was recorded during March 2021 – September 2022 at PystelnukArt Studio, Kyiv. It was mixed and mastered by Dmytro Bastanov and the excellent artwork is from Oleksii Demianiuk. I’ve always loved O’Hamsters partly because of the uncompromising way they refuse to soften their sound and stick to their principals of playing it loud and proud. These are extremely talented musicians and capable of playing Irish-Folk that would make any homegrown band swoon. What these Folk-Punk folk, and the rest of their nation, are going through at the moment we can only imagine but we send our love and best wishes to them and while it may sound like some kind of ‘worthy’ review but this is seriously a contender for album of the year. I guess that’s what recording it for four years does!

(You can stream / download From Green Hills To Raging Sea from Bandcamp)

Buy From Green Hills to Raging Sea  Bandcamp

Contact O’Hamsters  Facebook  Soundcloud  YouTube

I’ll leave the final word to the band themselves

As for our plans – right now most of the plans of most Ukrainians look like this: survive and win. That includes us 🙂 We constantly ask for support for our army, which gives us the opportunity to make music. You can do this following the links below

https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate-en/ 

https://prytulafoundation.org/en/home/support_page 

https://linktr.ee/hmvua 

UKRANIAN BAND SHAMrocks NEW TRACK FROM FORTHCOMING NEW ALBUM

Celtic-Punk is a worldwide phenomenon these days and a perfect example is band ShamRocks. The first band of Ukraine’s Celtic-Punk scene and originators of ‘Stout Rock’ – a blend of Irish, Scottish, Breton, Finnish and Folk music with Punk, rock and metal.

Here they have released the first song from their forthcoming new album Bring It On!

ShamRocks were born in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev in 2009 so in a slow moving scene they are still  relatively newcomers. With a mutual love of traditional Irish and Scottish music, Finnish polkas, ancient sea shanties and good old fashioned Punk-Rock and Metal ShamRocks have released three albums with some of the best modern adaptations of classic Folk songs put to record. Traditional melodies played on fiddle, mandolin, flute and accordion and mixed up with head-banging riffs that are still heavy and danceable but with their roots intact.

ShamRocks – (top) Andrew Neretin – Guitar, Vocals * Alexey Sletkov – Drums (bottom) Sergiy Khudoliy – Keytar, Vocals * Anatoliy Khomenko – Violin, Mandolin, Vocals * Serge Vdovychenko – Bass, Vocals *

Their album’s Captain’s Log (2016) and Ye Olde Chariot (2017) both had that ‘crowded pub’ feel to them and more charted high in the end of year London Celtic Punks Best Of polls, with Captain’s Log reaching the heights of #4 that year. So it was with Covid coming along and spoiling everyone’s plans Bring It On! had to be delayed but buoyed by the massive success of the Dropkick Murphys Paddy’s Day live stream a couple of days later ShamRocks played a fantastic set broadcast across Facebook to every corner of the globe. The (almost) full set would become their third album FCP Live and with no ‘post-production magic’ it’s the pure ShamRocks experience. Original songs, Folk tunes, sea-shanties, Celtic-Punk classics and pub songs, ShamRocks can take any tune and turn it into a crazy and unique sounding experience!

No question as tired and old

“How much value does freedom hold

As bodies pile up in the morgues?”

We’re paying the ultimate price

The blank stare in dead soldiers’ eyes

There is no return; if we struggle and fall

There won’t be a flag left to mourn

You thought you could test our will

That centuries dulled our steel

You tried to go in for the kill

It’s time to stand proud

(We rise with our kin!)

It’s time to stand free

(We fight and we win!)

The aging empire can go and get bent

We’re drawing the line in the sand

Till our last breath we’ll

Stand fast

Another day passed

It won’t be our last

You know we can’t afford to fail now

We’ll reap what we’ve sown

Protect what we’ve grown

We’ll hold the line with pure anger

All our frustration

Determination

We are the ultimate punk nation

We need no masters

Now could you bastards

Fuck off to kingdom come

You know we won’t succumb

Whoa! Who-oa! Who-oa! Who-oa-oa-oa!

Who-oa! Who-oa! Who-o-oa!

Whoa! Who-oa! Who-oa! Who-oa-oa-oa!

Who-oa! Who-oa! Who-o-oa!

Whoa! Who-oa! Who-oa! Who-oa-oa-oa!

Who-oa! Who-oa!

YAAAR!

Stand fast

Another day passed

It won’t be our last

You know we can’t afford to fail now

We’ll reap what we’ve sown

Protect what we’ve grown

We’ll hold the line with pure anger

All our frustration

Determination

We are the

Ultimate

Punk

Nation

We need no masters

Now would you bastards

Just Fuck!

OFF!

The struggle shall go on!

Video shot by Aleksey Khoroshko and Iryna Piatanchuk. Edited by Sergiy Khudoliy

Mixed and mastered @Komora Studio, 2021

ShamRocks have just come back from playing their first live festival in two years and are finally looking forward to getting back to normal starting with the release of their next studio album. The plan is to release a few more singles along the way as they work on recording the rest of the album. Understandably they are reluctant to give a release date but stay in touch with us here at London Celtic Punks as we can’t wait to hear it and we will be among the first to break the news!!

(‘Punk Nation’ can be streamed and/or downloaded from Bandcamp for just $1)

Contact ShamRocks  WebSite  Facebook   YouTube   Bandcamp   VK.Com

ALBUM REVIEW: ShamRocks – ‘FCP LIVE’ (2020)

With a new studio album on its way ShamRocks, founding fathers of Ukraine’s Celtic-Punk movement and originators of ‘Stout Rock’ – a blend of Irish, Scots, Breton, Finnish Folk -release FCP Live a album that sounds like it could have been recorded down Mannions!

When exactly did the ‘clampdown’ begin? Well for me it was a bit earlier than most as a couple of days after St. Patrick’s Day my Doctor rang me and told me the date for an operation and so I was confined to base as it were. This made my long walk up to the local Lidl to get 4 cans of Guinness to watch the Dropkick Murphys Live Stream my last venture out for quite a while. While those few days saw some fantastic live music streamed over the internet with the Dropkicks, Brick Top Blaggers, 1916 and Bryan McPherson standing out in my memory one Live Stream deserved a much wider audience but went under the radar a little and that was ShamRocks from far away Ukraine. On March 20th the Bhoys got together with a bottle or two of Jamesons and played one hell of a show over Facebook and You Tube. One hour + of some of the best Celtic-Punk played that weekend.

It‘s been four years since the release of their acclaimed debut album Captains Log which hit the dizzy heights of the Top 5 in that years London Celtic Punks Best Of 2016. A real innovative and interesting album that took songs like ‘The Rising Of The Moon’ and  ‘Wild Cats of Kilkenny’ and injected them with just enough of the original but with an equal amount of themselves as well. They followed this up the following year with an EP Ye Olde Chariot which did even better at #2 in our Best Of 2017 charts so this is a band with a pretty good pedigree and one that we are big fans of.

ShamRocks left to right: Serge Vdovychenko – Lead Vocals, Bass * Andrew Neretin – Guitar, Vocals * Alexey Sletkov – Drums * Anatoliy Khomenko – Violin, Mandolin, Vocals * Sergiy Khudoliy – Keytar, Accordion, Vocals *

ShamRocks have continued to play and tour in the intervening years and plans were laid this year for their follow up album which has of course had to be delayed. So in the meantime ShamRocks have handed us this. A live album which has taken the songs from their St. Patrick’s Live Stream session and seamlessly edited them together. The album features songs from both previous releases and also a handful from their forthcoming album. ‘We’ll Be Drinking’ kicks off the album and we are straight into it. I commented before that they have a way of recording that gives it a real ‘pub feel’ while not taking away any of the professionalism and that is evident here. These guys must be one hell of a blast to catch live… Well of course you can kind of experience that via that Paddy’s Live Stream here.

A couple of songs fell by the wayside but thirteen survive and end up on this forty-five minute album. The guys do play some well trodden Folk tracks like ‘Leaving Of Liverpool’ but add to it a skanking beat making it as different a version as I have ever heard. It even closes with something more resembling Reggae! Next up is their ‘pièce de résistance’ the amazing ‘Rising Of The Moon’ which takes John Keegan Casey’s, the ‘Fenian Poet’, 1866 poem and conjures up something absolutely brilliant. The tune is still (mostly) intact but ShamRocks have real fun here mixing the Sex Pistols song Anarchy In The UK into it and while it may upset some folk music snobs purists I thought it was an absolutely fecking belter! Serge has a great voice for this Punk/Trad/Folk hybrid switching from one to the ther with ease. The band have Anatoliy covering the Celtic bases on fiddle and mandolin and Sergiy on the keytar manages to replicate bagpipes as well as a myriad of other sounds too. ‘Bring It On!’ is a new song and from this showing I’m very excited to hear the new album.

https://youtu.be/JlqsRGcoXko

A very catchy and hard driven Celtic rocker followed by the Bobby Sands penned ‘Back Home In Derry’. A song that began behind the bars of the Maze Prison in the north of Ireland has become a staple of the Celtic-Punk scene over the last few years. Popularised first I think by Neck but here the song becomes a thrashing Punk-Rock classic. ‘Yellow Ribbon’ is the shortest song here. A cover of the trad Folk song that is also the official anthem of the United States Cavalry! Not a song you may think you know but wait till you hear it. Like every cover here they may change and adapt and add to the songs but they still manage to make them instantly recognisable. ‘Roll The Old Chariot’ is next and starts off in acapella style before the mandolin comes in and you may suspect that the time for a slow one is now but ShamRocks soon blow the lid off and the song ends off speeding towards the end with Sergiy’s keytar sounding remarkably like Tex-Mex trumpet! ‘Sails To The Wind’ is another new one and has an American Celtic-Punk feel to it while ‘Kiltartin Cross’, based on the poem ‘An Irish Airman Foresees His Death’ by Irish writer and nationalist W.B.Yeats, is a beautiful song and Serge’s vocals are fantastic as he sings in Ukrainian about an Irishman in WW1 fighting for Britain but dreaming off his home in Kiltartin in Galway. ‘Rogers Rangers’ is another new one and you get the feeling that the new album will be a lot more heavier Rock style then their previous stuff but still very much within Celtic-Punk. ‘Jacobites’ is the old Scots Folk rebel song, re-written by Robert Burns around 1791, about the 1688–1746 Jacobite risings. ‘F​!​C​!​P!’ is of course F**K Corona Patrick’s the name of this album and is dedicated to “all those who play Celtic-Punk… badly” and is a rollicking great ride through several styles of Celtic-Punk and has several auto-biographical passages I think! Great fun all together and one of the highlights of the album. FCP Live comes to an end with one of the great Irish Folk classics ‘Molly Malone’ and for once the Bhoys play the song straight up… except in Ukrainian!

ShamRocks are definitely one of the most innovative and original bands in the Celtic-Punk scene and usual deserve a much wider audience. The album is the fully fledged ShamRocks experience with no ‘post-production magic’ or any such nonsense, just the live mix with a bit of mastering on top and edited together to make something pretty damn good. I’m not a fan of live albums usually but every now and then I hear one that really hits the spot and as an example of their old and new stuff it’s well worth getting while we wait for their new album. I will end with the words I used to review their album as i don’t think I have said it better since.

“There is plenty to upset the folk purists (or snobs as I prefer to call them) here but these people like to keep Folk music locked up in a box. Put away and kept out of the hands of people who (in their opinion) don’t respect or cherish them as much as they do. Their way is noble yes but is also a surefire way to kill off folk music. They attacked the Dubliners and then The Pogues in their time and now they fawn longingly over the bands they once called sacrilegious.”

(Download or stream FCP Live on the Bandcamp player below) Buy FCP LiveBandcampHereContact ShamRocks  WebSiteVK.comFacebookYouTube

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

EP REVIEW: ShamRocks- ‘ Ye Olde Chariot’ (2017)

Founding fathers of Ukraine’s celtic-punk movement and the originators of ‘Stout Rock’. A blend of Irish, Scottish, Breton and Finnish folk with a variety of rock and metal styles.

Born in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev only a few years back in 2009 Ye Olde Chariot is the second release from ShamRocks and combines all the parts that made their first release so enjoyable. We waxed lyrical at how much we loved Captain’s Log. A mutual love of traditional Irish and Scottish music, Finnish polkas, ancient sea shanties and good old fashioned punk rock and metal that has introduced the people of Ukraine to some out of the best modern adaptations of classic folk songs out there. Taking traditional melodies played on the violin, mandolin, flute and accordion and mixing them up with head-banging riffs that are both heavy and danceable at the same time. That debut album was a collection of the best of ShamRocks songs since they were formed from their first demo to their last studio sessions mastered brilliantly to give it that ‘crowded pub’ feel. It was voted into 4th place in our end of year London Celtic Punks Top Ten Folk/Trad releases but could just have easily made the celtic-punk Top Ten as well!

(listen to their first release Captain’s Log below)

What we had to say then stands the test of time

“There is plenty here to upset the folk purists (or snobs as I prefer to call them) but these people would like to keep the folk music of our people locked up in a box. Put away and kept out of the hands of people who (in their opinion) don’t respect or cherish them as much as they do. Their way is noble yes but is also a surefire way to kill off folk music. They attacked the Dubliners and then The Pogues in their time and now fawn longingly over the bands they once called sacrilegious. ShamRocks have taken a bunch of songs and added so much more to them than by simply folking it along. That they are Ukrainian adds another dimension to them. An absolutely stunning album with the only tiny criticism I may have is that their’s not enough ShamRocks own self-penned songs and to that end they have already began work on a EP that may or may not develop into a LP and I for one can’t wait to hear it!”

Well a full album is still in the works so in the meantime ShamRocks offer up this five track EP for us and again to say it is very good would be a massive understatement.

Ye Olde Chariot begins with the sound of an ocean before morphing into, appropriately, an olde sea-shanty, ‘Roll The Old Chariot’. Originated as an African-American spiritual it was used as a ‘stamp-and-go’ or ‘walk away’ meaning the sailors would hold on to the line and walk with it creating a steady pull. The song starts off in an acapella style before the mandolin is introduced and just as you are lulled into the gentleness of the song BANG ShamRocks launch into the celtic-punk version and the cobwebs are well and truly blown away!

Fast and carefree the song still maintains, as is ShamRocks style, very much the original folk song despite some great touches like a ska ‘ish’ beat at the beginning and the trumpet towards the end. Simply breath taking and easily the best version I have ever heard. Can’t tell you much about the next song titled ‘Пияка-Гультяй’ ‘cept it’s in Ukrainian and is fast and has a Eastern European sound. No matter how fast  they play or how much punk or metal they inject into it it’s amazing that so much of the original folk songs survives. We are only three songs in and ‘Der Stern Der Grafschaft Daun’ is yet again a real eye opener and when I say that I’m a little jaded after hearing yet another celtic-punk version of ‘The Girl From The County Down’ I mean it. But this is different and as the band say themselves it’s

” an all-time favorite folk song frankensteined into an industrial metal number”

Well that was until I heard ShamRocks version. I thought I’d heard it played every which way imaginable but I was wrong! Yeah a metal version but once again never straying too far from that original.

Next up we have a instrumental called ‘Topor Polka’ and it’s extremely well played with great fiddle work and accordion alongside the driving electric guitar, bass and drums. I daresay this is a real fans favourite live and it may steer more towards their own side of the world rather than Celtic but we don’t hold a monopoly on the best music and I love to see bands adding their own influences into the mix. Ye Olde Chariot comes to an end with ‘Kiltartan Cross’ and it’s a beautifully ballad based on the poem ‘An Irish Airman Foresees His Death’ by the famous Irish writer and nationalist W.B.Yeats. The words are worth repeating so here they are.

“I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;

My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;

I balanced all, brought all to mind
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death”

Though he may be fighting for Britain the airman’s heart is at home in his Irish village of Kiltartan. Written not long after the end of the First World War where many Irishmen died fighting for the British Empire their lives would have been better served fighting at home. Serge’s vocals are mournful and timeless. They convey the emotion of the words perfectly and the band’s backing is perfection too with the flute taking the lead through most of the song and so the EP ends very much on a high note.

Now there are many bands out there who steer clear of the usual well worn covers and prefer to do some research or delve back into their childhoods for inspiration and we always love that but most of the time these bands hail from within the Irish/Celtic diaspora. The amazing thing about ShamRocks is that they don’t. They don’t and yet the respect and affinity they have for Irish music is clear to anyone. As mentioned no matter how hard they rock out there is still the unmistakable sound of traditional folk music behind them. They have produced here eighteen minutes of exactly what I think of when I think of celtic-punk. Modern music but with both feet firmly planted in the past and there are many many modern Irish bands who could do well to learn from ShamRocks example.

(have a free listen to Ye Olde Chariot on the Bandcamp player below before you purchase. It’s only $3 which is super good value believe me!)

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ALBUM REVIEW: O’HAMSTERS- ‘Где бы мы ни бывали’ (2017)

More masterful celtic-punk from Eastern Europe with O’Hamsters from Kyiv Ukraine showing us all how its done”

Now we love celtic-punk music that much must be obvious as the nose on my face. The people who write for the London Celtic Punks are lucky (or unlucky considering all our ‘issues’ ahem) to be Irish but when it comes to our music we never discriminate and it’s a good job too as we would miss out on some great music if we ever bought into such ridiculous notions as ‘cultural appropriation’ or that folk/trad snobbiness that saw legendary bands like The Dubliners and The Pogues castigated as ‘un-Irish’ in their time.

This brings us nicely onto today’s band O’Hamsters (their is no ‘The’ just O’Hamsters) who have featured on these pages several times in the past including reviews of their last two EP’s (here) and (here). O’Hamsters hail from the capital city of Ukraine, Kiev, and have been playing together in a band since 2009 and Где бы мы ни бывали/ Gde By My Ni Byvali is their third album release. Now we are in a music scene that is truly worldwide but does tends to sing in English. Even bands from the celtic nations tend to sing in English, with the odd notable exception of bands like Les Ramoneurs De Menhirs from Brittany, and even bands from further afield and well away from the Celtic diaspora nations tend to sing in English. Now this makes it easier for my job as a reviewer but I do worry about the effect this has on the music scene of the country the band comes from. Therefore I do find it refreshing when bands sing in their native language but it does mean I miss out on what the band are singing about. Going on what I know of O’Hamsters it will be the things we love here at London Celtic Punks. Folk, punk, football, Ireland and drinking and some other things we couldn’t print on a family blog!

Nov 2013

Dec 2011

Nov2010

Где бы мы ни бывали kicks off with ‘Истинный Ирландец’ and all I really want to say here is that the album is fourteen f**king brilliant songs that clock in just over forty minutes so just get to that download button below and get downloading. The opening song gives you the perfect taste of what is to come. Slow and soft accordion gives way to thrashing guitars, rapid punky drumming, quality mandolin and raspy vocals. As is the way with a lot of celtic-punk bands at the moment there’s a brief foray into celtic-ska before we are back again. Great country style intro for ‘Winter Hill’ before its celtic-punk all the way. I hear the word Massachusetts so can only guess that the song is about the home of famous ex-on the run Irish-American gangster Whitey Bulger and his notorious Winter Hill Gang. It’s pretty much the same story right through to the end. This is fast and furious celtic-punk of the hardcore kind. Much like their neighbours from Russia, Middle Class Bastards, its’s unmistakable celtic-punk but with a much harder edge to it than we are use to in the soft west. They keep up the pace, and the quality, and it’s not until ‘Где бы мы ни бывали’ that we are treated to a cover version and its the brilliant sound of ‘Come To The Bower’. Having opened the album with their own compositions we are treated to a wonderful set of Irish songs that you never thought you hear in Ukrainian! Gang vocals kick it off and them thrashing guitars and furious accordion give it a sound that would shake the cobwebs from yer average Dubliners fan. This is also the name of the album and suits it perfectly as the song is written to reach out to Irish people exiled to escape political persecution or for financial reasons. A bower is a leafy seated area found in country gardens and often used by lovers but in the song, however, the bower refers to Ireland itself. We back in Irish history again next with ‘Храни, Боже, остров Эрин’ which goes to the tune of ‘God Save Ireland’ though not sure if it’s the same lyrics or not. Vera Brenner guests on Bagpipes and she is simply amazing and her playing adds so much. guys you need to persuade her to join the band full time I’m telling you! ‘Батальон Святого Патрика/ Batal’on Svyatogo Patrikais’ a cover of the David Rovics penned classic ‘Saint Patrick’s Battalion’  which was a Mexican army unit comprised of Irish Catholics who defected from the US army during the Mexican-American War. The St. Patrick’s Battalion was an elite artillery unit which inflicted great damage on the Americans during the battles of Buena Vista and Churubusco. After the battle most members were killed or captured and most taken prisoner were hanged. They are still celebrated widely in Mexico. The boys borrow the tune next from ‘The Wearing Of The Green’ for ‘Странный союз/ Strannyy soyuz‘ and its classic celtic withthe tin whistle moving it along at a swift pace. ‘Cath Sulchuait’ is my album standout track. All the elements combine to make a song that at times could spill into the Dropkick Murphys but each time O’Hamsters steer it back into their own world. A great chorus and the band are never better here though it is close several times. We steering near the end and ‘Рыжий Айриш Бой/ Ryzhiy Ayrish Boy’ or in English ‘Auburn Irish’ takes us back firmly into the celtic ska-punk of earlier and is another standout. ‘Я из Коннахта/ I’m From Connaught)’ is officially the end of the album and ends with the ballad I have been waiting for. Joined by Anna Vasil’chenko from fellow Ukrainian band Kings & Beggars it brings the curtain down momentarily on a great album. I say momentarily as O’Hamsters have added two bonus tracks for you lucky people

(Lyrics in English!! Directed by Andrey Ganzevich and Artem Brin)

‘Стакан/ Glass’ came out in 2015 and is a frantic fast as hell celtic-punk classic that is all over and done within just eighty seconds. The final song here is ‘Ліжко Кухуліна/ The Sickbed of Cuchulainn’ abelter of a song which was one of the absolute highlights of the fantastic mainly Eastern European compilation album from last year The Tribute To The Pogues which is still available for free from here.

July 2014

March 2015

so in this year of our Lord two thousand and seventeen that has already gone down in history as the best year of celtic-punk album releases we have another to add to our growing list. A superb album from a superb band and you can listen to this and most of O’Hamsters back catalogue through their Bandcamp page below but it’s bands like this that make it celtic-punk a worldwide scene and if any band deserves a few pounds/ dollars/euro’s chucked their way then its them.

(you can have a listen to the whole of Где бы мы ни бывали before you download it)

Download The Album

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For another review from our comrades over at Celtic Folk Punk And More read here.

ALBUM REVIEW: ShamRocks- ‘Captain’s Log’ (2016)

The founding fathers of Ukraine’s celtic punk movement and the originators of ‘Stout Rock’. A blend of Irish, Scottish, Breton and Finnish folk with a variety of rock and metal styles.

ShamRocks formed in 2009 in Kiev in the Ukraine. With a mutual love of traditional Irish and Scottish music, Finnish polkas, ancient sea shanties and good old fashioned punk rock and metal they set about introducing the people of Ukraine to some out of this world modern adaptations of classic folk songs. Combining traditional melodies played on the violin, mandolin, flute, and accordion with head-banging riffs that are both heavy and danceable at the same time. Their debut album Captain’s Log is a collection of the best of ShamRocks songs since they were formed from their first demo to their last studio sessions. The tracks have been professionally mixed and re-mastered to successfully recreate a ‘crowded pub’ feel.

Captain’s Log kicks off with ‘The Blood Of Cuchulainn’ and will be instantly recognisable to many of you as the theme tune to the 1999 Irish-American movie The Boondock Saints. The film features several celtic-punk numbers and has become a must see of the celtic-punk scene. Written by brothers Jeff and Mychael Danna it also featured in one of the battle scenes from Braveheart and is a rousing spirited instrumental and a fantastic way to start proceedings. Though the original includes bagpipes the ShamRocks version doesn’t distract by playing it with fiddle instead. Chugging guitars and accordion ensure we slip nicely into ‘Leaving Of Liverpool’. A classic of Irish (and British) folk music. Perhaps overdone a little but I’m sure not so much for a Ukrainian audience. The song starts and is unrecognisable before finally exposing itself. Top marks to the boys for recording trying something different here with a ska beat and trumpets and all sorts going on with all the time the song bursting in and out of celtic-punk and even Dub! Collected by Richard Maitland, who learnt it on board The General Knox around 1885. The lads next give a straight up, heads down version of the Dropkick Murphys ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’. Without that bagpipe player ShamRocks have to try something a little different and again they manage to pull it off easily. A really good version though to be perfectly honest I’m yet to hear a bad one! Instrumental ‘Kaalifornipolkka’ is an absolute corker of a song. The chugging guitars are back, the accordion is pushed to the fore and the band gang vocals it with “Hey” every now and then. Celtic-punk pure and simple! We’ve another Irish folk standard next and if any Irish song was designed for smashing a beer glass on and off a table to then it is ‘The Wild Rover’. Not a song you hear too much in celtic-punk circles but its up there in the Top five Irish songs of all time. Again it’s not just a cover and ShamRocks throw plenty of their own selves into it with a lovely accordion tune in here. ‘Lord Of The Dance’ is funnily enough a is a hymn with words written by the English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1963. We use to sing this at school when I was a child and to be honest we loved it as it made a change from some of the more stuffy old hymns that would bore the pants off you. Later it became a football chant with a few line changes for Chelsea! With growling death metal like vocals ShamRocks play with it and when it come’s to cover versions they never take the simple route.

“I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;

It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone;
But I am the dance, and I still go on”

The old sea shanty ‘Bully in the Alley’ follows and its fast paced with a really cool ska beat to a song you’ve heard before but never like this. Thought to be of Caribbean origin when first heard in the West Indies but the legendary Cecil Sharp also found a version in Somerset. The meaning of the words is as mysterious as its origins with ‘Bob’ thought to mean ‘God’ as in ‘God help me’ and ‘Bully’ to mean ‘drunk’.

We have a couple of Irish standards up next and if you have learnt anything from my review so far its that they are not the standards that your Nannie use to play when you were a nipper. ‘Molly Malone’ is up first and is as close to the original as any on here but still without enough of a ShamRocks stamp to carve it out as their own. The real highlight of the album is, without a doubt, their version of ‘The Rising Of The Moon’. Written by John Keegan Casey, the ‘Fenian Poet’, and first published in 1866 he based the poem on a battle between the United Irishmen and the British Army during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in County Longford. ShamRocks have real fun here mixing the Sex Pistols song Anarchy In The UK into the mix and while it may upset some folk music snobs I thought it was absolutely fecking brilliant!

Captain’s Log comes to an end with the Jem Finer/Shane MacGowan penned ‘Wild Unicorns of Kilkenny’ otherwise known as ‘Wild Cats of Kilkenny’ which featured on The Pogues classic second album Rum,Sodomy & The Lash. Again the Bhoys do an outstanding job of giving us just enough of the original with an equal amount of themselves as well. An amazing song that was ShamRocks contribution to the Tribute To The Pogues double-album that came out earlier in the year and is till available as a free download here. Well it’s not really the end as their is a hilarious cover hidden at the end. I won’t say what it is but it will have the folk purists recoiling!

ShamRocks from left to right: (sitting) Alexey Sletkov- Drums * Serge Vdovychenko- Bass/ Lead Vocals * Sergiy Khudoliy- Accordion. (standing) Anatoliy Khomenko- Violin/ Mandolin * Andrew Yakovenko- Guitars

As I already said there is plenty here to upset the folk purists (or snobs as I prefer to call them) but these people would like to keep the folk music of our people locked up in a box. Put away and kept out of the hands of people who (in their opinion) don’t respect or cherish them as much as they do. Their way is noble yes but is also a surefire way to kill off folk music. They attacked the Dubliners and then The Pogues in their time and now fawn longingly over the bands they once called sacrilegious. ShamRocks have taken a bunch of songs and added so much more to them than by simply folking it along. That they are Ukrainian adds another dimension to them. An absolutely stunning album with the only tiny criticism I may have is that their’s not enough ShamRocks own self-penned songs and to that end they have already began work on a EP that may or may not develop into a LP and I for one can’t wait to hear it!

(you can listen to Captain’s Log for free by pressing Play on the Bandcamp player below)

Buy The Album  FromTheBand

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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 well as some that are already firm favourites. It would be pointless here to go too far into the history of the songs as they are surely known to even the slightest fan of The Pogues. The whole thing kicks off with one of The Pogues least known songs ‘Curse Of Love’, which was a bonus track on the Hell’s Ditch re-issue album, by Indonesian band The Cloves And The Tobacco. They recently released a new album and it has been making huge waves across the international Celtic-Punk scene and it is a fantastic start and swiftly followed by ShamRocks from the Ukraine and Dzieciuki from Belarus before the London Irish very own The Craicheads weigh in with ‘Sally MacLennane’. They give it plenty of oompf and one of The Pogues fastest ever songs is delivered more than safely with a hint of country and bluegrass. Next up is easily one of the most inventive bands in the whole scene, and one of my own personal favourites, from California are Craic Haus playing ‘A Pair Of Brown Eyes’. You won’t have heard another band like them in the world of Celtic-Punk I can guarantee it. They have even invented their own genre called ‘Shamrockabilly’ and though their usual Rock’n’Roll may be a little lacking on this track it is still outstanding and worthy of you checking out the rest of their back catalogue. Another bunch of my favourite bands roll up next playing some of my fave Pogues songs. A good combination indeed. Happy Ol’ McWeasel from Slovenia doing ‘Sunny Side of the Street’ with the band I once described as being a cross between The Exploited and The Chieftains Middle Class Bastards from Russia next with ‘Big City’, Ukrainian band O’Hamsters sing ‘The Sick Bed of Cuchulain’ before possibly the album’s biggest band The Greenland Whalefishers from Norway chipping in with a brilliant version of ‘Birmingham Six’. A couple of bands I don’t know follow with Kelush and the Bastards (feat. Chris Dutchak) from the Ukraine with an absolutely fantastic skate punk ‘Fairytale of New York’ before Harley McQuinn from Russia nails it with ‘London Girl’. Keeping just enough of the originals Rock’n’Roll sound before adding some great guitars and gang vocals. Czech’s Benjaming’s Clan and Italians Dirty Artichokes are both bands that have impressed us here over the years and you could almost call them Celtic-Punk veterans compared to some of the groups here! Russian band The Real Blackbeards I don’t know but they present a great fun pirate version of ‘Sea Shanty’. Americans CRAIC are another big hitter here and they also do a Hell’s Ditch classic ‘Sayonara’ and is one of the many album highlights. Troty hail from Poland and are one of the few bands with a female vocalist. They give us a faultless Polish version of Bottle of Smoke while Hell’s Ditch is revisited again by another Indonesian band Forgotten Generation with ‘Rain Street’ and again it is absolutely superb. Amach  I don’t know but they offer up ‘Transmetropolitan’ and bloody great in its simplicity it is too. They come from the Crimea and like the best bands here they don’t over complicate things but just add a twist to add their own stamp to the songs. Yet another Indonesian band pops up next and The Working Class Symphony give it plenty in their cover of ‘Fiesta’. Never one of my favourite songs but this version bloody rocks and I have fallen for it big time. Like all the Indonesian bands here they play traditional Irish folk influenced punk and is so well played you would think they were all Irish if heard them on the radio! БНД I can’t even pronounce their name but ‘Boys From County Hell’ keeps up the high standard while The Humble Hooligans are a band I only got into recently and these Californians give Turkish Song of the Damned a right auld kicking complete with proper authentic moans and wails. Great accordion leads and Troy’s perfect vocals mark them out as a band to watch out for. Red Box from Russia again I don’t know but offer up a decent ‘If I Should Fall from Grace with God’ before Rum Rebellion from Portland, USA serve up an epic ‘Boat Train’. Been fans of these for a long time and they do not disappoint. Всё_CRAZY are from Belarus and their ‘My Baby’s Gone’ is another album highlight. Taken from the first post-Shane Pogues album Waiting For Herb it’s a brave choice and fits in and works perfectly. We are nearing the end of the album and the last band I know here is the marvellous Moscow Celtic Punk group Drunken Fairy Tales. Keep an eye out soon for the review of their new EP it’s both fantastic and free to download! Crow Dog Clan have another brave choice with ‘Oretown’ from the final (non-Shane) Pogues album Pogue Mahone. They take the song and give it a real shake to come up with something outstanding. Almost gothic country its actually great to hear something not so celtic. Finally the album comes to a sad end with Kozlobar from Russia bringing down the curtain on this amazing tribute with the mental instrumental ‘Battle of Brisbane’.

Well what to say now in summing up. With 27 bands you’d think their would at least be a few duffers here but you’d be mistaken. I’m sure if their were any they ended up on the cutting floor as from beginning to end the whole thing is simply fantastic. From the selection of bands to the bands own selection of songs this is as good as it could have possibly have mine. Yes this is kinda dominated by eastern European groups but it has been put together by a Russian guy and I for one am glad its not dominated by American bands. If Celtic-Punk exists and is to prosper beyond The Pogues/Dropkicks/Molly’s then it must also exist outside the countries of the Irish/Celtic diaspora like the States, Canada, Australia or England. Compilations serve a purpose in introducing you to new bands and if there was a problem in celtic-punk it is that far too many people think the scene these days revolves solely around the Dropkicks or The Molly’s. I am sure this album will introduce everyone hearing it to today’s generation of bands that are carrying the torch for Shane and his buddies and not only that but will inspire another generation of fans as well.

Tracklist

1. The Cloves and The Tobacco feat. Cathy Shannon – Curse of Love

2. ShamRocks – Wild Unicorns of Kilkenny (Wild Cats of Kilkenny)

3. Dzieciuki – Не Саскочу! (Streams Of Whiskey)

4. Craicheads – Sally MacLennane

5. Craic Haus – A Pair of Brown Eyes

6. Happy Ol’ McWeasel – Sunny Side of the Street

7. Middle Class Bastards – Big City

8. O’Hamsters – Лiжко Кухулiна (The Sick Bed of Cuchulain)

9. Greenland Whalefishers – Birmingham Six

10. Kelush and the Bastards feat. Chris Dutchak – Fairytale of New York

11. Harley McQuinn – London Girl

12. Benjaming’s Clan – The House of Gods

13. Dirty Artichokes – The Rake at the Gates of Hell

14. Real Blackbeards – Пират и Колдун (Sea Shanty)

15. CRAIC – Sayonora

16. Troty – Butelka Smoke (Bottle of Smoke)

17. Forgotten Generation – Rain Street

18. Amach – Transmetropolitan

19. The Working Class Symphony – Fiesta

20. БНД – Boys From County Hell

21. The Humble Hooligans – Turkish Song of the Damned

22. Red Box – If I Should Fall from Grace with God

23. Rum Rebellion – Boat Train

24. Всё_CRAZY – Ты Ушла (My Baby’s Gone)

25. Drunken Fairy Tales – Плот “Медузы” (The Wake of the Medusa)

26. Crow Dog Clan – Oretown

27. Kozlobar – The Battle of Brisbane

So there you have it. Don’t forget to tell all your friends about it now! Share it with all you know and let the world enjoy this superb free compilation! And a happy (belated) St. Patrick’s Day to you!!!

(you can listen to the entire record here for free by pressing play on the Bandcamp player below and follow the link below that to get the download)

Download The Album- Bandcamp

(any problem with Bandcamp then you should try here)

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS OUR BEST OF 2015!

One of the best things about doing this here blog-zine is the end of year ‘Best Of’s’. This is our chance to reward, for what it’s worth, and recommend those releases that tickled our collective fancies over the last twelve months. Where as in 2013 the Best Of’s were dominated by local bands and releases and in 2014 it was international bands that stole the show this years is more of a mix of the two. No shocks at the top I’m afraid. It was always going to be a slug out between the big hitters of celtic-punk with The Rumjacks just shading it from the The Mahones by the slightest of margins. One of the team commented that the only difference was that ‘The Hunger And The Fight Part 1’ was slightly better than Part 2. In third place came 1916 out of New York who only just sneaked in with the December release of ‘Last Call For Heroes’. The album came out so late we didn’t even get a chance to mention it let alone review it nevertheless it blew us all away with their brilliant combination of rockabilly and celtic-punk. Another one to file in the ‘shamrockabilly’ category. Overall no major surprises and all four admins lists pretty much tallied up with each other but it’s especially great to see some non-English speaking bands in there as well as some bands that were new to us in the last twelve months. I was particularly happy to see Skontra and The Cundeez make the grade representing celtic-punk as played in the celtic nations. As ever we have reviewed some, though not all of these albums, so click (here) after the title and you will be re-directed to our review. If your album is not here do not be downhearted. These twenty album’s are the tip of the iceberg of what was released last year in what was an outstanding year for celtic-punk. 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 20 CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS

1. THE RUMJACKS- ‘Sober And Godless’  (here)

2. THE MAHONES- ‘The Hunger And The Fight Part 2’

3. 1916- ‘Last Call For The Heroes’ (here)

4. FEROCIOUS DOG- ‘From Without’

5. THE GREENLAND WHALEFISHERS- ‘The Thirsty Mile’  (here)

6. MR.IRISH BASTARD- ‘The World, The Flesh & The Devil’  (here)

7.  THE DEAD MAGGIES- ‘Well Hanged’  (here)

8. THE GO SET- ‘Rolling Sound’  (here)

9. MICKEY RICKSHAW- ‘No Heaven For Heroes’  (here)

10. HAPPY Ol’ McWEASEL- ‘Heard Ya Say’  (here)

 11. JASPER COAL- ‘Just The One…’  (here)

12. THE CUNDEEZ- Sehturday Night Weaver  (here)

13. THE FATTY FARMERS- ‘Escape From The Dirty Pigs’  (here)

14. THE SHILLELAGHS- ‘Bury Me At Sea’  (here)

15. JOLLY JACKERS- ‘Sobriety’  (here)

16. MALASANERS- Spanish Eyes’  (here)

17. SKONTRA- ‘Foguera’  (here)

18. THE WAXIES’ ‘Down With The Ship’  (here)

19. KITCHEN IMPLOSION- ‘Selfish’

20. THE TOSSPINTS- The Privateer  (here)

TOP TEN CELTIC PUNK EP’S

Now onto the EP’s. These are classed as shorter usually four to six songs long and around anything right up to 15-20 minutes long. No shock here at number one as a unanimous vote saw this years new band of the year Mick O’Toole walk away with the title. They have been a solid fixture during the year building up quite a reputation and following. At number two it’s long been a well known secret that Indonesia is a hotbed of celtic-punk and Dirty Glass are one of the best bands in their flourishing scene and ‘Drunken Summer Nights’ ran O’Toole very close while another English band came in third. Matilda’s Scoundrels really hit the heights in 2015 and just like Mick O’Toole bigger and better things await them in 2016. The rest of the list is made up from bands from across the globe with Slovenia, South Africa, Hungary, Catalonia, Russia, Holland, France and Yorkshire all making the list.

1. MICK O’TOOLE- ‘1665 Pitchfork Rebellion’  (here)

2. DIRTY GLASS- ‘Drunken Summer Night’  (here)

3. MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS- ‘Split w/ The Barracks’  (here)

4. ZUNAME- ‘Pipes Not Dead’  (here)

5. THE HYDROPATHS- ‘Wailing Away’  (here)

6. SOUTH SHORE RAMBLERS- ‘Open Room Sessions’  (here)

7. O’HAMSTERS- ‘Kiss My Irish Ass’  (here)

8. LOCH NESZ- ‘Leave The Captain Behind’  (here)

9. CIRCLE J- ‘Year Of The Goat’  (here)

10. SIGELPA- ‘Ens Van Diagnosticar Un Transtorn’  (here)

11. THE MOORINGS- ‘Nicky’s Detox’  (here)

TOP TEN FOLK/TRADITIONAL RELEASES

As the blog is for (mostly) celtic punk so it is that we only review stuff that isn’t celtic punk if we really really (really!!) like it. All these rocked our boat and we loved each of them all to bits. If you like celtic-punk then you should not be afraid to give traditional folk a listen. Most of it is more punk than punk these days you know. It’s a direct link to the music that inspired celtic punk music and their are some amazing bands and performers out there. Hard to decide which order they should go in especially as O’Hanlons Horsebox could have just as easily won this years Best Celtic Punk Album as well! This is how the Top Ten ended up.

1. O’HANLONS HORSEBOX- ‘Songs And Stories From The Border’  (here)

2. BARRULE- Mannannans Cloak’  (here)

3. LE VENT DU NORD- ‘Têtu’  (here)

4. BRYAN McPHERSON- ‘Wedgewood’  (here)

5. THE RATHMINES- ‘Ramblin With The Rats. Stolen Songs of Struggle’  (here)

6. ANTO MORRA- ‘Boudicca’s Country’

7. JACK OF ALL- ‘Bindle Punk’  (here)

8. JOHNNY CAMPBELL- ‘Hook, Line And Sinker’  (here)

9. FFR CELTIC FIESTA- ‘Fresh Blood’

10. THE PROCLAIMERS- ‘Let’s Hear It For The Dogs’  (here)

11. SKWARDYA- ‘Domhwelyans/ Revolution’

TOP CELTIC PUNK WEB-SITE

Again Waldo over at Celtic Folk Punk And More walks away with this award. There is simply no better site on the internet. Everything you would possibly need to know is here with a HUGE range of bands covered and there is no doubt in my mind that the site you are reading here now would not exist without the inspiration of Celtic Folk Punk And More. Sadly Waldo published a post on January 3rd titled ‘New Year, New Life’ (here) announcing the suspension of the site for a while. We wish Waldo well and look forward to his, and his fantastic web site’s, return.

* The lists were compiled from the scraps of crumpled paper, and one beermat, handed to me by the other three admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page and tallied up over several pints of beer in a seedy working man’s Irish boozer in north London.

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- 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

CELTIC-ROCK

PADDYROCK

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

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

EP REVIEW: O’HAMSTERS- ‘Kiss My Irish Ass’ (2015)

Drink, Feck, Fight, Ireland!

With the London Celtic Punks gang on tour in Dublin for this last St Patricks Day we missed the bunch of releases that all came out on the glorious 17th so we are now slowly slowly working our way through them for you. One of the best of the bunch is this four track EP from the Ukrainian celtic-punk band O’Hamsters, hailing from Kiev. With a bunch of solid releases, both albums and EP’s, behind them they have risen to the top of their scene and have been recognised by those in the know as one of the best bands around.

The EP starts off with ‘Kiss My Irish Ass’ a cover of the classic celtic-punk standard written by Frank Mackey of the American band The Keltic Cowboys. Starting off slowly before thrashy guitars and celtic instruments, a wee ska bit and growly lead vocals and shouty gang choruses storm in and set the pace for rest of the EP.

“We’re stubborn as mules, with our blood on fire,
When we ain’t at Sunday mass
We’ll look any man straight in his eyes
and say “kiss my Irish ass,
you better kiss my Irish ass”

but don’t expect to be able to follow any of the song’s as its all sang in Ukrainian. Not that I mind and I for one applaud them for that. Too many bands sing in English including ones from the celtic nations so it makes for a refreshing change to hear a band singing in their native language. So with it impossible to judge them from their lyrics we have to judge them on their music and luckily for us the rest of the EP is just as worthy with much the same formula as ‘Kiss My Irish Ass’ with tin whistles, fiddles and accordion competing but never smothered by the sometimes loud electric guitars. The final track sounds reminiscent somewhat to me of the great Breton celtic-punk band Les Ramoneurs De Menhirs with a Breton sounding fiddle dominating and female vocals.

All in all yet another great record from a great band and, like a lot of Eastern European bands, they have made it available for free download. You can also go to their Bandcamp page and download all their previous records as well. O’Hamsters have gone a long way with their music but it would be a awful shame if they didn’t get the popularity they deserve simply because they sing in a language other than English for they deserve to be fecking massive!!

(click play below to hear the entire record)

Contact The Band

Facebook  Bandcamp  Soundcloud  LastFM  YouTube  VK.Com

Download This Album

Here  

ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS- ‘Ex-USSR Tribute To The Dropkick Murphys’ (2014)

Tribute album to the worlds most famous and popular Celtic-Punk band The Dropkick Murphys. Recorded by the best Celtic, Punk, Hardcore and Oi! bands from Russia and Ukraine!

Hot on the heels of our recent review of the Russian band Middle Class Bastards new EP we return to the former Soviet Union for this compilation album from bands from Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir began work on the album back in the autumn of 2012 with over forty bands scheduled to appear. Well fast forward a couple of years and the list has been whittled down to eighteen bands with all but one from Russia and one band from Ukraine- our old favourites O’Hamsters from Ukraine. Unfortunately  Бостонское Чаепитие (in English Boston Tea Party) the only celtic/pirate punk band in Belarus had to drop out of the project.

As you would expect the album is dominated by celtic punk bands and several of these deserve to be internationally famous but other musical styles are represented too giving the album a real feel of what’s currently going on in the Russian/Eastern music scene.

The whole album is 18 tracks that runs for over fifty minutes and moves along at a rare old pace. The opening track is ‘Walk Away’ by Zuname one of the best and original celtic punk bands out of Moscow. The starting point is that these are brilliant songs to cover and most celtic-punk bands will have included one or two DKM’s songs in their live sets at some point so the songs are all pretty well recorded and played.  Zuname do a great job but is a shame that for a band with a piper they didn’t choose a song with pipes. Nevertheless a great opening. Assholes Syndicate next with ‘The Boys Are Back’. They hail from the same town in northern Russia as Middle Class Bastards and run through the song in a straight forward punk rock style. Not just yer standard cover the Assholes add plenty in and make the song their own. Great guitar work. Думай Сам up next with ‘Sunshine Highway’ and though its not one of the DKM’s strongest songs they give it a good shot. Next up is one of our favourites O’Hamsters from Kiev in the Ukraine. The lads have appeared on these pages before and if there was an award for the best record sleeves then these lot would be a whole lot bigger than The Dropkick Murphys! They pick ‘The Dirty Glass’ and top marks for singing in their native language and as expected they knock it right out of the park. Featuring guest vocals from Maria Naumenko. Only six of the bands on the album sing in their own languages which is a shame but completely understandable really. Just wish it didn’t have to be and people were a bit more adventurous. FatalYear play ‘Noble’ and also sing in Russian and do a great job of one of my own DKM favourites. Following is one my current scene favourites Middle Class Bastards playing ‘Your Spirit’s Alive’ and as I thought they play the bejaysus out of it. Mandolin and pipes kick the arse out of the song turning into a ska song halfway through with the brilliant inclusion of a trumpet before returning to celtic punk again. A classic! Track seven is from Kids Of The Street with ‘Road Of The Righteous’ with the early DKM Oi!/streetpunk classic. The vocals are a bit muffled otherwise a pretty decent job though the song inexplicably fades away far too early. Drunken Fairy Tales play ‘Boys On The Dock’ and they are one of the better known celtic punk bands outside Russia. From Moscow they deserve that recognition and plough through their song with gusto. Riot Radio play a melodic hardcore version of ‘The Thick Skin Of Defiance’. The accordion is well to the fore in St Petersburgs  The Beerocephals version of ‘The Hardest Mile’. No matter how hard they try thrashing guitars can’t play louder than a well played accordion! One of the albums standouts is the Citramons ‘Never Alone’. Great guitar work and shouty dual vocals mark this  band from Kalingrad out. Another band who were pioneers of the scene in Russia are another St Petersburg band The Пауки (in english The Spiders) who run through ‘The Gauntlet’ without missing a beat though one quibble is the celtic instruments needed to be turned up a bit in the mix. Patronage get through ‘Barroom Hero’ and play it as if The Toy Dolls were covering it. Great stuff. TWIF up next and sail through ‘Boston Asphalt’ in a straightforward fast as hell punk rock style. Another band from Novribosibirsk is  Беz Фанатиzма (in english Without Fanaticism) with a speeded up version of ‘Pipebomb on Lansdowne’ the DKM’s would love to be able to play this fast if they could keep up. Real Shamrocks have a fiddle led version of  ‘Hang Em High’ and again the celtic instruments are a bit low in the mix at times but that doesn’t detract from the song that much as its another album standout track. City Stones do ‘World Full Of Hate’ as its original except in Russian. Квэкс get the pleasure of doing the Dropkicks most famous song ‘I’m Shipping Up to Boston’. Played to death throughout the world at sporting events it never loses its appeal and the boys do it great justice with what sounds like two pipes bring this album to a close in great style.

Middle Class Bastards

O’Hamsters

Assholes Syndicate

Well there you have it. A must have for any Dropkick Murphys fans. Its available for ‘Pay What You Want’ on Bandcamp but first you can grab a listen to it below anyway. We have tried to link to all the bands but its been hard so click on the red band name and hopefully it will take you to somewhere you can find out more information. As with all compilation albums its gonna be a hit and miss affair for most people with not all the tracks bound to move you but theres enough corkers here for you to give a go. Vladimir deserves a real pat on the back for this labour of love and it deserves to be heard. The scene in the ex-Soviet Union is small but growing and there’s some amazing bands so as usual I end with a plea to leave your comfort zone and check out some of these great bands.

Buy The Album  Name Your Price at Bandcamp

Previous Blog Reviews

Middle Class Bastards  O’Hamsters 

The Пауки

Квэкс

Citramons

TRIBUTE TO GIL HERON- MICHAEL MARRA AND THE HAZEY JANES

Gil Heron was a Jamaican professional footballer. He was the first black player to play for Celtic, and was the father of poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron. He was spotted by a scout from Celtic while the club was on tour in North America, and he signed for the club in 1951 after being invited over for a trial. He went on to score on his debut, in a League Cup tie against Morton that Celtic won 2-0. Heron only played five first-team matches in all, scoring twice. He passed away in Detroit of a heart attack on 27 November 2008.

When Duke was in the Lebanon
Groovin’ for the human race
Gil flew high in the western sky
On a mission full of style and grace
From Jamaica to the Kingston Bridge
He was inclined to roam
Drawn to the flame of the beautiful game
Here was a brother who would not stay home

Higher, raise the bar higher
He made his way across the sea
So that all men could brothers be

When Miles was on the jukebox
And Monk was on the air
Gil crossed the ocean to the other side
To play for Celtic with a noble stride
The arrow flew, he’s flying yet
His aim is true so we don’t forget
What it means when his name we hear
The hopes and dreams of every pioneer

Higher, raise the bar higher
He made his way across the sea
So that all men could brothers be

Written by Michael Marra

Michael Marra was a singer-songwriter and musician from Dundee, Scotland. Known as the Bard of Dundee, Marra was a solo performer mainly known as a songwriter, he also worked extensively in theatre, radio and television. His songwriting was rooted in Scottish life and he found an audience within and beyond the folk music scene. Sadly he passed away in October 2012 after he collaborated with fellow Dundee indie band The Hazey Janes on a six track EP called ‘Houseroom’. Michael was the father of two band members of the Hazey Janes.

Buy The EP

MusicScotland

Contacts

Michael Marra  WebSite  The Hazey Janes WebSite

superb article from The Shamrock here entitled ‘The Noble Stride- Celtic And The Pioneering Herons’.

FREE DOWNLOAD: IRISH PUB SONGS COMPILATION

Destined to go down in history (well Celtic-Punk history anyway!) the Irish Pub Songs Collection. A download of the best music around today. 70 minutes long with 23 bands from 15 countries and available for nothing at all.

Every day’s St. Patrick’s Day according to Neck but a week today it actually is so to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, we are super pleased to offer you this collection of some of the finest Celtic-Punk bands around today to download completely for *FREE*. Seriously this is as good a sampler as you’ll find of what’s alive and kicking and fecking brilliant in the world of Celtic-Punk. Download link below but you can follow the links to find out more about each band.

TRACKLIST

01. Celkilt (France)- Everyday’s St Patrick’s Day  WebSite

02. Drink Hunters (Catalonia) – Drinking Song  Facebook

03. The Ramshackle Army (Australia) – Boilermaker’s Hands  Facebook  WebSite

04. Auld Corn Brigade (Germany)- Day To Day  WebSite

05. The Vandon Arms (USA) – Streets Of Gold  Facebook

06. Sunday Punchers (South Africa)- Guinness – Facebook

07. Lexington Field (USA) – Crazy Eyes  Facebook  WebSite

08. The Lagan (London)- Fields Of Athenry  Facebook  WebSite

09. Fiddler’s Green (Germany)- A Bottle A Day  WebSite

10. The Detonators (Serbia)- My World  Facebook

11. The Tosspints (USA) – Blood or Whiskey  Facebook

12. Pint Of Stout (Ukraine)- We All Deserve To Die Facebook  Album Review here

13. The Fatty Farmers (Spain) – At The Counter Bar  Facebook

14. Cheers! (Czech Republic)- Cliffs Of Galway  Facebook

15. Fox’n’Firkin (Australia)- 1788  Facebook

16. 1916 (USA)- Wild Rover  WebSite  Facebook

17. Bastards On Parade (Galicia)- Drunken Haze  Facebook

18. The Tossers (USA) – Here’s To A Drink With You  Facebook  WebSite  Album Review here

19. Irish Moutarde (Quebec)- Farewell to Drunkenness  Facebook  Review here  Interview

20. LochNesz (Hungary)- Have Another Whisky  Facebook

21. Brutus’ Daughters (Spain) – 6 Beers  Facebook

22. The Scally Cap Brats (Canada) – Dress Sharp, Drink Hard  Bandcamp

23. The Irish Rovers (Canada) – Drunken Sailor  Facebook 

if any links go dead leave a comment please leave a comment

YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE ALBUM BELOW

you can download Irish Pub Songs for free if you wish but there is also an option to donate to the Justice For The Craigavon 2 campaign that we support. Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton have been locked up unjustly convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Any donations to the campaign go directly to the campaign. Their are other albums on the Bandcamp site available. To find out more information on this miscarriage of justice please visit

jftc2.com    www.facebook.com/JFTC2/

CLICK ON THE ALBUM SLEEVE BELOW

So there you have it. The CD clocks in at a whopping 70 minutes and and its not even dominated by North American bands with 15 countries represented on the compilation. It’s a ‘name your price’ download so anything at all is acceptable from nothing to whatever you can afford. So get downloading, put the kettle on or open a beer and get listening…

EP REVIEW: O’HAMSTERS- ‘Celtic Crew’ (2013)

A couple of weeks ago we reviewed the new LP from A Pint Of Stout and now here’s the latest recordings from the Ukraine’s only other celtic-punk band and big Celtic supporters O’Hamsters. Coming from the capital Kiev they’ve so far released one studio, one mini-album and one live album and now this their new 3-track EP ‘Celtic Crew’.

The first track is ‘Celtic Crew’ and starts off with a sample of that wee lad leading the singing at Celtic Park before  flying off into fast as feck manic Irish folk punk. The croaky vocals and drumming give it a proper punk feel but accordion and tin whistle keep it firmly in celtic-punk. The lyrics are sung in Ukrainian so anyone out there who can translate them please do… though I’m 100% certain their complimentary!

The following tracks (that I can’t pronounce) are all in the same vein so no disappointments here!

You can download the EP from Soundcloud here for as little as a quid so get on it and have a listen to their other records too while you’re there. Just like Pint Of Stout they have made their previous releases free to download so get them all but remember to chuck them at least a pound for the new one. you’ll not be regret it!

Check Out O’Hamsters:

Facebook  Soundcloud  You-Tube  Last FM

O’HAMSTERS LIVE VIDEO

Related articles

• ALBUM REVIEW: PINT OF STOUT- ‘Choose Your Devil’ (2013) (londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com)

ALBUM REVIEW: PINT OF STOUT- ‘Choose Your Devil’ (2013)

For those of you who like your celtic-punk a bit more sea bound here’s the second release from Pint Of Stout from the city of Luhansk in Ukraine. reminding me a whole lot of The Dreadnoughts if you substituted the fiddle for accordion. Formed in 2011 their first self titled album ploughed more traditional celtic-punk fare and very good it was too, only just failing to make it into the ‘LondonCelticPunks Top 5 Albums Of 2012’.

On ‘Choose Your Devil’ this time the gruff, pirate-style, almost metally in places, vocals are wrapped around more sea-shanty style punk than celtic but is just as good. its all original compositions with only one cover (“Spanish Ladies” a traditional naval song) no fillers and the lyrics are in english and as is usual the musicianship is top notch. where this bhoys differ though is their attitude to their music having made their first LP a free download they’ve repeated it with their 2nd album so you’ve no excuses not to download and listening!

Kenedis – drums
Morion – mandolin
Kirill Savintsev – guitar/vocals
Daniil Marchenko – bass
Yury Kharchenko – bayan

PINT OF STOUT –

CHOOSE YOUR DEVIL

free download here. if the link is broken or gone leave a comment and we’ll re-up it as soon as we can.

if you speak Ukrainian then check out their VK account here.  (VK is the largest European social network with more than a 100 million active users…apparently) but if not then check their Facebook page here.

PINT OF STOUT- DEVIL JOKE VIDEO