Tag Archives: Anto Morra

ODDS’N’SODS. A CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP JUNE 2023

Odds'n'Sods May 31, 2023 Leave a comment

If June be sunny, harvest comes early, June damp and warm does the farmer no harm.

in this month’s Odds’n’Sods all the news fit to print on what’s going in our wonderful Celtic-Punk world. From the scene’s biggest and well established bands to those just starting out it’s all in here!

We had a great night out watching THE MARY WALLOPERS playing their final date of their UK tour last month and what a lovely surprise to see legendary Pogues blow-hard Spider Stacy coming on to play a wild ‘Holy ground’ with the Dundalk bhoys.

There’s a couple of different tracks floating round on You Tube from popular Californians THE PROVOS set at the Constellation Room during St. Patrick’s weekend but ‘From Hell To Sea’ is my favourite. New single due out later this week. Really fallen for this band!

CHEERS! Celtic Folk-Punk band brewed in Pilsen in the Czech Republic. The track comes from their new release ‘Flowers In Rye’ – out now.

Still footage appearing from around St. Patrick’s Day and here’s fifteen minutes of the BRICK TOP BLAGGERS playing live at the St. Pat’s 2023 Fremont St. Experience in Las Vegas.

The brilliant new Galician Celtic Celtic-Punk band TECOR SOCIETARIO live in Sala Capitol, Compostela, on February 4th with a new song influenced by Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Our Land’.

Hungarian Celtic-Punks THE CRAZY ROGUES recorded a live session at the Hungarian National Library for the HUN State TV Channel 2. It premiered on TV a couple of weeks ago and is fantastic. Sad news for the band and their fans is that Laszlo, the long-time singer of the band, has decided to move onto pastures new. His decision is amicable and he will return as a guest in the future. The new singer is already up and running!

JESSE AHERN has been over to these shores a couple of times of course the last being the support to the Dropkick Murphys and The Rumjacks and on his new single he’s roped in over all talented bastard Mikee from The Rumjacks to produce and direct the video. The track is from his forthcoming album Roots Rock Rebel – out September 15. Pre-order at https://jesseahern.store

More amazing traditonal Hungarian Celtic-Folk-Punk from a great band JOLLY JACKERS that we have featured several times over the years.

Italian Celtic / Irish trad. Folk band PATRICKS knocked out a great version of ‘I’ll Tell Ma’ last month. I may have heard it a 100,000 times but theirs a very good reason why its so popular… its because its a brilliant song!

DROPKICK MURPHYS – Okemah Rising

DROPKICK MURPHYS – Live At Ryman Auditorium

BRAVE THE SEA – Lady Death

BLOOD OR WHISKEY – Poxy Pub (EP)

BEYOND THE LAMPLIGHT – Don’t Forget to Leave It All Behind

MERRY HELL – Let The Music Speak For Itself

NO MURDER NO MOUSTACHE – There’s A War Going On For Your Mind

Remember we can’t review it if we don’t hear it!

NORTH ALONE are a Folk-Punk/acoustic band from Osnabrück, Germany who have been together just over 10 years and have a new EP out.

WAYNE BRERETON is a Folk and ballad singer-songwriter from Co. Offaly in Ireland. He cites Luke Kelly, Shane McGowan, Sean Keane and of course his multi-talented father as his biggest influences for the crafting of his own style. Wayne is a Gaelic Speaker with a great love for Irish culture, songs and ballads. Pre-order his new album The Robin’s Call via the Bandcamp app.

London alt-folk band LOCKS new single ‘Jars’ is out now taken from their forthcoming EP Tall Tales.

Award winning North- West of England Folk-Rock 8-piece MERRY HELL came from the embers of the much loved Folk-Punk band The Tansads, developing a life and feel all of its own. Through twelve years, six albums and hundreds of gigs they have released Let The Music Speak For Itself a 28 track Greatest hits of sorts. As they say

This collection does not represent the beginning of the end; it represents the end of the beginning…

An ‘eclectic’ (I think the word is!) cover of The Pogues ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God’ by THE WIGGINS which is essentially Jon Read over there in Houston, Texas. I love it!!

THE TENBAGS are a Folk-Punk outfit hailing from Birmingham, with original boozy Brummie ballads and traditional woozy wailers. Their first release since since the Bags O’ Craic album in 2019.

Welsh one-man-band NO MURDER NO MOUSTACHE have a new album out on May 26. Anti-establishment Punk Rock with Celtic influences. Sometimes acoustic, sometimes not, always #punk.

We’ve been doing this now for nearly 10 years and in that time we have covered 100’s of bands and musicians but still plenty of bands have passed us by. We can’t see everything after all so this column is to remind us of bands that never made these pages at the time but deserve another mention. These hopefully come with a free download like today so you can help yourself to some free music. Last month we had the music of Folk-Punk band Tail Light rebellion and today we go to the where they began their musical adventure in the Celtic-Punk band THE SWAGGERING GROWLERS. A traditional Irish Folk-Punk band based in Boston, Mass. Infusing the spirit and the tradition of Irish session players with the fire, intensity, and heart of Boston Punk and Hardcore, and tempered with the earnestness and soul of American Folk and created an unforgettable musical juggernaut. Here is Outlaw Waltz the last of their three studio albums but all are available here as ‘name your price’ downloads.

With the demise of the four piece Wolfe Tones and the inevitable split into two bands and while both offer a great night out we can’t recommend DEREK WARFIELD AND THE YOUNG WOLFE TONES enough. Power, passion and history with their charismatic leader. Playing the 229 on Great Portland Street on Friday 2nd June. The 3rd sees SKIMMINGTON RIDE play McCaffertys in Seven Kings. American political singer-songwriter DAVID ROVICS is supported by ROBB JOHNSON at LARC in East London on the 8th and Trad band FLOOK are at the Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith on June 10th. Fast-paced trashgrass and blues band from Colorado the TEJON CORNER STREET THIEVES are at the Islington Assembly Hall supported by AMIGO THE DEVIL on Thursday June 22. The following day on the 23rd is the world’s #1 Pogues tribute band THE POGUE TRADERS live at Mill Hill Golf Club. July 18th sees Scandinavian Celtic-Punk pirates YE BANISHED PRIVATEERS at The Black Heart, Camden and the following day American Folk-Country-Doombilly band the HEATHEN APOSTLES play The Lexington in Kings Cross on Wednesday 19th July. The founders of Alt-Country THE LONG RYDERS are coming back to these shores this month with a full Europe and UK tour. RETURN TO LONDON, London’s 25th Festival of traditional Irish music, song and dance is between Friday 27th – Monday 30th October 2023 at The Crown Hotel (Cricklewood) and other local venues – http://www.returntolondontown.org The postponed MR. IRISH BASTARD UK tour is back on and during November they will be heading to Brixton (22nd), Southampton, Bridgwater, Manchester and Edinburgh. Can’t wait! One more thing we saw the OLD TIME SAILORS recently and they were incredible. A 17-piece band playing Irish Folk and sea-shanties half theatre and half the best music show you’ll see all year. Check their Fan-Page on Facebook for gigs near you. They literally play everywhere. I saw them in Guildford and they had driven down from Scotland the night before and the next day theu were heading to wonderful Doncaster to play for my Mammy… and others!

COMING SOON !!!

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS
BRAVE THE SEA (OH. USA) | ANTO MORRA | MORE TBC

American Celtic-Rock / Punk band BRAVE THE SEA on tour in the UK and playing London for the first time supported by London-Irish Folk-Punker ANTO MORRA and GREENFORD BHOY playing all your favourite Irish rock rebel late into the night or until we are asked to leave! Support to be confirmed soon but we promise it will be a packed show. Entry is free but their will be a whip round – as you can imagine getting here from the States as a DIY musicians isn’t cheap. Live at The Bird’s Nest, one of the last standing live venues in SE London and one of the best. Located at 32 Deptford Church Street, Lewisham, London SE8 4RZ. close to New Cross and New Cross Gate tube stations so easily accessible from across London.  http://www.thebirdsnestpub.co.uk/

All money we raise from our merch we put back into the Celtic-Punk scene so if you like what we do then you can support us by checking out our online store and buying something. The Harp’n’Bones design is back in all sizes and also on black or white shirts. Also we have the last few remaining polo shirts, nifty woolly hats and Green’n’White ‘Skully Cap’ ringer shirts that we need to get rid of. Click the link below for the full range of all our other tatt. Shirts, badges, stickers, flags, CD’s and fridge magnets – all the discerning Celtic-Punk fan could ever need! Help keep Punk Celtic! https://the30492shop.fwscart.com/

Facebook is rubbish and I can’t wait to see it go broke and a return to the era of paper flyers and fanzines. It has a stranglehold on all forms of expression that is far from healthy. If you are thinking of leaving and still want to keep up with us you can do via the London Celtic Punks group on the phone app Telegram. Similar to What’s App but completely free from outside interference. Join us on Telegram, don’t miss a single post and even receive the odd exclusive and special offer! https://t.me/londoncelticpunks/

Some new London Celtic Punks merch. The LCP ‘Tricolour Skull’ mug is back after a couple of years. Available for a tenner in the UK (£20 EU) with free badge / coaster/ sticker.  I nearly fell over when I found out its £20 to post to the States but there you go if you desperately want one it’s £30! The ‘Celtic Punks’ metal badge is selling well only a handful left and available for just £5 – UK and £7 – EU post-paid and we’ll throw in a few stickers and a button badge too. For further overseas contact us and we’ll work it out. Also if you want to add more merch from the store above contact us. It helps us out if you buy from Paypal (friends & family) for these items to londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk 

Even though we hate it Facebook does supply the (very) occasional ray of sunshine so a shout out to 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 you and me. Like and join in the fun!

With the sad demise of The Celtic Punkcast over there in Oz we have thrown in our lot with the good folks over at MacSlon’s Irish Pub Radio. Check them out for all the best in Celtic-Punk, Irish Folk and Rock. They also have just about the biggest selection of shirts and hoodys and all sorts of other gear over at the https://www.macslons.com shop.

There are around 600,000 Irish living in Britain, the true figure, if we look at those who are first and second generation, is probably something like 10% of the population of this country – some 6 million people and nowhere is it greater than London and THE KINKS are representative of those numbers.

BRYAN McPHERSON LIVE IN LONDON & SURBITON APRIL 20 / 21

Biography, Boston, Folk, Folk-Punk April 16, 2023 Leave a comment

Boston-born folk-punk singer Bryan McPherson sings dusty, dirty and downtrodden songs about the people living in between the cracks and crevices.

Bryan arrives in these shores in the next few days and don’t miss this opportunity to see one of our favourite artists live. Here we present a retrospect of his career to date with selected songs and albums.

Bryan McPherson has never let go of his desire to be vulnerable with his listeners. Wedgewood (released in 2015) is an angry record, a searing criticism of the American government fueled by the Occupy movement and filled with a passionate impulse to burn the whole damn thing to the ground. Yet the album opens with “Born on a Highway,” a plaintive heart-on-your-sleeve ballad where Bryan acknowledges the transience of life and affirms to be “a willing participant of an incredible dream.” Even amid incredible disillusionment, he seems to be saying there is hope for tomorrow.

Bryan grew up in Dorchester, a working-class neighbourhood in Boston, where crime was high and music venues were nonexistent. Armed with a guitar and an opinionated mind, he began writing songs as adversarial as they were melodic. With nowhere to perform, Bryan headed to upper-class Cambridge, where his edgy, plain-spokenness contrasted wildly from the more flowery, contemplative singer-songwriters. He stuck out like a sore thumb and audiences  didn’t know how to feel about him. But one thing was clear. Bryan fell in love with the directness of folk music.

In 2006, the anti-folk scene was bubbling up in New York. Bryan admired the lively experimentation and how musicians were challenging the norms of conventional songwriting. But their overall sarcastic presentation didn’t jive with his intense sincerity. He wanted more than to get a rise out of people; he wanted to be heard. A year later, back in Boston, he found a music scene that appreciated his aggressively tender style of folk music: the punk scene.

(Kelly Thomas was a mentally ill, homeless man beaten to death by the police in Fullerton, California. The police were found “Not Guilty”, despite having the obvious crime on video and audio. Kelly can be heard pleading for his last breaths and screaming out that he was sorry.)

“I came across the shocking audio and video of one of the most obvious cases of police brutality and murder I have ever seen. I wrote this song. I worked on it the following day and recorded it in the hut this morning and afternoon. It’s the least I can do in telling this story. You can listen below. Rest in peace Kelly Thomas.”

​

In Boston, it was just Bryan, his guitar, and whatever happened to be on his mind at the time. He was known to jump on dive bar tabletops and rouse the patrons from their drunken half-slumber with a deafening tenor and some seriously pissed-off political lyrics. The punks were starting to notice. Locally revered street punks The Ducky Boys and Celtic Punks The Dropkick Murphys became fans. Local producer Hendrik Gideonse wanted to produce him. The resulting album, Bryan’s raw debut Fourteen Stories, was released in 2007. Suddenly people were showing up at the dive bars to see him play.

​Rather than bask in his growing local popularity, Bryan moved west, landing in Berkeley, California. It had been a few years since Fourteen Stories, and he was sitting on a batch of powerful new songs that resembled a manifesto for a better country. The world was currently experiencing festering unrest that would soon coalesce into the Occupy movement. Bryan began recording during this climate. On the opening track he sang, “if there’s one thing I know, the god that I know, knows no creed, no class, no nation.” While recording American Boy, American Girl (released 2012), the Occupy movement exploded. Fed-up Americans were echoing much of what he sang about on the album.

Equipped with some solid songs and running on a season of protesting, Bryan hit the road, ready to confront the public with meaningful performance. One night in Pasadena, the audience walked out just a few minutes into his set. The bartender turned up the house music while he was still playing. No one was interested in his meaningful performance. Undeterred, he joined the crowd outside and sang in their faces while they smoked cigarettes and chatted about their dead-end jobs. No matter where they looked, he was there, singing his punk-gospel melodies, winning them over with vulnerability and persistent, patient confrontation. From then on, Bryan would often get up and sing at people to shake them out of their ruts. Audiences frequently thanked him after shows for forcing them to be present. When it came time to work on Wedgewood, he thought back to his many hours with Occupy Oakland and the anger he was witnessing across the country. Fury mixed with a deep longing to fix systemic problems inspired his songwriting. Wedgewood was the result, capturing the moment’s rage and foretelling the coming polarising times that would soon overtake US politics.

​

Help Bryan out on tour by buying a new ‘2 Birds’ t-shirt. All sizes from Small to XXLarge available. Will be posted out asap.  https://bryanmcpherson1.bandcamp.com/merch/bryan-mcpherson-2-birds-t-shirt

After the ferocity of Wedgewood, Bryan felt like he needed to take a step back. Anger was negatively impacting his relationships and sense of well-being. He started conceiving his next album, How To Draw Everything, using songs he’d put on the back burner because they were too sensitive and didn’t fit tonally on previous albums. But that project was sidetracked when Bryan decided to take a look back at his life. He re-recorded a batch of old songs from 2001 off of an old demo—the first he’d ever written. These personal portraits revealed an image of a frustrated young man struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, trying to find his identity in a world that didn’t understand him. Now almost two decades sober, Bryan wanted to share the beautiful struggle found in these songs. He titled the album Kings Corner (2019), which was named after the street corner he and his friends hung out on, growing up. 

​

Afterward, he returned to How To Draw Everything, but with a plan to make it sound brilliant. He enlisted notable producer Ted Hutt, who has worked with Flogging Molly, Gaslight Anthem, The Violent Femmes, and won a Grammy in 2015 for his work on Old Crow Medicine Show’s Remedy. However, at this point tensions in the country had worsened. Everyone hated each other. Bryan felt more determined than ever not to contribute to the “Us vs. Them” attitude that overtook the nation. In 2020 he wrote the 15-minute-long song “American Dream,” which chronicles his years on the road, visiting every corner of the country and meeting good people wherever he went. It’s an optimistic song, much like 2012’s “No creed, No class, No nation,” which insists that good outweighs the bad no matter how imperfect the country is, and there is power in recognising our similarities.

In the Spring of 2021, after a long, grueling year of ironing out arrangements during lockdown, Bryan hit the studio with Ted and an all-star cast of top-notch musicians, including ex-Dropkick Murphys’ Marc Orrell, Dustbowl Revival’s drummer Josh Heffernan, remarkable violinist Chris Murphy, who has worked with everyone from the Waterboys to Mike Watt. In addition to the powerful “American Dream,” he recorded several emotive tracks. “Lightning Lullaby” is a unifying anthem that speaks to the power of music in connecting people during times of struggle. “Sweet Kari” is a gentle folk song about finding peace after moving on from lost love. “Alameda Street” captures the excitement and confusion of running around LA, trying to figure out what to do with your life, and what lies deep in your heart. 

​

How To Draw Everything isn’t just Bryan’s latest record; it’s a whole new beginning for him as an artist. On the meditative “2 Birds,” he muses, “There’s something about the sky that makes me grateful to be alive.” From the perspective of age comes a spiritual death of what was, and in its place, a re-discovering of peace, country, and self are found. Hope finally outweighs despair and can be reclaimed, like a child wondering at the seeds of a dandelion. Bryan defies us to admit hope was there all along.

BRYAN McPHERSON / ANTO MORRA PLAYING LIVE IN LONDON!

Words can’t describe how happy we are to be able to put on BRYAN McPHERSON. Eight years on from his first and only visit to these shores it’s been a long time coming. Born and raised on the mean streets of Dorchester, a blue collar working-class Irish-American Catholic neighbourhood in Boston, that was also home to half the members of the original Dropkick Murphys. He was inspired at a young age by the raw energy and angst of Punk Rock, as well as the lyrically driven American folk songs of the early 1960’s. His first performances were street corners, house parties, and subway stations in Boston’s inner city. In 2001 he burst onto the acoustic music scene, he has played the length and breadth of North America and was recently spotted opening up for the Dropkick Murphys’ at their famed St. Patrick’s shows in Boston. This is passionate, acoustic-punk from the heart. Street life, politics, addiction and moments of beauty, anguish, clarity and dissent litter the alleys of McPherson’s songs. Recently he was awarded the #1 Folk/ Roots Album Of 2022 on the London Celtic Punks web-zine. The words are as honest as they are urgent…every second counts!
http://bryanmcpherson.com/
He is supported on both nights by the London Irish Punk Folker – Anto Morra. A staple of the London Irish music community sightings of Anto have been restricted die to the lockdown but pleased to have him trod the boards for us again with his extra special brand of Punk-Folk.
https://www.antomorra.com/
Bryan is playing two nights for us the first at The Bird’s Nest. One of the great last standing live venues in SE London and one of the best. Located at 32 Deptford Church Street, Lewisham, London SE8 4RZ. close to New Cross and New Cross Gate tube stations so easily accessible from across London.
http://www.thebirdsnestpub.co.uk/
The following night sees them take the stage at The Lamb, 73 Brighton Road, Surbiton KT6 5NF. Ph. No. 020 8390 9229. Just a couple of minutes walk from Surbiton station only 20 odd minutes from London by train and walking distance from Kingston it promises to be a fantastic night.
https://www.lambsurbiton.co.uk
Entry for both shows is free but their will be a whip round (as you can imagine getting here from the States as a DIY musician isn’t cheap) and every single penny from London Celtic Punks merchandise on the night will go directly into Bryan’s pocket.

ODDS’N’SODS. A CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP APRIL 2023

Odds'n'Sods March 30, 2023 Leave a comment

The year is flying by and as usual March was a fantastic month for Celtic-Punk fans. Some big hitters released their first albums in ages and here’s your chance to catch up with some of them and the others in this month’s Odds’n’Sods. All the news fit to print on what’s going in our wonderful Celtic-Punk world. From the scene’s bands big and small, established or just starting out it’s all in here!

We start this month with one of my favourite Celtic-Punk bands. The new single from ‘Yorkshire Banjo Punks’ SHANGHAI TREASON is The Lighthouse and is taken from the bands upcoming second album.

THE RUMJACKS newly released video of ‘Tell Me What Happened’ off their Hestia album. Shot and edited by Mike in Reggies, Chicago.

THE TOSSERS have a new album out and it’s imaginatively called The Tossers… A mix of auld songs, some interesting and unusual covers and a smattering of some effing brilliant new songs including this the opening track. True heirs to Shane MacGowan’s legacy.

THE LONGEST JOHNS are a Bristol based, acapella folk music band, born out of a mutual love of trad folk songs and shanties. They rock maritime songs alongside the more unusual and less traditional folk tunes. Here’s the lead single from their new &-track EP.

The reb’s are sung loud and proud in NYC with THE IRISH MUTTS giving it plenty live down at the Bungalow Bar last week in Rockaway Beach, NY.

Dutch band MAGGIE’S FLOCK released a great new single dedicated to St. Patrick’s which we somehow missed for the last Odds’n’Sods but here it is!

SELFISH MURPHY formed in 2011 in Transylvania, Romania and until then Celtic / Irish Punk-Rock was unheard there. These folks are real trailblazers! In 2016 the band re-located to Budapest in Hungary where i’m hoping to see them soon!

London Irish Folk and Americana band FOLLOW THE CROWS released ‘Don’t Mind The Rain’ at the beginning of March and accompanied it with a rather good video too.

Bit of a slog at over three hours long but watch the official live stream as the New York Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment once again leads the world’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade as it marches down midtown Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in New York.

THE GO SET – The Warriors Beneath Us

THE LEVELLERS – Together All The Way

THE DREADNOUGHTS – Green Willow

FLOGGING MOLLY –  ‘Til The Anarchy’s Restored (EP)

THE TOSSERS – The Tossers

UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS – These Are The Days – Live In France

CRUACHAN – The Living And The Dead

LANKUM – False Lankum

THE EAST RIVER RATS – The Year Of The Rat

DAOIRI FARRELL – The Wedding Above In Glencree

THE KILMAINE SAINTS – Same Again Tomorrow

THE MUCKERS have started a kickstarter to help fund their next album. You’re invited to help out this amazing band by donating to get the ball rolling! They are offering all sorts of limited-release bonuses to folks who help fund their trip to the studio.

THE KILMAINE SAINTS have a new album Same Again Tomorrow out on April 14th. Six years on from Whiskey Blues And Faded Tattoos it’s their fourth studio album We’ll be on it as soon as it comes out as we bloody love them!

One of the best new bands around are FOGGY DUDE from the Czech Republic. They make great videos and brilliant music and even better for us all is that all their music is available for free download on the Bandzone site here https://bandzone.cz/foggydude

Our good friend CALLUM HOUSTON – Made in Bretagne. Inspired in Ireland – has just released a seven track mini album of acoustic alternative Folk Rock. Accompanied by his friend and regular contributor Alban Bauduin. Pub Poetry is available for download.

THE HEATHEN APOSTLES have a new single out and also announced a whole bunch of live dates for the UK.  ‘Gothic Western Haunt’ is from an episode of the animated series “The Goodbye Family”, which made the Top 10 animated series list of 2022 from Vulture magazine.

“This is our newest labor of love: “Green Willow”. Sea shanties, war chants, wassail songs, songs of the sea, and even an Irish-rock rebel tune. Enjoy, eh!!”

So went the announcement for THE DREADNOUGHTS new download album Green Willow. Head straight to song 5 for the best version of ‘The Foggy Dew’ I’ve heard in an age!

Rising Of The Doom the 3rd full length studio album from NYC’s the TEMPLARS OF DOOM has been released this week on vinyl but is also available for download.

We’ve been doing this now for nearly 10 years and in that time we have covered 100’s of bands and musicians but still plenty of bands have passed us by. We can’t see everything after all so this column is to remind us of bands that never made these pages at the time but deserve another mention. These hopefully come with a free download like today so you can help yourself to some free music. Today is the turn of American Celtic-Folk-Punk band BOGTROTTERS UNION from Nevada. A variety of old and popular Celtic tunes reorganized by the band including an amazing version of the Wolfe Tones ‘A Song Of The Celts’.

Totally out of the blue we found out that THE YOUNG DUBLINERS are hitting London at The Hootananny in Brixton on Wednesday 5th April supported by rowdy London Irish Folk-Punks ARSE CRAIC. Saturday 8th April sees THE MEN THEY COULDN’T HANG live at the Powerhaus. THE LAGAN of-shoot SUCKIN’ DIESEL are playing The Lamb in Surbiton (see below for directions) on Thursday 13th April. Great venue that’s always free entry. With the demise of the 4 piece Wolfe Tones and the inevitable split into two bands and while both offer a great night out we can’t recommend DEREK WARFIELD AND THE YOUNG WOLFE TONES enough. Power, passion and history with their charismatic leader. Playing the 229 on Great Portland Street on Friday 2nd June. American Folk-Country-Doombilly band the HEATHEN APOSTLES play The Lexington in Kings Cross on Wednesday 19th July. The founders of Alt-Country THE LONG RYDERS are coming back to these shores with a full Europe and UK tour.

BRYAN McPHERSON / ANTO MORRA PLAYING LIVE IN LONDON!

Words can’t describe how happy we are to be able to put on BRYAN McPHERSON. Eight years on from his first and only visit to these shores it’s been a long time coming. Born and raised on the mean streets of Dorchester, a blue collar working-class Irish-American Catholic neighbourhood in Boston, that was also home to half the members of the original Dropkick Murphys. He was inspired at a young age by the raw energy and angst of Punk Rock, as well as the lyrically driven American folk songs of the early 1960’s. His first performances were street corners, house parties, and subway stations in Boston’s inner city. In 2001 he burst onto the acoustic music scene, he has played the length and breadth of North America and was recently spotted opening up for the Dropkick Murphys’ at their famed St. Patrick’s shows in Boston. This is passionate, acoustic-punk from the heart. Street life, politics, addiction and moments of beauty, anguish, clarity and dissent litter the alleys of McPherson’s songs. Recently he was awarded the #1 Folk/ Roots Album Of 2022 on the London Celtic Punks web-zine. The words are as honest as they are urgent…every second counts!
http://bryanmcpherson.com/
He is supported on both nights by the London Irish Punk Folker – Anto Morra. A staple of the London Irish music community sightings of Anto have been restricted die to the lockdown but pleased to have him trod the boards for us again with his extra special brand of Punk-Folk.
https://www.antomorra.com/
Bryan is playing two nights for us the first at The Bird’s Nest. One of the great last standing live venues in SE London and one of the best. Located at 32 Deptford Church Street, Lewisham, London SE8 4RZ. close to New Cross and New Cross Gate tube stations so easily accessible from across London.
http://www.thebirdsnestpub.co.uk/
The following night sees them take the stage at The Lamb, 73 Brighton Road, Surbiton KT6 5NF. Ph. No. 020 8390 9229. Just a couple of minutes walk from Surbiton station only 20 odd minutes from London by train and walking distance from Kingston it promises to be a fantastic night.
https://www.lambsurbiton.co.uk

Entry for both shows is free but their will be a whip round (as you can imagine getting here from the States as a DIY musician isn’t cheap) and every single penny from London Celtic Punks merchandise on the night will go directly into Bryan’s pocket.

Our gig last month with The Whipjacks was a great success and great fun but now we are broke again! All money we raise from our merch we put back into the Celtic-Punk scene so if you like what we do then you can support us by checking out our online store and buying something. The Harp’n’Bones design is back in all sizes and also on black or white shirts. Also we have the last few remaining polo shirts, nifty woolly hats and Green’n’White ‘Skully Cap’ ringer shirts that we need to get rid of. Click the link below for the full range of all our other tatt. Shirts, badges, stickers, flags, CD’s and fridge magnets – all the discerning Celtic-Punk fan could ever need! Help keep Punk Celtic! https://the30492shop.fwscart.com/

Facebook is rubbish and I can’t wait to see it go broke and a return to the era of paper flyers and fanzines. It has a stranglehold on all forms of expression that is far from healthy. If you are thinking of leaving and still want to keep up with us you can do via the London Celtic Punks group on the phone app Telegram. Similar to What’s App but completely free from outside interference. Join us on Telegram, don’t miss a single post and even receive the odd exclusive and special offer! https://t.me/londoncelticpunks/

The response to the new London Celtic Punks badge has been amazing. Not surprising really as they are just about the nicest bit of merchandise in Celtic-Punk if you ask me! Comes with butterfly clip and made in Ireland (Guaranteed Irish!) available for just £5 – UK and £7 – EU post-paid and we’ll throw in a few stickers and a button badge too. For further overseas contact us and we’ll work it out. Send to Paypal (friends & family) to londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk

Even though we hate it Facebook does supply the (very) occasional ray of sunshine so a shout out to 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 you and me. Like and join in the fun!

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CELTIC-PUNK LIVE AND LOUD IN DEPTFORD

Ireland, Italy, Live Gigs, Live Review, London August 18, 2022 Leave a comment

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.

 

ALBUM REVIEW: THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS – ‘In Strange Waters’ (2021)

Album Review, Germany October 26, 2021 1 Comment

Seems like only five minutes since their last album The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats reel off another one! This time In Strange Waters celebrates their 10th anniversary together but not as you’d expect it to do. Nine of the best Paddyhats songs played in completely new arrangements and genres and a bonus of a completely new song. There’s only one man we know that can get to grips with that. Take it away Anto Morra.

The Paddyhats have got to be one of the hardest working bands around, even managing to release the brilliant ‘Dogs On A Leash’ in 2020. How many gigs they managed from their accompanying tour is anyone’s guess! Clearly German work ethic is unfazed by the pandemic. I was delighted and privileged to be asked to review their 10th Anniversary offering ‘In Strange Waters’ not just a compilation album re-mastered and packaged with an extra song, but a brilliantly executed snapshot of their 10 years together with 9 of their best songs re-imagined, arranged and recorded and a previously unreleased song.

The album opens with their 100% party song ‘Barrels of Whiskey’. Here the drums are stripped back, a bottle-neck guitar is added together with a more refined moody vocal style. It has an almost Alabama 3 quality, and the horn section at the end is a lovely touch. Taken from their 2016 album ‘Seven Hearts One Soul’ is ‘Fair Old Lady’

The 10 year version starts with a beautifully sparse piano making it very mellow and as it continues it becomes more Celtic Mysticism than Celtic Punk, reminding me of Enya’s 1988 hit ‘Orinocco Flow’ but with a much more earthy vocal and a lot less pretentious. There is an unaccompanied section with just vocal harmonies, which works brilliantly.

‘Ferry Man’ from 2020’s ‘Dogs on a Leash’ is taken up a notch in party stakes and with a terrific horn section, almost ventures into Two Tone territory, while amazingly still maintaining an overall Irish feel.

‘Light Up’ is the only song I’ve not heard before, and is a craicin’ song in the Shanty tradition with a perfectly subtle banjo break. Ed Sheerhan’s ‘Galway Girl’ springs to mind when the funky pop rhythm of ‘Irish Way’ kicks in. It’s an age old tale of men being led a stray by the smarter sex, and a very fresh and far removed update from their 2017 album ‘Sign Of The Fighter’.

‘We’re bollocks full of Sin’ has got to be one of the best line in a song ever! So glad it’s still in this really interesting, less aggressive and more melodic version of their 2018 album title track ‘Green Blood’

Followed by another album title track 2020’s ‘Dogs On A Leash’

This time done as a wonderful sparse acoustic version,with almost barbershop vocal harmonies. Before you get too comfortable and start to think they may have lost their edginess ‘We All Know’ shows off a more Metal influence and is almost ‘Black Sabbath’ in places and Death Metal in others. ‘Beautiful Fear’ is a wonderful song and this new Shanty version with big dramatic drums gives it all the pathos the lyrics require.

2018’s ‘Yesterday’s Rebel’ closes the album and once again it’s softened with a host of synthetic pop additions reminding me of what Sinead O’Connor did with traditional songs on her album ‘Sean-Nos Nua’

This is possibly The Paddyhats easiest to listen to album. A real testament to their song writing and creative abilities, great songs can be done in lots of different ways and this proves that in so many ways. This band do not let the grass grow and I’m so glad they’ve dared to do this different. They still are and always will be one of the best Celtic Punk Bands around and their humour and versatility has never been more prevalent than on this record. Well done Paddyhats, Keep Punking about and mixing it up!

Buy In Strange Waters  FromTheBand  StreamingSites

Contact The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats

Born and raised in London by immigrant parents from Ireland Anto Morra swapped the Smoke for the Swamp in 1989 and adopted Norfolk as home but still returns often to visit his Mammy and play for London Celtic Punks. At times a pogoing, gobbing Punk, a lazy pot smoking hairy Hippy, a bopping Rock-A-Billy, a sharp dressed Mod and even a Bauhaus loving Goth he’s soaked it all in and none of it and all of it has been an influence on him.

https://www.antomorra.com/

ALBUM REVIEW: THE RUMJACKS – ‘Hestia’ (2021)

Album Review, Australia, Bagpipes March 21, 2021 Leave a comment

The long awaited and hotly anticipated new studio album from The Rumjacks is now out and available everywhere. We missed the release date last week as we didn’t get an advance copy for the first time (!) but better late than never and who better to judge it for us than the ‘FolkPunker’ himself Anto Morra. 

This arrived just in time to put on while I made my breakfast on St Patrick’s Day, the opening track ‘Naysayers’ had me pogoing around the kitchen and the second ‘Bullhead’ had me attempting to step dance on the tiled floor so that’s a pretty good start I’d say! Both songs have Irish Rebel fury and ‘Bullhead’ not only has a tongue twisting refrain ‘If my will is the wind, then I will die willing and free’ but also borrows the brilliant line ‘I’ll not die ‘till you bury me’ from Shane MacGowan’s song ‘Aishling’ from there it’s straight into the mouth of the craicin’ title track ‘Hestia’ which starts like a sea shanty before bursting into a pure rock wig-out. The celtic sound freely ploughs through but if it wasn’t there you might think you were listening to a hair less Punk band.

I think they must have channeled the late great Ennio Morricone for the intro of ‘Through These Iron Sights’ just over 60 seconds of moody bliss before 15 seconds of metal, then we remember we’re listening to a Celtic-Punk band again. ‘Sainted Millions’ can only be described as an anthemic war cry to the Celtic diaspora and it’s fantastic to hear a really distinctive accent from down under in the shared lead vocal. Here is a great live acoustic version (that makes me wonder is Mick a closet morris dancer with ‘bells on his toes he’ll have music where ever he goes’)

“Sleeping sainted millions, can you tell me what you know? Sing to me a song you wrote beneath your pile of stone.”

“I wouldn’t trade it for another, and I would do it all again.”

It’s a challenge for any band to replace a vocalist when they’re as established as The Rumjacks but the choice of ‘Mickey Rickshaw’s’ Mike Rivkees is a very wise one as he clearly has the range and aggressive delivery needed. This is very different from past offerings but still has the elements we love. More of the same would be… well just the same and bands and audiences need to progress and grow and the Celtic-Punk genre needs this new line up. The musicality is top notch and with a younger singer the energy pours out of the recordings. The generation that saw Punk arrive in ’76 / ’77 and then The Pogues carry a certain amount of baggage that a band like The Rumjacks new line up don’t and that makes them much more confident to lift influences from places us oldies would never dream of.

The Rumjacks left to right: Johnny McKelvey- Bass, Vocals * Pietro Della Sala- Drums, Vocals * Mike Rivkees – Vocals, Tin Whistle, Accordion * Gabriel Whitbourne- Guitar * Adam Kenny – Bouzouki. Mandolin *

Although there is a lot more of heavy rock influence here, it still maintains a celtic charm and punky reggae party feel even if it lacks some of the humour of punk and Irish folk. That is until we hit ‘Tell me what Happened’ which ticks both boxes ‘The girls that carried you home have left you to rot in the bars alone’. There’s a beautiful simplicity to the ‘Rhythm Of Her Name’, it’s catchy and classy and one of those songs that you could do anything to and it would work. I could even imagine The Proclaimers doing it. As for ‘Lizzy Borden’ the folk story telling tradition at it’s gruesome best. ‘Light in My Shadow’ is up there with the best really abrasively catchy with bagpipes to die for.

‘Wunderlust’ is for some reason reflective of something that may have come out on the Two Tone Label in 1979. ‘Goodnight & Make Mends’ is the perfect closer.

In conclusion this is a belting new start for one of the best bands on the Celtic Punk scene. There is not a bad track on it, 14 songs and no dud’s or fillers- what you hear is a band re-invigorated and joyous. They’ll probably hate me for saying some of this but I was hearing all sort through this record so I’ll just list ‘em in no particular order, Big Country, Metallica, Green Day, Madness, Kiss, The Levellers and most obviously The Rumjacks right back on form.

Buy Hestia  (CD/ Download/ Vinyl) Here

Contact The Rumjacks   WebSite  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube

Born and raised in London by immigrant parents from Ireland Anto Morra swapped the Smoke for the Swamp in 1989 and adopted Norfolk as home but still returns often to visit his Mammy and play for London Celtic Punks. At times a pogoing, gobbing Punk, a lazy pot smoking hairy Hippy, a bopping Rock-A-Billy, a sharp dressed Mod and even a Bauhaus loving Goth he’s soaked it all in and none of it and all of it has been an influence on him.

https://www.antomorra.com/

ODDS’N’SODS. CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP JULY 2020

Odds'n'Sods June 30, 2020 Leave a comment

Welcome to our regular monthly feature on all the news in the Celtic-Punk scene that you may have missed and we certainly did. Band news, record releases, videos, tours (not individual gigs though yet sadly), live streams, crowd funders etc., we need to hear from you so send it in to londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or through the Contact Us page.

The biggest non-music news this month has been that film company Magnolia Pictures have picked up the North American rights to the Johnny Depp-produced documentary Crock of Gold – A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan. Set for a limited theatrical release later this year in the States with its UK and Ireland debut to be on BBC 4. The Julien Temple directed look at the hard-living Godfather of Celtic-Punk. Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles said “This is something to hoist a pint of Guinness over”. (groan!)

Expect more live extravaganza’s from the DROPKICK MURPHYS after they signed a 6-figure (ooh!) sum to live stream future gigs including on St. Patrick’s Day for the next few years. Word is that their Fenway Park show reached an estimated 9 million viewers and raised more than $700,000 for COVID relief. These are very good guys. Don’t forget to join the #1 Murphys Facebook page DropKick Murphys – Fan Page. Run by fans. Run for fans.

Canadians PADDY WAGGIN have got around to releasing on CD their debut album. We reviewed Race To The Bottom pre-Paddys Day and it’s 7 foot stomping original tracks and one Pogues cover. Celtic-Rock at its best. The CD and download is available from Bandcamp.

Finland’s LORETTA PROBLEM have a new singer in Maya and a new song and video too. The band has gone through other changes too and ‘It’s Your Bloody Fault’ reflects that in its sound. Not so Celtic but definitely Punk. New stuff is on its way with a more traditional- Loretta Problem sound. Can’t wait.

Another fantastic band we haven’t heard from in a while is the Dutch Irish Folk Punk band McSCALLYWAG. ‘Coming Home’ is the second single released from their forthcoming new album ‘Songs For The Wicked’ in support of the Bhoys local bars and pubs hit by the corona crisis in their home town of Groningen.

Irish band THE POX MEN have a new tune and video out. A mellow one to calm us all down while bass player Kev Gall has just released a solo album as Cú Ulaid with a load of different instruments not just the bass!

It’s been a very quiet time for new releases this month. Will give us a chance to catch up on things hopefully! Remember if you want a review of your release we have to hear it first!

CU ULAID – Self/Titled LP

THE CLOVES AND THE TOBACCO – Jalan Pulang EP

ALESTORM – Curse of the Crystal Coconut LP

GENTRIFIED FERALS – Droidtown EP

Auld Fart (his words not mine) London Irish Punk Folker ANTO MORRA is at it again and his new single ‘It’s Only A Virus’ came out this month written in May while enjoying a early morning walk. This is the first original song he’s released since 2017 believe it or not!

Big fans of Irish-Americans THE FIGHTING JAMESONS and had a grand auld time watching them live streaming on FB recently. So much so I fell asleep woke up with the worse hangover and back pain I’ve had in months! Amazing production and over 90 minutes long. Outstanding guys!!!

Written by Robin and inspired by a song from the Elvis film ‘Frankie & Johnny’ THE CEILI FAMILY. A slow burning foot tapper and these guys are famous for their Gaelic inspired Folk-Punk. The legend Phil Chevron was a big fan of these guys so that should be inspiration enough.

Catalan Folk-Punkers EBRI KNIGHT are crowd funding for their fifth album. With four studio albums, a live album and a themed EP about the Spanish Civil War behind them everything the band is financed without major backing.

Only just became aware of this great album from Germany. ASH CLOUD hail from Elmshorn and Songs Of Rebellion, Love And Meuterei may have come out in October, 2018 but its still well worth a look. Irish Folk meets acoustic Punk with NO drums or electric guitars but everything else. Bodhrán, fiddle, tin-whistle, low-whistle, banjo, concertina, bagpipes and loads of vocals. Twenty songs for just five Euros adds up to a impressive deal!

We like to end on some local news and while Milton Keynes isn’t exactly local we were delighted to hear about the formation of MILTON KEYNES IRISH FC. The Irish are still here you know! This is not just a Sunday League team and they will play in the Spartan South Midlands League at Step 6 in the non-league pyramid. Plans are being laid for a LCP ‘booze cruise / awayday’ to go see them once the season kicks off. Show the guys some support over on Twitter and Facebook.

On a final note we were delighted that the London Celtic Punks Facebook page hit an amazing 5,000 followers. Love and best wishes to all of them and come and join us if you like!

So you get the idea so all we need to do now is fill it 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.

ODDS’N’SODS. CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP JUNE 2020

Odds'n'Sods May 31, 2020 Leave a comment

We want to move away from just being ‘ReviewReviewReviewReview’ so we have started this monthly feature that comes out on the last day of each month. All news items that we otherwise miss will get a mention but I need YOU to be the eyes and ears if it’s going to work so send over to us any band news, record releases, videos, tours (not individual gigs though yet sadly), live streams, crowd funders etc., to us at londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or through the Contact Us page and it will go in here!

Celtic-Punk major leaguers THE REAL MCKENZIES are back with their eleventh full-length album, Beer And Loathing, set for release on July 3rd on Stomp Records. More epic tales of alcohol soaked debauchery, historic sagas and hard-fought personal battles are promised and it will be coming out we are promised on Seafarer’s green and Beer Piss yellow vinyl and is available for pre-order from several different sites.

With the new album from THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS, Dogs On The Leash, just released here’s their first single. Easily one of the most prolific bands in Celtic-Punk it never ceases to amaze me the high quality of their output. As an aside my Mammy is from Mitchelstown and she’s proud as punch to see a song named after her home town.

We’re still plodding our way through reviews from St. Patrick’s week releases but the Celtic-Punk/Folk-Punk world continues to turn and here are all of the most recent ones we aware of

BLACK ANEMONE – Chasing The Sun

KELTIKON – The Black Boar

THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS – Dogs On The Leash

FIDDLER’S GREEN – Acoustic Pub Crawl II (Live In Hamburg)

NORTH ALONE – Quarantine Coverage (EP)

DAYS N DAZE – Show Me The Blueprints

THE GO SET – Of Bright Futures

THE GO SET – …And Broken Pasts

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Raise Yer Pints Volume 5 Compilation

(remember if you want a review of your release we have to hear it first!)

Manchester based Derry born Gaelic Hip-Hop maestro DANNY DIATRIBE released At War With The Morning on May Day. A five track EP of modern day Irish immigrant Rap’n’Roll for a fiver!

For those of you who may have missed it the GREENLAND WHALEFISHERS premiered via live stream the professionally recorded live concert Barely Alive On The Inside filmed live at Inside Rock Cafe in their home town of Bergen in Norway on February the 15th 2020. It’s now available to watch on You Tube and is incredibly good!

The fourth album in ten years from JOHNNY KOWALSKI AND THE SEXY WEIRDOS and the first with new fiddle player Katherine McWilliam. Seven original tracks with weird instrumentals rubbing up against references to anti-fascism and conversations with the undead!

We gave it a small mention last month but full details are now available for THE PLACKS upcoming 7″ vinyl single. Limited to only 300 copies and on red vinyl it’s available for pre-order and features the songs ‘Rebellious Son’ and ‘The Bomb, The Bullet And The Gun’. Get it now as the pre-sale has gone fast.

South Yorkshire band SHANGHAI TREASON can do no wrong and their latest video is another masterpiece. Sooooo looking forward to seeing these Bhoys soon as the clampdowns over. ‘The North Shall Rise Again’ is dedicated to the music venues of the North of England and hopefully they’ll be some left to watch them in at the end of all this! Their debut release comes out in the next few days so keep a eye on these pages.

Aussies MEDUSA’S WAKE have some new material out soon and I can tell you now it’s very good and we are very excited to hear more. We will be interviewing their singer and writer the Premier county born Eddie on all things Aussie Irish very shortly.

With no festivals or concerts PADDY ROCK has put together an Online Celtic Fest on 13th June 13th. No tickets, no commitments just eight hours of awesome Celtic music staring among others Bill-1916, Mike- Mickey Rickshaw, Sean- The Lucky Pistols and many more.

Scots born/Catalan based LOUIS RIVE has a excellent new single out called ‘Whitewashing‘ and we will be announcing a London Celtic Punks Live Stream with Louis soon! Just working on a date.

Our man in South Carolina T.C. COSTELLO has had a busy month. Two features on these pages for a single, ‘The Pandemic‘, and his forthcoming album The Bluebird and he released a new video for new song ‘Lord Randall’ as well. On top of that he played a very entertaining Live Stream for London Celtic Punks last week which is still available to view over on the London Celtic Punks Facebook page.

BRYAN McPHERSON spends his life on the road so holed up with his Mam and Dad in his hometown of Boston must be particularly tough on him. I’ve been loving his regular live streams and here’s one of the best ones. You can support Bryan by getting one his special limited edition Quarantine Time t-shirts and he also put out some Ramones themed tee’s too and on top of all that he also has a  new single out, a cover of an old school Rancid song called ‘Olympia WA‘.

London Celtic Punks fave ANTO MORRA has no record to flog (but if you do like what you hear check out his last album Twenty) but he did put out this the other day and I loved it so here it is.

London Irish Punk Folker ANTO is keeping busy though and on Wednesday June 3rd is performing live on Facebook in the third in a short series of Live Streams of artists that we bloody love. Think Christy Moore meets Billy Bragg but more fun and a better singer! Join the FB event for up to date info and on the day see you at the London Celtic Punks FB page at 8pm for an hour of surprises!

This July CLOVER’S REVENGE were set to wing their way over from sunny Florida to play London and we were looking forward to sharing a few beers with them but well you know… Anyway to make up for it they are also performing a full band Live Stream on Tuesday 25th June which will be on the London Celtic Punks Facebook page. Check the FB events page for any further information.

The new album from French band CelKILT, The Next One Down, came out yesterday and will be reviewed here any day soon but in the meantime enjoy this excellent track from the album.

The Irish music scene in Serbia is extremely popular with the biggest being the amazing Irish Stew Of Sindidun and SCORDISCI are the latest to throw their hat into the ring. Celtic-Punk from Belgrade, Serbia formed early in 2014 they have just released a new single – ‘In a Year Or Two’.

Ambitious plans from Holland’s MAGGIE’S FLOCK. A single released on the 23rd of every month during 2020 and then at the end of the year all twelve songs will become the album Party At The Cemetery. Aprils’s song is ‘Drunken Train’ and earlier this year the singles ‘Battle Song‘, ‘Bored Beyond Death‘ and ‘Maggie Of The Moor‘ were also released. Since I wrote this they have already released another song so to to be kept in the loop like them on Facebook.

New ‘clampdown’ video from THE RUMPLED one of the best bands in what seems to be the hottest Celtic-Punk scene around at the moment over there in Italy. They also put out a video with Silvano from UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS last week too.

The clamor for a decent DROPKICK MURPHYS group on Facebook has been getting increasingly louder and its finally arrived so hightail it to the DROPKICK MURPHYS FAN PAGE and join up for all the best news, views and reminiscences on the DKM’s. If you missed their live stream on May 29th then it’s now uploaded to YouTube and is worth multiple views. The Springsteen songs are right at the end.

… and finally it doesn’t seem like it but it’s ten years since THE LAGAN set out on the rocky road. A pity they couldn’t celebrate it in style down at the sweatbox that is The Fighting Cocks but Brendan and Andy got together on Saturday 10th May and rattled off a handful of original Lagan songs and a few covers and it was terrific. If it’s still up get the beers in, settle down and UP THE FUCKING LAGAN!

So you get the idea so all we need to do now is fill it 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.

ALBUM REVIEW: T.C. COSTELLO- ‘The Bluebird’ (2020)

Album Review, Irish-American, USA May 17, 2020 Leave a comment

With the imminent release of his seventh album next week London Irish Folk Punker Anto Morra gives his view on T.C. Costello’s The Bluebird.

The Bluebird will be launched live on Facebook on Thursday where T.C. will be debuting some new songs and a few auld favourites too no doubt.

The last time I graced a stage in London I had the pleasure of performing a song with T.C Costello so if you’re expecting an unbiased review you’re gonna be outta luck as when I took the second wave Punk oath back in 1978, I’ve been cursed into a life of artistic honesty.

T.C’s voice is a very acquired taste but what it lacks in melodic beauty, it more than makes up for in passion, expression and wild abandonment in a similar way to MacGowan and Strummer. As a musician he is quite remarkable and completely fearless, with strange instruments dropping in and out all over the place. Imaging the first Roxy Music album lead by an accordion with Ferry on a mixture of absinth and amphetamine, Eno tripping his bollocks off in a room full of chimes bells and whistles, and Manzanera’s strat replaced by a bunch of strange acoustic stringed instruments from the four corners of the earth, and you may have some idea of what you’re gonna get on his latest offering.

‘The Bluebird’ is quite a leap sonically from his previous ‘100 Years Ago’ album but has not lost any of the energy or joy. I am quite ashamed to admit I struggle with any singing that’s not in English (Even the French bit in The Beatles ‘Michelle’ gets on my nerves) and so the opening song ‘Saeya, Saeya Parang Saeya’ was quite a shock and most certainly a challenge for me, but when I applied the right head space and put aside my narrow little Englander prejudiced approach, I started to love it in a similar way I love these early Thompson Twins song’s ‘Vendredi Saint’ or ‘Animal Laugh’.

The term ‘World Music’ is always one I’ve hated (simply because all music is world music unless it’s been made in space) making it mean nothing along with ‘Fusion’ a fuckin’ bass and drum is a fuckin’ fusion!!! However Folk Punk, Celtic Punk does not seem to fully pigeonhole TC Costello’s music adequately so I’m gonna describe it as ‘World Punk’ as the influences here are from everywhere. The psychedelic 60’s india is pulled into Eastern European Klezmer moments and wrapped around the odd traditional and Irish songs and delivered in that authentic, warm, Greenville South Carolina USA accent. Traditional Irish standard ‘To The Begging I Will Go’ follows and is a song I easily relate too and this is a remarkable arrangement of it that seamlessly slides into Italian protest classic ‘Bella Ciao/Pizzicarella Mia’ the latter part sounding like a beautiful Italian love song delivered on Red Bull and Vodka.

The next two songs are very familiar on the Folk scene since the 60’s revival. ‘The Old Churchyard’ popularised by The Watersons and ‘Lord Randall’ a tale of a fool poisoned by the Fairies.

‘Malena’ is another I have to plead ignorance about but it’s full of emotion, passion and musical dexterity. This takes us into the exceptionally familiar ‘Matty Groves’ sticking lyrically close to the Fairport Convention version but musically much more adventurous. ‘Tramp Tramp Tramp’ is a great song about prejudice and discrimination that I think may have taken the melody from ‘God Save Ireland.’  ‘They’re Red Hot’ is a fantastic break neck folk Rag and before you know it, TC is informing us with great joy “who we can and canae throw off the bus”. I’ve heard more versions of ‘Haul Away Joe’ than you can shake a stick at, but the arrangement and performance is one of the best. It’s how I imagine someone like Nick Cave would approach it, very dark, very tortured passionate and authentic. ‘The Willow Garden’ closes this record appropriately, as it is a traditional murder ballad.

This is not a record for those who want a traditional song played the way they always have been, but for people that want possibilities stretched. It’s one of them you’ll listen to again and again and always hear something else going on, a complete acoustic psychedelic head fuck with all the discordant beauty of the world smashed together and made coherent by the passionately spewed lyrics and vocal delivery.
If you want to be taken from anxiety verging on a panic attack, to manic joy and laughter, then be dropped off at the nearest watering hole to cry in your beer? You better buy this album.

(The Bluebird is available for download from Bandcamp. Only $10 the album is set for release on June 1st and all Proceeds go to International Medical Corps, who provide medical and related services to 30 countries around the world)

Pre-Order The Bluebird From TC

Contact T.C. Costello  Facebook  Bandcamp  YouTube

I’d like to leave you with this little clip from a couple of years ago, when I last played in my beloved home town and it really is the only way to put a band together; it features the great man himself as well as Brendan O’Prey of brilliant Celtic Punk outfit “The Lagan.”

ALBUM LAUNCH LIVE STREAM ANNOUNCEMENT

Par for the course and ages after everyone else has had a go we are doing a series of LiveStreams. We begin with the album launch for The Bluebird. We sadly had to cancel the TC Costello/Tim Holehouse gig but TC still wants to play for his UK based fans so he will be streaming live from South Carolina while hopefully Tim will fit in a show for us soon afterwards.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1150555188477972/

The 20th May was all set for his 5th triumphant return to The Lamb but fear not his UK and European fans T.C. will go live at 8pm (9pm- Europe) direct into our phones and computers via his page https://www.facebook.com/tccostello2/ and will play till his hands go sore… so that’s about a hour. Tune in there and then and we’ll see you in the comments section.

For more details on our exclusive Live Streams check out here

ANTO MORRA’S NEW ALBUM IN HIS OWN WORDS

Album Review, Compilation, England, Folk, Folk-Punk, Ireland, London, Traditional January 26, 2020 Leave a comment

Songwriter, performer and multi media artist that believes ‘Life is for laughing and fighting injustice’. Traditional folk songs and punk rock of his formative London years, along with his Irish roots and Norfolk home are the inspiration behind his work.

by ANTO MORRA

Twenty is a compilation of 20 songs taken from 7 CD releases. Late last year I had the idea to put this together to replace the 6 full albums that were available for download and streaming. The reason being that the way music is digitally consumed today is rarely in album form and more often in odd tracks on shuffle. I felt this was making my output very incoherent and so I chose a selection of songs and got them re-mastered to work together as an album and also as individual tracks.

1. NEVER HAD TO SHOUT

The title track of my debut album. Very much in the story telling folk tradition but with 1977 punk sensibilities. Inspired by my love of British and Irish Gangster films, West London and the Clash. The main character is called Jimmy. I used this name because I had an Uncle Jimmy that lived around the Ladbrooke Grove area and had a market stall on Golbourne Road. On one occasion I performed the song at Cecil Sharp House (home of the English folk song and dance society in London) after Thomas McCarthy (an amazing singer of Irish Traditional songs passed on to him by his Irish Traveller family) approached me and questioned me (in a really strong Irish brogue) about who Jimmy was, as he had grown up around the Grove. I explained that I’d used my uncle’s name and even though my Uncle had been dead about 20 years, it soon became very apparent that Thomas had known him. You could have knocked me down with a feather. I don’t use the term ‘amazing singer’ lightly judge for yourself.

2. LONDON IRISH

It’s quite hard to imagine when I wrote this declaration of my nationality, I’d heard of neither the London Celtic Punks or The Biblecode Sundays. Unlike my elder sisters and many of my peers that moved from Catholic primary school onto Catholic secondary (High) School, my Irish identity never really developed. As many of my best school friends were English protestant, Jewish or Black, and one of my best out of school friends was a Turkish Muslim, so I always just felt like everyone was from somewhere else. Dyslexia was not really a recognised condition back then and although I wasn’t a severe case, I was always bottom of the class, angry and disruptive. Inside I thought I’d inherited my stupidity from my Irish parents, who were anything but stupid! The relentless stream of jokes about the ‘Thick Mick’ and my father fitting the stereotype of hard drinking builder, I was always emotionally conflicted about my nationality. It took a long time to confront it but I’m sure a diagnosis of dyslexia in the mid 90’s was a great help!

3. TALE OF THE SLIGO WIDOW

I spent an awful lot of wasted years drinking heavily and smoking cannabis on a daily basis, which made me adore folklore and those acoustic hippy kings like Marc Bolan, Donovan and Syd Barrett , but detest that over produced whispy Irish celtic mystic sound of people like Clannad and Enya. Although by the time I wrote this I thought I was done with writing that sort of weird hippy shit, like the cannabis it hadn’t entirely left my system! I’d like to site two songs that were the inspiration for this the first is Marc Bolan’s ‘One Inch Rock’ and the second is the Donovan’s ‘Widow with a Shawl’ .

4. TIME

I’ve always struggled with anti-social media, I’ve got accounts with the most well known platforms but never got my head around any other than Facebook. I’m still not sure how to fully utilise that to my advantage but sometimes I enjoy just screaming into that void! Some years ago there was a question posed by a FB user asking ‘If you could give your 10 year old self one piece of advice what would it be?’ Of course being dyslexic I never read the part that said ‘one piece’ and so I managed to get a full four verses out of it.

5. WRONG PATH

Like the four previous songs this is from my 2013 debut album and is in the storytelling tradition. Originally titled ‘Sealing fate’ when I started writing it in about 1990 and a song that remained really quite shite for at least 20 years, but following the 2011 London riots it finally became the song I was trying to write. I like to think of it as a re working of ‘In the Ghetto’ by Elvis but with a modern London twist. When recording it I had sung it unintentionally in a mid-Atlantic accent which sounded fine until Percy Paradise put down his slide guitar making my vocals sound hideously American. Rerecording my vocals was easy enough until it came to the chorus where The Woodland Creatures had followed the original ‘Path’ vocal line forcing me to use the American, Irish or Northern pronunciation rather than the London/southern pronunciation ‘Paath’.

6. POETS DAY

Is a working song for a lazy bastard! When I started work on building sites in the early 1980’s, Friday was known as Poets day an acronym for ‘Piss Of Early Tomorrow’s Saturday!’ This is still remembered by people of a certain age and I’m sure applied a lot more occupations than just in the building trade. Workers were paid weekly in cash back then and often on a Friday. Once you had your money in your pocket work was over and the weekend had begun and it was straight into the pub for a few pints and a game of pool or darts. Happy days!

7. WHERE’S DADDY GONE?

Written not long after my father died so consequently my mother hated it, as the Daddy in the song was nothing like my father who never hit any of us or chased other women once married, though he did occasionally stay out drinking. The inspiration for this comes from my love of those Kitchen Sink dramas of the 1960’s combined with all the rhythm and pace of a Leonard Cohen song. It does resonate close to the bone with some people, a friend of mine was quite taken aback by it and how it reflected his home life as a child.

8. CHARLEVILLE (RICKY’S SONG)

This recording is taken from a 2013 compilation cd featuring performers based in East Anglia. Some years ago while tidying stuff at my Mum & Dads house in London, I came across a piece of paper with a poem called Charleville scrawled in biro on it. Charleville is a town on the Cork, Limerick border in the Republic Of Ireland where my mother’s family are from. I asked her about it and she nonchalantly replied ‘Oh Ricky (her brother) wrote that.’ I was astounded not by the poem by just by the fact that one of my Irish relatives had been brave enough to attempt some creative writing. That sort of thing wasn’t for the likes of them! They were as Patrick Kavanagh would say ‘fog dwellers’ – rural types without need for self expression or showing off. I took the poem chopped some out, added an Irish cliché or two, pinch a traditional tune from somewhere and my work was done. There is a different version of the song on my album 16, but I chose this one because I love the understated banjo of Pete Alison and mandolin of Terry Saunders.

9. BLOOD ON THE SHAMROCK AND THE ROSE

This is the song that changed everything for me! I wrote this in the mid 00’s and by the reactions I got performing it in folk clubs, I knew I had to start taking my song writing more seriously and do some proper recordings of my songs. Growing up in London when it wasn’t great being Irish and narrowly escaping two IRA bombings- first in Selfridges 1974 and then the Wimpy Bar in 1981. I lived a mile from Marble Arch and so Oxford Street was where my mate Sean and I would go to play out on a Saturday. On both of the above occasions, we had got home to see the devastation on the News! Not only had we walked passed the Wimpy Bar on that day, but we had actually been inside Selfridges, just before we got the bus home. I could never relate the lovely kind Irish people that I had met and was related too, with the kind of people that could commit these acts of cruel violence. As I got older I started to understand it a little better and was finally able to articulate how I felt about it in a song. I have to credit my Sister Anne for verse three. When she was visiting a friend in Ulster at the height of the Troubles, she was advised if anyone asked her religion she was just to reply ‘I’m not one of them’ in order to stay safe and neutral.

10. GREEN, WHITE AND GOLD

On holiday in Ireland as a child I remember my dad pointing to a flag and saying ‘That is the Irish flag- it’s green, white and gold.’ To which I replied ‘That’s orange Dad.’ ‘No it’s gold, son!’ This contradiction went on for quite sometime until I think I just gave up. Years later I was reliably informed, that despite it representing the protestant William of Orange and his influence on the population of Ireland, Orange is not an Heraldic Colour and so my Dad was right! I wrote this not long after he died, so sadly he never got to hear it.

11. EDITH LOUISA CAVELL

Written and released as an EP in time for the centenary of her execution in October 1915. I was chosen by Norwich Cathedral Chaplin to be included in the Cathedral memorial service, where I performed it live, and the service was broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 to about 1.5 million listeners. A scary but enjoyable experience!

12. BALLAD OF EDITH CAVELL

In early 2014 I started to work with a very over educated man called Gareth Calway. A novelist, poet, playwright and historian who was staging a medieval morality play that he wanted me to be part of. When I had a very informal reading for a part, he told me of another project he was working on which was a book of ballads all based on people and places in the East of England. He was looking for musicians that could take his words and make them songs. I wasn’t keen at first as I hate reading and some of these ballads were really high brow wordy stuff but once I started it became like a runaway train and before I knew it we had an album to record.

13. PATRIOTISM IS NOT ENOUGH

The title track of The Edith Cavell Story EP released for the centenary commemoration. The EP was written on the advice of my good friend and London Irish artist Brian Whelan, who had been commissioned by Norwich Cathedral to do a number of paintings depicting her life and so suggested I write something for the planned events. The songs on the EP are all unaccompanied and linked with concertina and harmonica tunes played by my friend Percy Paradise. The reason for this was not only to respect the folk tradition of unaccompanied singing but also for a feel authenticity as there weren’t many guitars about during the First World War. I have sequenced the three Edith Songs this way because this is how I perform them live.

14. HALF GOD HALF NELSON

I always thought that I was not able to sing harmonies as when I have tried at Folk Clubs it has never been a good experience for anyone, but when recording this the harmonies came quite naturally to me. I’m not sure where I stole the shanty melody but I think it works perfectly when telling Gareth Calway’s tale of Norfolk’s Lord Admiral Nelson.

15. BALLAD OF ANN BOLEYN AND THE BURGLAR

Another from the pen of Gareth Calway. Blickling Hall in Norfolk was once the home of Ann Boleyn and it has been reported that she still haunts the place. In this song her ghost mistakes a burglar for her true love Thomas Wyatt, yet again I’m not sure where I pinched this very traditional sounding melody. My wife Julie’s harmony really pulls this together and it’s one I really love to sing when we are at folk clubs together.

16. ENGLAND

Some years ago I was booked to play in a local Norfolk bar on St. Patrick’s Day and St. Georges Day. As you can imagine St Pat’s was a walk in the park while St. Georges was a struggle, as there are hardly any English songs about how great the country is that aren’t slagging off some other country or praising the Monarchy. I stuck to things like The Jam, The Clash, The Kinks with a few great English Folk songs and got through the evening quite well I’d thought until someone came up after and said he still thought I’d been doing Irish stuff all night, but that’s pub gigs for ya! Shortly after I wrote this song to express what I love about the place. When performing it live I often explain before that it’s about place and you don’t even have to like the English to sing along with it.

17. YOU’RE NOT HERE

Originally called ‘Sadder Than Asda’ was written in the mid 90’s when I was on a painting and drawing course to get an extra £10 benefit on my giro. To get out of the studio on the outskirts of Norwich and get a bit of lunch, we’d visit a huge Asda superstore opposite. I had also started working on music with a band and we were considering names for the band. While chatting with my fellow Art students and shopping in Asda, one of my friends suggested that I should call the band Fountain Head after the cheap fizzy water sold in Asda. I put it to the band and they loved it, so that’s what we were called for our 2 year existance. When I wanted an interesting title for a song I’d written and I played the tearjerker to them some one suggested ‘Sadder Than Asda’, and like the band name, it stuck until I recorded and renamed it ‘You’re Not Here’ in 2017. Originally, recorded on a 12 string acoustic guitar that was removed completely when Kerry Selwin sprinkled her magic on the ivories. I spent a bit of time making this little video for it which is filmed in Balham, South West London where my parents rented a flat and lived for 20 years until my dad died. The shots of me watching TV and sitting by the window were done just before the TV and furniture were sold and the flat was handed back to the landlord.

18. DRAGON

When I first settled in Norwich I ran a record stall in St Benedict Street indoor market, it was a great little place which is sadly no longer there, next to my stall was a tiny hippy kiosk that sold a few ‘spiritual’ things and did tarot card readings. The owner of this kiosk was a bit of a weasley little shit but harmless enough, when he had days off there was another chap that did tarot reading who was a lovely fella that played a mean guitar and had great taste in music. One day when it was quiet one of the stall holders had brought her little boy in and he was chatting to the nice tarot reader who was trying to explain to this 5 year old what Dragons were. It proved to be fascinating listening, together with my love of T-Rex (Futuristic Dragon) and the fact that I was born in the Chinese year of the Dragon all came together in this song.

19. WRECKED ON LOVE

Another song written in the early 90’s and originally performed with Fountain Head. At this point in my life I’d been through several doomed relationships and was searching for some stability, but seemed destined to flit from bedsit to squat to family sofa. Far too many drugs and/or booze was being consumed and much too much early Marc Bolan and hippy shit was being listened too, but it was all worthwhile when a song like this came out of it. It was the first song I ever wrote that had a very folk feel to it. I particularly love the intro my talented friends did on this with flute, harp, cello and fiddle.

20. THE CONSCIENTIOUS ODD DRINKER

The closing song of my debut album was inspired by British soldier Joe Guyton, who refused to fight in the Gulf War, when it had been declared illegal. Also a story my father told me about his time in the Korean War, when one of his regiment in the royal artillery got blown up when a gun jammed. This got me thinking about PTSD and how many returning soldiers can’t deal with civilian life after the horrors they have witnessed. It’s a very sad song but in the Irish tradition of sounding good fun & having a knees up.

Buy Twenty  Vinyl/CD’s–FromAnto

Contact Anto Morra Web-Site  Blog  Facebook  Reverbnation  Twitter  YouTube  Bandcamp

THE CELTIC PUNKCAST PRESENTS THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Celtic Punkcast, England, London, Podcast August 19, 2019 Leave a comment

Aw shucks them lovely people over at The Celtic Punkcast have gone and done a special edition of the show featuring ten of our favourite songs handpicked by our resident DJ Greenford Bhoy. All bands that we have grown up and grown with and very close to our hearts. Thanks to them all and here’s to another 10…

Follow the link below for over an hour of the best in Celtic-Punk, Celtic-Rock and Folk-Punk from all over the world.

Stream live or download to listen to later and enjoy!

Hi everyone and welcome to a special bonus episode of the Celtic Punkcast, celebrating ten years of service from the lads over at the London Celtic Punks site! The fine crew from London Celtic Punks have given me a list of songs too play and without further adieu here they are:

THE BIBLECODE SUNDAYS – ‘Disorganised Crime’

THE WAKES – ‘Never Again’

ANTO MORRA – ‘London Irish’

THE LAGAN – ‘A Song For Jim’

BLACK WATER COUNTY – ‘Under Skies Of Black And Blue’

NECK – ‘Everybody’s Welcome To The Hooley!’

THE ROUGHNECK RIOT – ‘Ignorance Is Easy’

MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS – ‘Bottles Of Rum’

THE CRAICHEADS – ‘Greeting From Another Land’

CLAN OF CELTS – ‘Please Don’t Send Me Home’

You can listen to the London Celtic Punks special episode of The Celtic Punkcast at the link below. Simply click for the best Celtic-Punk of the past and the present and remember you can listen to it live or else download to listen at another time.

THE CELTIC PUNKCAST  LCP EDITION HERE

Check out the special London Celtic Punks 10 year anniversary badge and t-shirt (almost sold out!!) available from the club shop at https://the30492shop.fwscart.com/

Contact The Celtic Punkcast  Facebook  WebSite  Shop  Twitter  E-Mail

Check out the London Celtic Punk interview with Gareth the ‘Podmaster’ here and find out what possessed him to join the #OneBigCelticPunkFamily. Also worth checking out was the special article written by Gareth for people who haven’t yet experienced the joys of Celtic-Punk so find Bring Your Mates To The Hooley: A Starters Guide To Celtic-Punk here.

ALBUM REVIEW: THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS- ‘Green Blood’ (2018)

Album Review, England, Folk-Punk, Germany, Ireland, Live Review December 9, 2018 1 Comment
Here’s a German band that makes authentic Irish music with their third album release Green Blood. That may sound all a bit strange to yer average Joe but not to London Celtic Punks favourite Anto Morra. The O’Reillys and the Paddyhats are by no means a goose that thinks it’s a fox though they are much more fox and goose in one. This is an album that builds the bridge to those who carry green blood and those who want it. Because the yearning for Green Blood is insatiable.

There’s a London Celtic Punk sticker that reads ‘It’s not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish nation’ and The Paddyhats are most certainly proof of that. Their latest offering ‘Green Blood’ must surely be a contender for best Celtic Punk album of 2018.
The cover art is exceptional and could even double as an advertisment for Peaky Blinders! Like all their albums to date, this is available on vinyl and appropiately limited edition green vinyl, so definately one for those vinyl junkies and collectors like myself. This is what more records should sound like these days. The mix and production here are second to none. It does baffle me how a singer that is not singing in his first language, is so much easier to understand than the majority of those singing this type of Celtic Punk in their own language. It’s very refreshing. Here’s the running order and little about each song.

The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats from left to right: Tom O’Shaugnessy- Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals * Dr. Bones- Drums * Ian McFlannigan- Show, Backing Vocals * Sean O’Reilly- Vocals, Guitar, Tin and Low Whistle * Dwight O’Reilly- Vocals, Banjo, Mandolin, Accordion * Mia Callaghan- Fiddle, Vocals * Connor O’Sullivan- Electric guitar *

Green Blood
Pulled in by the tribal sound of the pounding drum and Celtic mysticism of the uilleann pipes & fiddle, with distorted guitar and bass feedback threateningly hiding down low in the mix and within 30 seconds you know what you’re getting! Green Blood, Green Blood, Green Blood is the chanting war cry and it’s powerful, aggessive and blissful. More Irish than Brennans Bread or Barry’s Tea and a true and honest celebration of the things that make people glad to be Irish and those that aren’t, wishing they were.

Another Town Another Girl
This is the Only Ones ‘Another Girl Another Planet’ meets Donegal Danny. The age old tale of the womanizing blaggard only in this case the man knows he is gonna get his comeuppance when he will ‘Drown in his self made crown’. It’s all very shanty until the stunning guitar solo reminds you that these aren’t a beardy, finger in the ear, woolly jumper and craft beer band. They’re very much Punk Rock.

Circus Of Fools
This one is a belter! The opening verse I can’t help but guess is aimed at the Trump administration but as the song progresses you know it’s a much broader reflection of the sickness of those in power. We are treated to almost Eastern European rhythmic chops on this and it’s two a half mins of no nonsence.

Gamble With The Devil
A perfect folk love song warning us not to gamble, especially with the devil. I don’t want to give too much away in a spoiler alert way, all I will say is that it is a craicin’ little story.

Swing Your Hammer
Starting like an Enio Moricone spaghetti western theme before leaping into a Ska-Punk dance beat and the big chorus in the work song tradition. Wonderfully tight banjo and fiddle instrumental breaks tie this catchy song together.

Promise
Now this is refreshing. A drinking song about abstinence! There’s an old country song that drones on about ‘One day at a time sweet Jesus’ well this is kind of that; but for people that fight instead of pray for the strength to stay sober and look forward to the day they can throw the towel in and get stocious again.

Boys On The Green
A celebration of the beautiful game and the ritual that surrounds it. No mention of fighting, just the pride in your club colours, the comaraderie of meeting before the match for a pint and singing song together on the terraces.

Greg O’Donovan
This one takes us away from terrafirma and puts us in the charge of an heroic captain, as he slaughters Spanish and drowns in the worship of women after. This has a great low whistle or flute hook, that sounds a little like the Fury’s ‘Lonesome Boatman’ on amphetamine suphate.

Roasie Lou
A beautiful bit of fiddle playing helps us feel the heartbreak in this love ballad and lament dedicated to a true love and criminal partner.

This is Our Time
…”To right the wrongs because failure is part of our lives” is the general message I get from this pounding, Poguesesque four minutes of fun.

Rockstar
This is the familiar sentiment for anyone who aspires to make a living in the music industry today. A fabulous female vocal performance and guitar solo puts this forward as one of the best tracks on this record in my opinion.

Where Your Heart Is
A joyus stomper “Your feet will take you where your heart is” and that’s down the boozer where you can see your mates and “blow the ladies a kiss”

Yesterday’s Rebel
Craicin’ closing song about an IRA man finding himself in hell after killing a policeman.

LIVE AT FOLK IN A FIELD IN THE SUMMER

Back in July I had the pleasure to witness their live show when the played my local festival in Norfolk. ‘Folk In A Field’ has been going about 4 years now and have had some great acts so far including Ferocious Dog, Punkfolkers, LongShore Drift and the Nobel Jacks – the latter due to headline in 2019 but The Paddyhats topped the bill and nailed it this year.
Their set as well as including songs from their first two albums

there was also time to throw in the odd Irish standard

and the most unexpected.

As well as playing each year, I also run the merchandise stall at ‘Folk in a Field’, so when The Paddyhats turned up, they took over my stall for the last couple of hours. I can honestly say a nicer bunch of people you couldn’t wish to meet. They came all the way from Germany for one show, with a small road crew and giant merch man

all of which were really easy going, friendly and a pleasure to have at the festival. I just hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

Buy Green Blood

FromTheBand  Amazon

Contact The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats

WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Google+  Spotify  PaddyhatsMerchandise  PaddyhatsNewsletter

Thanks to London Celtic Punks favourite Anto Morra for the review. Songwriter, performer and multi media artist that believes ‘Life is for laughing and fighting injustice’. Traditional folk songs and punk rock of his formative London years, along with his Irish roots and Norfolk home are the inspiration behind his work. You can catch up with Anto here or just look through the pages here to find several of his releases.

Web-Site  Blog  Facebook  Reverbnation  Twitter  YouTube  Bandcamp

 

LIVE REVIEW: TC COSTELLO/ ANTO MORRA/ BRENDAN O’PREY AT THE GUNNERS 17th MAY 2018

Irish-American, Live Gigs, Live Review, London June 13, 2018 1 Comment

A very nice review by the talented Anto Morra of the recent London Celtic Punks gig held in north London that saw the start of TC Costello’s European tour. Accompanied by Anto and Brendan O’Prey (literally at times!) the night saw Irish artists from three different countries perform and they will all, I am sure, go on to play much better attended gigs than this one! 

A GREAT NIGHT WITH THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS

by Anto Morra

THE GUNNERS  LONDON N5 – TC Costello, Anto Morra, Brendan O’Prey  Despite a poor audience turn out for the gig it was quality not quantity that made the evening so great.   London visits are much more gruelling  for me as I get older and to avoid traffic congestion, parking tickets (or any of the other unjustifyable things they can charge you £60 for 3 days after the event) I have to travel in on public transport from my safe parking base in Woolwich, ironically the gig was in Arsenal / Finsbury Park quite a trek on public transport with instruments, leads & Merch.  I was as usual unfashionably early, the first there but was able to sound check my Bodhran and fill the sound man Andy in on the evenings proceedings.

As the small posse gathered I was reminded how lucky I am to know this motley crew,  a nicer bunch of people you couldn’t wish to meet and it was great to catch up with them again.  Established in 2009 The London Celtic Punks webzine has been putting on gigs, promoting bands and reviewing albums that fit the ever growing Celtic Punk genre.

Since The Pogues in the early 1980’s, Celtic Punk has grown beyond anyones expectations with the top names today being the likes of The Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Mahones and The Rumjacks.  The term Celtic is used very loosely I think as a replacement for the ‘Folk’ terminology to distinguish it from those finger in the ear, woolly jumper wearing acts I love so much as there is very little that is Celtic about The Levellers or Ferocious Dog but their names will always crop up when the genre is being analysed.  Three of the best Celtic Punk bands on the London circuit I’ve come across are the Bible Code Sundays, Neck and The Lagan.  Recently The Lagan front man Brendan O’Prey has started to venture out as a solo performer and he was the opening turn this evening and a very fine one it was too, packed with Christy Moore classics but unlike Christy these days performed with personality and passion.

After a bit of insistence he finally gave Me and the Bhoys the classic Lagan song we wanted.

Next up was myself I thought I’d start with my new revised ‘Ballad Of Margaret Thatcher’ and I nearly got through it without fault but still not quite!   As I never write a set list and try to work of the audience TC Costello had told me he had been listening to Gypsy Smile and London Irish a lot, so I thought I’d play that for him until I thought this might be better with a band.

I rattled through a few more including requests from the Merch King Chris Brown and Mr LCP himself- Mark, but slung this bit of Irish Trad in towards the end of my set, sticking to my only performance rule that is to start and finish with my own songs.

My Complete Set List:   Guardian Of The West (Ballad Of Margaret Thatcher). Gypsy Smile. London Irish, Wasted Life (Stiff Little Fingers Cover).  Down In The Tube Station At Midnight (The Jam Cover). Finnegans Wake (Trad). Rocky Road To Dublin (Trad).  Ballad Of Anto Morra.

Finally the star turn all the way from South Carolina and jet lagged from a gig in Brooklyn New York the night before (but you’d never know) a one man Celtic Punk machine….. TC Costello.

(Performing Waxies Dargle, Rose Connolly, Blow The Man Down, Mafia Punk)

To conclude: Brendan O’Prey’s pure Irish passion comes across in a genuine way.  As a solo performer myself I love to hear things stripped bare and hearing him without the band was a real joy.  His vocal style reminded me a little of Jake Burns from Stiff Little Fingers also from the North of Ireland and also with a rasp to die for.

I’m never happier than when I’m in performance mode and so had a thoroughly fun time and to be joined by Brendan and TC was a privilege.  I’ve no more plans to play in London so this may have been my last gig there and if so I’m happy it was a memorable one.

TC Costello is remarkable.  Pure Energy, Pure Punk, Pure Entertainment.  If he comes to a town near you don’t miss him- his warmth and charm is infectious and when he hits those high notes there is a vibrato reminiscent of John Lydon himself.  Let’s never forget John Lydon was the very first London Irish Punk.

You can catch Brendan O’Prey and TC Costello along with Matilda’s Scoundrels at another London Celtic Punks show on Thursday 5th of July at The Lamb in Surrey KT6 5NF. It is TC’s last gig before he heads back to the States so lets send him off with a rousing goodbye. The Lamb is just a couple of minutes walk from Surbiton station which is only 20 odd minutes from London by train and walking distance from Kingston and promises to be a fantastic night. Entry is **FREE** and the evening will start around 7-30pm but check the FB event here for set times and running order nearer the date.

The Lamb 18

Check out these great artists and buy all their records and merchandise!

Brendan O’Prey Twitter The Lagan- WebSite  Facebook  Twitter

Anto Morra  Facebook  Reverbnation  Twitter  YouTube  Bandcamp

TC Costello  Facebook  Bandcamp  Tumbler  ReverbNation  Twitter  YouTube

TC is probably pogoing around the Europe, as we speak, at a tremendous rate, so be sure to see if he is popping up in your town. It’s more than possible!

ALBUM REVIEW: ANTO MORRA- ‘From The Vaults’ (2017)

Album Review, England, Folk, London February 8, 2018 1 Comment

London Irish Folk Punk

Somewhere between the Pogues and Ian Dury with perhaps a dash of Madness.

He’s back. Guess whose back? Aye it’s the all round Mr. Nice Guy Anto Morra to sort the English folk scene right out! Even more prolific than Matilda’s Scoundrels Anto presents his new album that came out at the arse end of last year giving us no time to get a review in so with things a little quiet on the celtic-punk scene it’s a perfect opportunity to revisit this great album and give it the review it deserves.

This is not quite a new album though it’s more of a concept album. Offered some free time at a recording studio near his adopted home in Norfolk he decided to revisit some of his older works that were either never recorded or recorded in bands that he was previously in. Having laid down the bones of this album on a hot summers day in July Anto realised this would be a fantastic opportunity to bring in some of his ex and present band mates and also some of the talented musicians that he had hooked up with since the start of his solo career. The songs here were all written between 1986 and 1996 during a time when Anto says

“my only ambitions were to have as much sex, drugs and rock’n’roll as a young man could handle”

Sadly three of Anto’s close friends passed during the time when he began recording From The Vaults to it’s finish. A strange coincidence was that they all had birthdays on the 19th the month, different months and different years so in tribute to them the album was released on the 19th December.

Regular readers will need no introduction as he has featured on these pages numerous times due to his more than abundant releases! Just in case though we’ll give you a wee run down before the review starts. Born Anthony Morrissey and raised in London by Irish parents, his formative years were as a punk rocker floating from band to band and dole cheque to dole cheque in Thatcher’s Britain. His Irish background provides the backbone for much of his music and focuses on the confusion of being brought up between two cultures that were so opposed to each other. Old animosities are thawing but the relationship remains an uneasy one. Flitting from punk band to band during these years he eventually washed up in the Norfolk countryside and he began to further explore his roots with Whirligig, a four-piece ceilidh dance Band. In 2013 he left the band after ten years deciding to concentrate on songwriting and solo performances.

Anto

From The Vaults is another of Anto trademark releases with a huge booklet packed with photos and information on all the songs including a very lovely mention of yours truly that I was very touched by (thanks Anto). The album is fifteen songs and as usual he has squeezed as much as possible in. Coming with a cover painted again by famed London Irish artist Brian Whelan (check out his wonderful art here). We kick of with ‘Lifting The Lid’ which sees Anto reminisce about his Catholic Irish background and the realisation that it wasn’t as restrictive and as he thought it was when he was young. Something that comes to most people of Irish backgrounds when they grow up I think. As stated it’s not just Anto here and to read out the list of collaborators would take up a whole page so suffice to say the backing he receives here is absolutely terrific and lifts the album into the premier league! ‘Bomb Alert’ looks back to the early 90’s a time when the Gulf War lit up our TV’s and the Boys were still blowing up parts of London. ‘Tall Story’ is my favourite track here a catchy upbeat punky number from his days as vocalist in indie-punk band Fountain Head in the mid-90’s. Anto gives his voice a good work out next in ‘Martyr’ with a tale living in a bedsit and seeing fellow members of the underclass finding themselves deeper and deeper in poverty. Acoustic guitar backed by mandolin as Anto gives us it straight from the heart, as he always does, while backed on vocals by his Mrs Julie. The song goes straight into ‘Dance’ and fiddle comes into play and the oldest song featured here at over twenty-five years old! Anto thinks its a bit Jimi Hendrix you’ll have to make up your own minds on that. 90’s insomniac plagued sleepless nights inspired ‘Fugitive’ based around the TV show of the same night fiddle, flute and banjo manage not to sound Celtic somehow! ‘Better Place’ and ‘High In The Night’ both tell the highly personal stories mental health and drug issues but done with panache and a lot of style. ‘Crazy Chris K-Hole Glasto’ is the only song on the album written this century and is about a trip to Glastonbury festival with his auld London Irish mate Chris. To K-Hole is to hallucinate while on drugs and sadly Chris was one of the friends who passed away during production of From The Vaults whilst battling addiction.

” His brutal honesty and wit made him such great company and fun to be around”.

A fantastic tribute to him which features Chris having a ‘episode’ outside Anto’s tent while he recorded him on a wee tape deck. RIP Chris. ‘Dragon Hide Away’ is slow and mournful just how a song with accordion should be.

There’s even brass out for ‘Changeless Angel’ a story of a burlesque dancer with a happy ending for a change. We in for some more heartbreak next with ‘Youre Not Here (Sadder Than Asda)’ from 1992 about a particularly tough relationship break-up. Most men can relate to the words here but as Anto says on the album notes “strange how returning to the song could become such a positive joy”.

Time is a great healer it is true. Just Anto and Kerry Selwin on piano it ends on a perfect bittersweet note as Anto sings the chorus repeating “You’re not here” until the final words “Thank the Lord!”. Typical Anto! ‘Wrecked On Love’ tells of the cycle of relationships we find ourselves on until we find the ‘one’. We coming rolling up towards the end and ‘Happy Ending’ is dedicated to all the musical geniuses that left before their time. Written on hearing the news of Kurt Cobain’s suicide Anto is backed here by John and Thim from Anto’s current collaborators in the folk-punk band The Punkfolkers. In the main its been a reflective album, obviously, but the curtain comes down with ‘Seen It All’ and a song to send you off into the dark with a wry smile and a bursting heart. The kind of song where the words will pop into your head at some random point and make you smile.

Yet another hit from one of the nicest people in celtic-punk and while this release is missing much of the trademark humour that has made Anto so popular and well received his warmth still spills over from the CD into us. A wordsmith and a modern day seanchaí his words have a sincerity about them that would make many so called artists weep in jealousy! That he can both keep up the output and the quality of his releases is outstanding and we have been promised another album soon in The Punkfolkers release Night Bus To Tombland. Forty years of protest, rebellion and punk and with records like this we can look forward to another forty as well!

Dedicated to

Chris McCormack * John (Ribsy) Vick * Tom Paley

Buy From The Vaults

FromAnto

Contact Anto Morra

Facebook  Reverbnation  Twitter  YouTube  Bandcamp

(‘The Blacksmith’ from the recent Folkpunkers single )

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2017!

Album Review, Australia, Best Of's, Boston, Brazil, Brittany, Canada, Chicago, Czech Republic, England, EP Review, Folk-Punk, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, London, Netherlands, New York, Obituary, Scandinavia, Serbia, Sweden, Traditional, Ukraine, USA January 22, 2018 Comments: 6

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

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

SINGLE REVIEW: THE PUNKFOLKERS- ‘Angry Man/ The Blacksmith’ (2017)

England, London, Single Review, Traditional October 27, 2017 Leave a comment

London Celtic Punks favourite and London Irish folk punker Anto Morra is back with his new project The Punkfolkers. This isn’t the folk-punk of The Levellers or The Pogues but the punk of the Pistols, The Stranglers and SLF as filtered through some real story telling and traditional folk.

The Punkfolkers are a three piece band based in East Anglia, around Norwich. Their mission in life is to introduce folk music to to the punks and punk to the folkies. This is the band’s debut release and comes out tomorrow, forty years to the very day that the Sex Pistols released the seminal Never Mind The Bollocks album. That album that changed the face of Britain and more importantly the music industry if, only for a short time, from the stale and boring to something alive and exciting and challenging.

This release is an old school double A side in the tradition of those early punk singles. With ‘Angry Man’ an original Punkfolkers song and ‘The Blacksmith’ in keeping with the style of the single is an traditional English folk song. Formed back in 2013 and led by the incredibly talented Anto Morra the band got together when recording Anto’s debut album Never Had To Shout. Accompanied here by John Child on guitar and Thim Flaxman on bass they have so far played an handful of shows including the London Celtic Punks sponsored release show for Anto’s EP ‘The Patriot’ but have been in the studio of late putting some tracks together for this single and a forthcoming album due for release in early 2018. The band’s knowledge of the punk movement is vast and diverse with Anto well known to us at London Celtic Punks and the London punk scene. As said an incredibly talented individual who is also unburdened by any sort of ego and is as nice a fella as could be met within the music scene. Anto has the not only a indepth knowledge of the asthetic and cultural importance of the movement but also a love and understanding of traditional folk music. If you ever want to hear unabashed folk music played on a acoustic guitar with no frills but filtered through the imagination of a dyed in the wool punk rocker then Anto Morra is your man without a doubt. Joined by John and Thim who as ex-members of East Anglian punk band Stain have brought the ability to recreate the sound used in early punk rock with an authenticity rarely seen.

Side A is the punky ‘Angry Man’ and a real time warp taking you back to the days of Liverpool winning the league and industrial disputes! Anto has a great voice and his London Irish twang fits perfectly and when he drops his ‘Aitches’ you know its not done for effect like the public school Lily Allen and co. Anto takes angry swipes at the things that piss him off like fox-hunting and the empire of The Sun but with a great dollop of humour and satirical bite that many Anarcho-Punk bands could only dream of. Chugging guitar and and throbbing bass instantly reminds you of 70’s bands like The Killjoys or Eater and loads of those early bands were London Irish so great to know we’re still doing now! The AA side is ‘The Blacksmith’ and is a bit more like what us Anto fan’s are use to.

Not afraid to play both the more popular or the obscure songs Anto has chosen well here with a song that has been covered by some real legends and pioneers of folk-rock. Steeleye Span, Planxty, Pentangle have all recorded it while into more modern times Runa had a marvellous version on their debut album Jealousy. It is a traditional English folk song also known as ‘A Blacksmith Courted Me’ and was first noted back in 1909.

“Strange news is come to town
Strange news is carried
Strange news flies up and down
That my love is married.
I wish them both much joy
Though they can’t hear me
And may God reward him well
For the slighting of me”

The well worn tale of illicit love and deceit is played by The Punkfolkers with Anto’s voice pushed to the fore but the understated backing is superb and really grows as you notice it more and more each time you hear the song. Of course the banjo that drops in half way simply takes it to another level. Superb.

The Punkfolkers

So keep an eye out for The Punkfolkers album Night Bus To Tombland  due out sometime early 2018 and in the meantime enjoy this single from a band with a great pedigree and to say I am excited to hear it is an understatement I can tell you. Forty years of protest, rebellion and punk and with records like this we can look forward to another forty as well!

Buy The Punkfolkers iTunes  Amazon

Contact The Punkfolkers via Anto Facebook  Reverbnation  Twitter  Bandcamp

EP REVIEW: BENNY MAYHEM- ‘Song For Absent Friends’ (2017)

Australia, EP Review, Folk-Punk April 22, 2017 Leave a comment

Australia’s folk-punk troubadour!

Just a few days before we review the new EP from Tasmania’s premier folk-punk outfit The Dead Maggies and it’s more of the same with more Aussie fare from Benny Mayhem. Not a name known to us till recently it would seem that Benny has blessed Europe quite a few times before as both a solo artist and as the shirtless, writhing front man of kick-arse smart alec punk rock party band Project Mayhem. He tours as both solo and with a band and if plans go to plan he will return to England with both in 2017 while inbetween Benny will be studio-bound applying the finishing touches to his latest LP.

From his home base on the west coast of Australia in Perth, Benny Mayhem has toured the world as a wandering troubadour and in England has gone from busking outside tube stations to the festival circuit in only two years. The EP begins with the title song ‘Song For Absent Friends’ and is an ode to the multitude of people that have helped Benny on his journey’s around the globe delivering folk-punk to the masses. It was in the Fuelled By Cider Studio in Somerset that Benny realised the three original songs delivered here needed the backing of a full band to realise their full potential. Returning to Australia he set about mixing the songs and gathering the right musicians for the job.

“Now I’m sitting in my room,
Thinking of times I shared with you,
And I wouldn’t be me today…
If it wasn’t for you”

He wrote the opener in a hotel room in the Austrian Alps and its poppy’ness’ and Cali-punk style belie its snow laden roots! It may not have much in common musically with The Dead Maggies but the Aussies seem to have cornered the market in great song/story writing.

(acoustic version of the full band song on the EP)

Benny and his acoustic guitar start the show next with the amazing ‘Mother Nature Will Have Her Revenge On Old Fatty’. Great well thought and inspiring lyrics as well as a great sense of humour. Listening to this song especially you can tell it would have worked as just Benny and that guitar but the band takes it into a different territory and will I am sure open many more doors for him.

“You’ll watch the jungle close in
Just as it always has before…
And the waters will rise
Just as they always have before…”

‘Bulwer Street Waltz’ is next and again it’s mostly Benny and his guitar with minimal but crucial backing from the band. A tale of mis-spent youth that ends with the absolutely fantastic line

“We were glared at in clubs
But we didn’t care
My only regret is that I didn’t dance”

What a line. I love it.

Song For Absent Friends ends with a class acoustic version of the Stiff Little Fingers standout ‘Suspect Device’. Jake Burns spits the original out with real bile while Benny plays it much calmer. Perhaps taking inspiration from Anto Morra who did an amazing job with SLF’s ‘Wasted Life’ proving you can do an angry song without an angry voice (here) Benny nails it regardless.

“Inflammable material, planted in my head
It’s a suspect device that’s left two thousand dead”

You can file Benny Mayhem in the folk-punk section with fellow Aussies like The Rumjacks and The Go-Set but just don’t be expecting the same celtic fuelled raucousness of said bands but more hook laden, catchy and contemplative songs from an artist whose journey has only just started. Whether that journey will lead him away from his trademark folk-punk sound who can tell but wherever it does end up you can be sure Benny will be delivering it straight from his heart.

(listen to Song For Absent Friend here for free before you buy)
* Benny Mayhem will be playing at Rebellion festival in Blackpool on August 4th so look out for dates across the country around then in what will be his fifth visit to these shores.
Buy Song For Absent Friend
FromTheBand  iTunes
Contact Benny Mayhem
WebSite  Facebook  Twitter  ReverbNation  Bandcamp  Soundcloud  YouTube 

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2016!

Album Review, Australia, Barcelona, Belarus, Best Of's, Boston, Brazil, Catalonia, Czech Republic, EP Review, Germany, Glasgow, Holland, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, New York, Russia, Scandinavia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, USA January 16, 2017 Comments: 7

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…

bestof2016b

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

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

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.

mersey-celt-punks

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.

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

INTERVIEW WITH COMRADE X

England, Folk-Punk, Football, Interview, London July 28, 2016 Leave a comment
Hitting home with the force of a police raid on a late night lock-in at the dodgiest South London boozer Comrade X emerges from the rubble of political failure, X Factor and wall to wall mediocrity to raise a pint of Guinness to the spirit of 1977!
Over the last couple of years it has been our pleasure to make the acquaintance of a good few people, who we are extremely proud to say, have become part of the extended London Celtic Punks family. If you have attended a London Celtic Punks gig over the last few years then I am sure you will have witnessed our auld mucker Comrade X starting off proceedings by kicking up a storm with his own unique brand of acoustic-punk. Best described as “one geezer, one guitar, three chords and the truth” and, my own favourite, “Woody Guthrie meets Oi!” he’s just an ordinary bloke with an acoustic guitar and the truth to tell. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about what he does, but what does he think on the important matters of the day? We asked yer man a few questions over a few pints of stout so read on and find out…
Comrade3

Now Comrade X has been around on the music scene a lot longer than any of us have been so we thought we’d give him a chance to fill us in (not literally!) and give us the benefit of his knowledge. Now there may be a small handful of people reading this who are not aware of your contribution to the world of alternative music so want to enlighten them? What started your interest in music and how long you been playing and what bands you been involved in up to now? I was 14 when the Pistols appeared on Bill Grundy and it just blew me away. Till that point I was wearing tank tops, Oxford Bags and DM’s and fancied myself as a boot boy with an aspiration to be a face on the Shed End at Chelsea. After Grundy I wanted to know more about these punks. I bought New Rose when it came out and that was that – but it was really the first Clash album that shifted everything for me. After that I bought a guitar out of a junk shop in Leatherhead and started rehearsing with my first band Discipline at the Cabin Club down on Longmead Estate in Epsom. That would have been some time in 1977. We had guitars that chopped your fingers off and 5 watt Woolworths’ practice amps – we were dire but a fire had been lit. 

Comrade1Like most Londoners there’s more than just a drop of Celtic blood coursing through your veins. Do you think that has effected or contributed to how you play or why you play or your beliefs? Well, my grandad was from Kilkenny and arrived in Liverpool sometime in the 1890’s before heading to the East End. Of course I never knew him – he was dead by the time my dad was ten years old and he was orphaned and bought up by his older sister. The family name was changed by my grandad and I only know what my dad and his older brothers told me. Grandad sang rebel songs in pubs around Stepney and his favourite was Bold Robert Emmett so I was told. I think there’s a fair drop of that spirit in what I do. What? Singing rebel songs in a pub? I’d say so!!
Having been in bands and played solo yourself which figures or bands do you think have been the important links between the past and the present and folk/celtic/traditional music and punk/rock music? Biggest influence on me is Joe Strummer – his catalogue from the 101ers to the Mescaleros stands the test of time. The Mescaleros picked up some of Joe’s Celtic connections back to his own Scottish roots. He also introduced a lot of us to Woody Guthrie and through that Leadbelly and some of that deep roots Americana which of course all tracks back through the Celtic immigrant trail. I remember seeing the Pogues in their early days and for loads of us with an Irish/punk background lots of bits started dropping into place. Great to see new bands tipping their hat to that pioneering work by the Pogues and the Men They Couldn’t Hang. The Lagan are the tops for me, that might be a Surrey thing, but they are run close by outfits like Matilda’s Scoundrels and Black Water County. Steve Earle deserves a nod here as well – I was lucky enough to get to work with him a few years back. Top fella
 How you find the London Irish scene these days? Obviously the old community has shrunk and the new arrivals seem, to me anyway, not to be interested in Irish music. Maybe I’m reading it wrong. I certainly hope so. Is there still a community out there? So many pubs have closed or changed and communities are much more dissipated. I’m from Epsom where there used to be five big mental hospitals and they were staffed throughout by Irish immigrants working alongside colleagues from across the Commonwealth. My dad worked his way up to managing and inspecting the quality of those NHS services. Those hospitals have all closed but the social clubs in those places were something else. The sense of community was massive. The loss of those big centres of employment has had an inevitable impact.

As I say you’ve been performing for a hell of a long time in bands and now as a solo act but it has been said (and I am in agreement) that being a solo artist is the hardest thing to do. Just yourself on the stage and nowhere to hide. What does it take to be a solo performer. I would say big nuts and a big ego but obviously that’s not right for everyone! Yep, nowhere to hide! That is a bit of a downside but on the upside there’s no one to row with other than yourself and the odd sound man who thinks that every solo artist with a guitar should sound like Cat Stevens.

What bands are you listening to at the moment? Do you follow celtic-punk at all. Any bands out of the scene that you like? I’ve already bigged up The Lagan, Matilda’s Scoundrels and Black Water County but I can add to that Mick O’Toole and of course the old troopers Neck who I’ve know since time began. I pick up loads of stuff from your recommendations from around the globe and I think that the Irish influenced punk/folk scene is healthy as fuck – cant wait to see the Cundeez down in Brixton as well.

Comrade2There’s always been a big debate about celtic-punk and whether or not it is cultural appropriation and politically correct for non-Irish bands singing about the Irish getting pissed and fighting and pubs and what have you. Personally I love it. The idea of the likes of Indonesian or Brazilian bands getting into The Dubliners and The Wolfe Tones after listening to the Dropkick Murphys. I mean its not like The Dubliners ever wrote a song about getting pissed is it? I think its just a case of snobbery but do you think it’s ok? I agree. I’m sick of being told what is and what isn’t acceptable and until everything is narrowed down to a tiny spec. I like covering Holy Spook by the Popes – “…I wrecked my life on whisky, bad wives, taking pills and cursing…”. That’s just the blues mate and it doesn’t belong to anyone. This “cultural appropriation” stuff is just more hand-wringing, liberal bollocks.

Now London Celtic Punks have always had the by-line of ‘Folk Punk Football’ and football is very dear to your heart as we know. Obviously the modern game is shite and the only real football fans are to be found in the lower divisions and non-league. That about right? ha ha – no, you are completely wrong and modern football, as invented by Sky TV, is brilliant! What’s the matter with you?
How long you been going to Sutton United? Do you think supporting a team that has never really won anything has made you a better person? Does learning the value of defeat and pride in losing but trying your hardest teach you something that is missing in the Premiership or even society? I’ve been going to Sutton since the early seventies. My old man took me down there to try and wean me off Chelsea and a career as a hooligan. He wasn’t totally successful but I always kept a link with the U’s. About ten years ago I jacked in the Chelsea season ticket and now it’s Sutton home and away. I love it. I meet loads of old punks who see the connection with those old values in the non league game. Never won anything? We won the bloody league last season! And did I ever tell you about the time we beat Coventry City in the FA Cup? 
As well as football you are heavily involved in promoting trade unionism. The decline of the unions is a terrible thing but what do you think can be done to reverse that trend. My own union is a waste of space and I may as well throw my money down a drain but as a good friend of mine (a Scouser of course!) once said joining a union is like having house insurance you don’t expect the house to burn down tomorrow but what do you do if it does. I got involved in NUPE in the early eighties when I lost my job as a sparky and took a job as hospital porter. Brilliant days and we were solid as a rock before everything was ripped apart and privatised. You’ve got to have that strength in the workplace or you’ve got nothing.
With so much music in your life. What are your happiest memories of playing. The best gig or best people… Tolpuddle main stage last week was one of my best ever gigs. Strummercamp and that night at the Water Rats with you lot, Anto Morra and Pogue Traders is up there as well. The rest is just a blur of fast living. 
Comrade4Right you have hinted at this every now and then on stage so lets get the full unabridged story out of you now. How did you manage to get Neck’s anti-racist single ‘Every Bodies Welcome To The Hooley’ into the national charts? Ha, that really was the wide boys revenge mate. I pulled in favours with every journo I know and got the band on BBC prime time TV and radio and we had people targeting the record shops that used to file returns for the official chart. It was some proper old spivery and I am rightly proud of it.
What’s the immediate future hold for Comrade X. Any gigs/ festivals we should be looking out for you at? What about recordings. Ain’t it time you got something down on disc… or vinyl’s coming back you know? I’ve got a mate up in Luton who has built an analogue studio and I’ll be doing some recording up there in the autumn – some great shows coming up very shortly with you lot and the Veg Bar, The Lagan at the Fighting Cocks and Undercover Festival. And I will be helping my old mate Noel Martin from Menace with his bands 40th anniversary bash at the 100 Club. I’m enjoying myself and you can tune in through the Comrade X Facebook page.
 

Thanks Comrade for taking the time to answer a few questions. It’s a privilege to include you as a member of the London Celtic Punks crew and work with you over the last few years, so here’s to many many more!
CundeezVegBarColour (2)
You can catch Comrade X playing live at our next London Celtic Punks gig later this year on Saturday 3rd September on home territory in South London. He will be supporting Dundee based bagpipe punk band THE CUNDEEz on their London debut gig. All starts at 7-30pm sharp and costs just a fiver on the door. You can check out the Facebook event here to find out all the details of the venue and the other support bands or go to our What’s On- Upcoming Gigs & Events here.
Contact Comrade X

ALBUM REVIEW: ANTO MORRA-’16’ (2016)

Album Review, Best Of's, Compilation, England, Ireland, London March 11, 2016 Leave a comment

London Irish Folk Punk

Anto16

Somewhere between the Pogues and Ian Dury with perhaps a dash of Madness.
The ever prolific Anto Morra returns with this sixteen track album tribute to the 1916 Easter Rising. In the 100th Anniversary year of the Rising their have been many books and musical tributes paid to that heroic act and I have to say that ’16’ is up there with the best of them. For those that don’t know the Easter Rising took place in April 1916 in Dublin and is one of the most important events in Irish history. It was an attempt to win independence from the United Kingdom by force of arms. Lasting only a few days from April 24 to April 30 around 1500 members of the Irish Volunteers, led by school teacher Pádraig Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. They called on the Irish people to rise up and follow them but their call fell on death ears and they were quickly crushed by the huge police and government forces sent against them. For nearly a week Dublin was paralysed by street fighting before British artillery bombardments finally compelled Pearse and his colleagues to surrender. Sixty-four rebels were killed during the fighting, along with 134 troops and policeman and at least 200 civilians were injured in the crossfire. James Connolly whilst dying from shrapnel in his chest was carried on a stretcher to the courtyard in the prison and after confessing his sins to a priest and receiving communion he was shot while tied to a chair to stop him falling out of it. When asked by the priest would he forgive the men who were about to shoot him, James Connolly replied
“I will pray for all men who do their duty according to their lights [conscience]. Forgive them father, for they know not what they do”.
After only six days the Rising was over and fifteen leaders were court-martialed and executed at Kilmainham Jail in Dublin. A sixteenth, Eamon de Valera, was saved from a death sentence because he was an American citizen. The executions caused a wave of revulsion against the British and turned the dead republican leaders into martyred heroes. Despite its military failure, the Rising was a significant stepping-stone in the eventual creation of the Irish Republic. These men would soon prove to become an inspiration to the next wave of freedom fighters in the War Of Independence who would eventually force the British Empire to it’s knees.

ProclamationThe tradition of rebel music in Ireland dates back many centuries, dealing with events such as the various uprisings over the years, the hardships of living under oppressive British rule, but also strong sentiments of solidarity, loyalty, determination, as well as praise of valiant heroes. Though not confined to Ireland it can be said that the Irish have mastered the art of oral history in song and rebel songs are a massive part of that history.

Anto’s album contains sixteen tracks that include some surprising inclusions as well as as some of his own compositions. He is accompanied on several songs by his great friend Tim Chipping on mandola and banjo but for the most part this is pure Anto. Pure London Irish folk punk as Anto puts it himself. Raised in west London by Irish parents his formative years were as a punk rocker floating from band to band and dole cheque to dole cheque in Thatcher’s Britain. Moving from the rat-race of London to the quiet of the Norfolk countryside Anto began to further explore his Irish roots by joining Whirligig, a four-piece ceilidh dance band. In 2013 he left the band after ten years and decided to concentrate on his songwriting and solo performances.

16 begins with the first of Anto’s compositions the ballad ‘Blood On The Shamrock And The Rose’ and is the story of the feelings that the war in Ireland evoked on both sides. Hatred is never a good thing and for the those of us would like to see a united Ireland sooner rather than later hate is not the way to achieve it. A truly great anti-sectarian anthem. This is followed by Kelly From Killane. Made famous in the past by The Dubliners and more recently Damien Dempsey and written by the influential poet Patrick Joseph McCall (1861–1919) about John Kelly who fought in the 1798 Rebellion. He was one of the leaders of the victory over the English at the Battle of New Ross, but was later captured from his bed and hanged and decapitated by British soldiers on June 22, 1798. A up tempo version more akin to Damo’s version. Anto is unaccompanied on ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’ a ballad written by Robert Dwyer Joyce (1836–1883). A beautiful tragic song telling of a young man doomed to fight and die in the 1798 rebellion spending his last moments with his loved one. ‘The Rising Of The Moon’ follows and is one of the most covered of all Irish songs and is again based on the 1798 rebellion. One of my personal favourites is up next. hearing this for the first time on one of my Grandad’s old records. ‘Down By The Glenside’ tells of a old woman of around the time of the 1916 Rising recalling her youth.

“Some died by the glenside, some died near a stranger
And wise men have told us their cause was a failure
But they fought for old Ireland and never feared danger
Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men”

A somewhat modern classic is up next with ‘Back Home In Derry’. A song written by Bobby Sands who was the leader of the Irish Republican Army prisoners in the Maze Prison and led the infamous hunger strikes of both 1980 and 1981 which would eventually lead to his death on the 5th of May 1981. Before he died Bobby was elected as an MP to the British parliament gaining 30,492 votes which dwarfed the votes his many enemies (including Thatcher) had received in that parliament who called him a criminal. He borrowed the tune from Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ for his tale of a young Irish rebel being transported to Australia. Covered by many artists including Christy Moore and Neck it’s a beautiful song and all the more tragic that Bobby’s light was extinguished so early. ‘Wasted Life’ follows and its a brilliant version of the Belfast band Stiff Little Fingers punk rock hit from the late 70’s. Taken from what I think is the best punk rock album of all-time Inflammable Material.

Fast and emotion filled and over in a flash and Anto sings next of an emigrant thinking of his home in ‘Charleville’ in north Cork. ‘Song For Ireland’ is another classic beautiful song. Made a hit in the 70’s it was  written by an English couple, Phil and June Colclough, and was inspired by a trip they took to the Dingle Peninsula. It has been recorded by Mary Black, Dick Gaughan, Barleycorn and Clannad to name but a few.

“Dreaming in the night
I saw a land where no one had to fight
But waking in your dawn
I saw you crying in the morning light
While lying where the falcons fly
They twist and turn all in your air-blue sky”

‘Only Our Rivers Run Free’ is another personal favourite of mine and the title is self explanatory. Mickey MacConnell wrote the song in 1973 and it became a huge hit for both Christy Moore and Irish living legends The Wolfe Tones. Never has Anto sounded better but then straight away he goes one better with ‘Paddy’s Lamentation’. A song written during the American Civil War era about an injured Irish soldier fighting for the Union who dreams of returning to Ireland. ‘The Merry Ploughboy’ is known wherever you’ll ever find an Irish person from the terraces of Celtic Park to bars and clubs though out the world. It’s the first of two consecutive songs written by the great Dominic Behan (1928-1989), brother of writer Brendan. Both were committed socialist’s and republican’s and were among the most influential Irish artists of the 20th century. Anto gives it plenty of ‘ooompf’ and sings with gusto for one of the few, especially on this album(!), joyous and uplifting songs on this album.

“And when the war is over, and dear old Ireland is free
I’ll take her to the church to wed and a rebel’s wife she’ll be
Well some men fight for silver and some men fight for gold
But the I.R.A. are fighting for the land that the Saxons stole”

Definitely one of those songs that gets the blood racing and would get even yer most avid ‘west-brit’ up on a bar stool baring his chest and belting out his lungs. We are back to more serious matters next with ‘The Patriot Game’. One of the most tragic songs ever written about the war in Ireland and also contains some of the most savage put downs you’ll ever hear of the

“quislings who sold out the patriot game”

Telling of Fergal O’Hanlon, from Monaghan who was killed at the young age of just 20 in an attack on a British Army barracks on New Years Day in 1957. Another volunteer, Seán South, was also killed during the raid. ‘Rocky Road To Dublin’ is an upbeat Irish classic, an incredibly fast-paced 19th century song about a Irish man’s experiences as he travels to Liverpool from his home in Tuam in Ireland. A live favourite of Anto’s he performs the song accompanied only on the bodhran. Written by D.K. Gavan, known as ‘The Galway Poet’, for the English music hall performer Harry Clifton who made the song famous.

Another live favourite of Anto’s is up next with ‘The Foggy Dew’ perhaps the best and most widely known, and covered, of songs about the 1916 Rising. It was written by a Catholic priest, Canon Charles O’Neill (1887-1963), sometime after 1919. The song encourages Irishmen to fight for the cause of Ireland, rather than for Britain, as so many young men were doing in World War 1. The most famous version of which is by the The Chieftains and Sinead O’Connor to which The Dropkick Murphys have been taking to the stage for the last decade. With nearly an hour on the clock 16 finally comes to an end with Anto’s song, his own ‘Green, White And Gold’. Anto’s take on the 1916 Rising is well worthy of its place here amongst some of the best Irish songs ever written.

16 is released next week as a limited edition digipack gatefold CD on St Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2016. The cover art, as on all Anto’s releases is by the famous London Irish artist Brian Whelan. It is more than refreshing to hear these songs sung in a London Irish accent as I noticed that even in my head I was singing along in a Irish accent! Anto is a unique talent with an ability to tell a story in a way that grabs you and forces you to listen. Famed for his wordplay and the way he manages to inject the spirit of punk rock into his acoustic folk he has taken these famous songs and re-told them in a way accessible to everyone. One of the most moving things about this album is surprisingly not one of the songs but the small tribute on the record sleeve that I will end the review with.

“This album is dedicated to my Dad Edward Anthony Morrissey and my Grandfather Daniel Forde. Both brave Irish men who fought for the British and survived World War 1, World War 2 and the Korean War and always dreamt of an united Ireland”

Buy The Album

E-Bay (CD)  FromAnto (Download)

Contact Anto Morra

Facebook  Reverbnation  Twitter  Bandcamp

Pogues at WRYou can pick up a copy of 16 at the official record release show on St Patrick’s Day at The Water Rats in Kings Cross where Anto will be supporting the #1 Pogues tribute band The Pogue Traders well into the early hours. This is the same venue where The Pogues played their first ever gig so come along and be part of history! Tickets are only £7 and are available in advance from here and you can find all the details including set times nearer the date here on the Facebook event page.

  • we have much much more musings in the Anto Morra vaults here if you would like to catch up with them.

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS OUR BEST OF 2015!

Album Review, Australia, Barcelona, Best Of's, Boston, Canada, Catalonia, England, EP Review, Folk-Punk, France, Galicia, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle Of Man, Italy, London, Netherlands, New York, Norway, Piedmont, Punk, Quebec, Russia, Scandinavia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Traditional, Ukraine January 6, 2016 Comments: 6
Best Of 2015 (2)
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

Celtic Folk Punk And More BlogAgain 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…

LIVE REVIEW: THE POGUE TRADERS at The Water Rats 13th December 20015

England, Ireland, Live Gigs, Live Review, London December 18, 2015 1 Comment

Reviewed by Heather Hoy

It was on the 4th October 1982 that The Pogues played their first ever gig at The Pindar of Wakefield on London’s Gray’s Inn Road.

The Water Rats

Back then, they could never have imagined the impact their music would have on the world around them or how people’s lives would be changed as they introduced the audience to a slightly different style of Irish Music, Celtic Punk.

 Over thirty years later, on Sunday 13th December 2015, The Pindar of Wakefield, which is now called The Water Rats, recreated that historic day and welcomed The Pogue Trader’s. The band are described as ‘the UK’s number one Pogues tribute act’ by Pogues drummer Andrew Ranken and were playing their first gig at the venue that night.

Comrade X

Comrade X

There were two support acts on the bill, Comrade X and Anto Morra, both guitarist singers who played sets of just over half an hour each.  Both were entertaining and energetic and treated anyone who turned up early to a lively versions of a range of folk and punk songs.

 

 As 9.30pm approached, the room filled up and the atmosphere was electric as The Pogue Trader’s took to the stage. They started the show with ‘Streams of Whiskey’, from The Pogues first album, Red Roses For Me, which The Pogues have usually started their own sets with since they reunited in 2001.

The Pogue Traders

The Pogue Traders

This was followed by a wide range of Pogues classics, ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God’, ‘Sally MacLennane’, ‘Dirty Old Town’, ‘Fiesta’, ‘Transmetropolitan’, ‘Poor Paddy on The Railway’, ‘The Irish Rover’, ‘Waxie’s Dargle’ and the classic ‘Fairytale of New York’ were amongst the many highlights and they even did an excellent rendition of ‘Johnny Come Lately’, a Steve Earle number for which The Pogues provided the backing.  The show was about an hour and a half long and The Pogue Trader’s, sounding every bit like the real Pogues, gave it their all even though there was not much room on stage for dancing. From start to finish, the crowd sang along and danced just the same as they would had they have if they had been watching the originals. By the end of the night, the bar was almost drunk dry and there were a lot of people who left The Water Rats in high spirits happy to have been part of this momentous occasion.

The Pogue Traders3The Pogue Traders are without doubt, one of the finest Pogues tribute bands around and their sound is so close to the original band that sometimes it is hard to differentiate between them, which is what a tribute band should be about.

Unlike some of the other tribute bands around, they seem to have the ability to balance correct style, choice of instruments and musicians which is a formula that works well.

  • thanks to Heather for the review. She does an excellent blog on The Pogues here called Pogues Fan 4 Eva so go and check it out.

The Pogue Traders

are available for the proverbial weddings, christenings and bar mitzvah’s so give them a knock if you want them to come play for you.

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and here for Comrade X and here for Anto Morra

for me though there is no bigger or better band in celtic-punk than The Pogues so here’s this here

The Best Pogues Related Sites

In The Wake Of The Medusa * Paddy Rolling Stone * The Parting Glass * Pogues Facebook Page

For me though the best place on the internet for The Pogues is this unofficial group on Facebook (here) all the diverse views you would expect from a bunch of people who follow The Pogues. Be sure and join up won’t you?

photos by Nessa and Comrade X

2015 REVIEWS ROUND UP PART TWO- WILL TUN AND THE WASTERS, SKONTRA, LOUISE DISTRAS, HAPPY OL McWEASEL, THE CUNDEEZ, ANTO MORRA

Album Review, Asturias, England, EP Review, Galicia, London, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain December 9, 2015 Comments: 4

This year has been quite brilliant for celtic-punk releases. In fact it has been far the best year since we began doing this here thingy. Good news surely but it also sadly means we didn’t get a chance to review everything we received or heard. So after catching up with our North American cousins (here) last time in Part 1 this time round we catch up with some a wee bit closer to home.

WILL TUN AND THE WASTERS- ‘The Anachronist’s Handbook’  (BUY)

Will Tun And The WastersThis album release came accompanied with the sad news that lead singer Will Tun was leaving the band. An amicable split and the rest of The Wasters have decided to carry on without him and so this is the swansong of Will Tun’s Wasters. Formed in 2010 by a gang of students based all over southern England Will Tun And The Wasters released a smattering of EP’s and singles and managed to get pretty popular so it was only a matter of time before an album was due. I suppose losing your lead singer would also also help lose a big slice of momentum as this album sneaked out rather than be unleashed and that was a mighty shame as this is a album deserving of being unleashed! Impossible to pigeonhole they were a hard working bunch ready to arrive from several starting points to play gigs at a drop of a hat. Though starting off more as a folk/celtic/ska-punk band they never stopped evolving and traces of hip-hop, Balkan and Latin found a home and nowhere more so than on The Anachronist’s Handbook. Twelve songs and over fifty minutes long the album takes you on a roller-coaster ride of musical styles but its the accordion and fiddle that stand out for me as well as Will’s great distinctive vocals. The energy is infectious and ‘Red & Black’ and ‘A Criminal’s Waltz’ could be The Pogues but whatever genre they turn their hand to they master it. The album ends with ‘Downtime’ another album highlight but this time a reggae/ska beat dominates. I really hope The Wasters can regroup and carry on (as they do intend to) as they would be sorely missed.

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SKONTRA- ‘Foguera’  (DONATE/FREE DOWNLOAD)

SkontraHere’s some authentic celtic-punk for you played by Skontra from the city of Gijón in the celtic region of Asturias currently under Spanish control. There is a school of thought amongst celtic scholars that to be a true authentic celtic nation you must have your own language but if to be truly celtic is based on culture then we must instead expand our thinking to include both Asturias and their neighbours Galicia as well. Celtic culture is alive and kicking and the people are especially proud of their celtic roots. Formed in 1991 Skontra this is their fourth full length album and the thirteen songs are mingled with elements of punk, hardcore, ska and reggae but always with a celtic base and with the traditional Asturian bagpipes leading the way. Seven of Foguera’s songs are in their native Asturian and the rest in Spanish so can’t tell you what the songs are about but its all dead catchy and if you’re looking for a comparison then this would please all you Real McKenzies fans but its very well played celtic-punk that ought to get you all moving your feet. Typical of Skontra is the fantastic title track which includes just about everything that makes them tick. They have made the album available for free for download so you’d be a mug not to get this fantastic album.

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LOUISE DISTRAS- ‘Dreams From The Factory Floor’  (BUY)

Louise DistrasMaybe not a celtic-punk album but Louise has popped up supporting both The Mahones and Bryan McPherson in the last year and her folky-punk solo set is right up our alley. She has been called the next Frank Turner but as I don’t think she went to the poshest most exclusive school in Britain I reckon we can ignore that. There’s no style over substance here, what you see and what you hear is what you get. ‘Dreams From The Factory Floor’ is twelve songs of over half an hour of folky punk that sometimes veer into almost poppy tunes like the great ‘Bullets’ but then the album goes in a direction that (very) early Bragg or Springsteen at his best would approve of. Plenty of harmonica (I love that) and great politics too. The politics of the working class and its struggles in every day. The spoken word title song is amazing and delivered in Louise’s broad Yorkshire accent sounds about as authentic as some others don’t. The use of both acoustic and electric guitar and the poetic lyrics and every song is both catchy and meaningful. No filler or fluff here and though not as punk rock as Louise is with her full band this album certainly shows an artist who is on her way to stardom.

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HAPPY OL’ McWEASEL- ‘Heard Ya Say!’  (BUY)

Happy Ol McWeaselFrom the first moment I heard this album I fell in love with Happy Ol’ McWeasel’s brand of joyous uplifting celtic punk rawk! Formed in 2007 in the Slovenian town of Maribor this is their second album and while on No Offence they relied maybe a little too much on traditional folk covers on this album they decided to take the more risky route and play only their own songs and I tells you it works… and it works well! All the usual instruments are here as well as accordion, fiddle, and banjo making as authentic a celtic sound as you are likely to hear in celtic-punk in 2015. Most important of all through the album’s twelve tracks you get the feeling that the band really love doing what they are doing. Their is a real sense of enjoyment running through this album and though you could bracket it with Flogging Molly style celtic punk it certainly ploughs its own trough too though it certainly could compare with bands like Rancid as well. Well played instruments, clear vocals and these fun-loving tunes are a definite hit. Its criminal that bands like Happy Ol’ McWeasel don’t get the applause they deserve but they are definitely one of the scenes best bands. They have given us an album that doesn’t just pump out standard celtic-punk rock but something with a whole lot more substance. One of the best productions on a album I have heard helps a lot but this innovative band will go far I am sure.

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THE CUNDEEZ- ‘Sehturday Night Weaver’  (BUY)

The CundeezIf their was a prize for best pun in a album title then Dundee band The Cundeez would walk it. Do you get it? Anyway this is their third album and with each one the band have got more polished and accomplished. Saying that it’s still ramshackle punk rock in all its glory. The lyrics are mostly either political or a bit daft and shouted in a raw Dundee dialect and combined with the punching guitars, pounding drums and occasional bagpipe The Cundeez certainly offer something well different to yer usual punk rock fare. The opening song is pure bagpipes and well played they are too but with the next song ‘Scaffie Radio’ the album steers away from celtic-punk into more standard (but still very good) punk. Elements of ska too especially on the brilliant ‘Rooota’ The pipes return occasionally and the album ends with a cover of ‘Teenage Kicks’ where the pipes return again to great effect. The rest of the album rocks by and can’t wait to catch them live from what I have heard they put on a great show.

The Cundeez unashamedly Dundonian working class band promotin the culture an havin a laugh!

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ANTO MORRA- ‘Patriotism Is Not Enough’ EP  (BUY)

Anto MorraNow this EP from London Celtic Punks favourite Anto Morra sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb here. I can say that freely as it was Anto himself who said it first! Those coming along to this EP expecting more of the same as Anto’s previous releases will get a shock as what you get here is hardcore ‘finger in the ear’ folk music that brings back reminiscences of people like Ewan MacColl and Pete Seeger. Famed for his wordplay and the way he somehow manages to inject the spirit of punk  rock into his London Irish acoustic folk Anto has come up here with something very novel and you can listen to the whole EP below on the Bandcamp player first before you buy. Again the amazing fellow London Irishman and artist Brian Whelan has provided the artwork and the whole EP is a tribute to Edith Cavell. Edith was a nurse and is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides during the First World War. She aided some 200 Allied soldiers to escape from German occupied Belguim and it was for this that she was arrested and accused of treason. Edith was found guilty and sentenced to death and despite international calls for mercy, she was executed by firing squad with her execution receiving worldwide condemnation. She is well known for her statement that “patriotism is not enough” and it was her strong Anglican beliefs that compelled her to help all those who needed it. She was quoted as saying, “I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved”. Edith, who was 49 at the time of her execution, was already notable as a pioneer of modern nursing in Belgium and this EP tells of her glorious life. Five tracks of Anto recorded in a church in Norfolk last Summer including ‘Edith Louise Cavell’ which was performed and broadcast live at the Edith Cavell’s centenary memorial service on BBC Radio 4. So a lot different to what Anto has previously done and I doubt we’ll get to hear any of these songs at a London Celtic Punks gig but full marks for producing this beautiful tribute to Edith and I do hope you will give it a chance.

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So ends Part 2 and again we’re sorry we weren’t able to give each album the full-on London Celtic Punks treatment but it was just not possible with work and family commitments. Soooo only one more part to come and in Part 3 we will checking out some cracking releases from across the other side of the world. Yes from Japan, China and Australia. If you don’t want to miss any of our posts then you can follow us by simply filling in your e-mail address in the box that is either below or to the left depending how you are viewing and you will receive every post to your in-box.

BIBLE CODE SUNDAYS CHARITY SINGLE ‘Something Inside So Strong’

Celtic Football Club, England, Free Download, Ireland, London, Single Review December 5, 2015 Leave a comment

Charity Single Released with Ginger Melodeon Experience Music Collective for The Lymphoma Association.
FREE DOWNLOAD!!

click above for your free download don't forget to donate!

click above for your free download
don’t forget to donate!

All we ask is that you make a donation, any amount you like!

Tracie O’Sullivan is a friend, she is one of the lucky ones and is the reason why The Bible Code Sundays have recorded this song. This is her story in her own words:

“In April 2013 my world was shattered, a routine blood test showed an abnormality in my liver, laughing I told the Doc I would slow down on the shots!  Her face wasn’t smiling, it was full of sorrow for me, it was nothing to do with shots, it was Lymphoma a blood cancer.  After eleven weeks of tests and an operation my sub type was found and a treatment plan put in place for 6 sessions of aggressive chemo.  There are so many types of Lymphoma cancer, and mine was a rare one, Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkins Lymphoma, what a mouthful!  You immediately google it, and get a load of scary non truths, the Lymphoma Association had the answers for me and all written in easy to understand jargon.  My daughter was living in Australia; I had to tell my only child I had cancer and might die.  She was terrified and so distraught, being so far away.  The Lymphoma Association to the rescue again!  Loaded with information and realisation that, although a rare type, my type of cancer could be cured.  After a gruelling six months and the support of my family and friends I am out the other side, bald but better!! I am in remission and I am one of the lucky ones.  The Bible Code Sunday lads, are included in my group of bestest buddies, they were a huge support and comfort to me and the family, we love them dearly.  Along with the other talented Musicians on this track, my cancer anthem ‘Something Inside So Strong’ has been recorded.  It’s a free download, and is a fantastic version, it’s a free download, all we ask is you make a little donation, anything you can spare, no matter how small will go to the Lymphoma Association. I intend, when fully better, to volunteer to be a Lymphoma Buddy.  This is a free service for those who are diagnosed to talk to someone who has been through the experience, some people are not as lucky as me and don’t have the wonderful friends and family that I have around them. Your donations will help fund these types of schemes.  Every forty minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with Lymphoma and it is particularly common in the younger population.  Thank you to the best group of lads and lassies ever, musical geniuses!  – The Ginger Melodeon Experience”

inspired by our friend Tracie O’Sullivan.
to donate to this great cause

http://www.lymphomas.org.uk/
http://www.lymphomas.org.uk/

THE BIBLE CODE SUNDAYS

The name…
The band started out as ‘Slainte’, originally formed by Ruairi and Kieran MacManus, Ronan’s brothers, before being joined by Ronan and other brother Liam, playing traditional Irish music. Slainte grew and evolved, with many musicians joining the band as part-time members. Simultaneously, Ronan and other band members had started to write original material for other bands. Over time other band interests quickly faded and writing and performing their own material became the band’s focus. It was in 2006 that the band changed their name to The BibleCode Sundays, at the time, the band were playing back to back gigs every Sunday in small pubs full of hard-drinking Irishmen

“…we used to have to join them in their drinking just to get through the gigs because they were so crazy!”- Ronan

And so, the band would routinely find themselves up in the small hours talking, usually about conspiracy theories, including the so-called Bible Code, which refers to an encryption in the Torah believed by some to prophecy future events. These drink-fuelled discussions would happen every Sunday around 4am, and hence became known as BibleCode Sundays…
The journey…
The band celebrated their name change with a self-titled album of covers of Irish crowd-pleasers and then, with new material, and a packed schedule of gigs around London, their popularity in London took off, winning the award for ‘Best Band on London Circuit 2006’ by the readers of The Irish World newspaper.
The Band released their first original album, ‘Ghosts of Our Pasts‘ in 2007, to great critical acclaim, both in the UK and North America. The album included three songs, ‘Bang, Bang, You’re Dead’, ’Honour Of The Gael’ and ‘My Town’ especially written for Mike O’Dea’s Boston-based movie ‘Townies’, subsequently retitled ”The Code Of Silence’. The album also included the bitter-sweet ‘Boys of Queens’ dedicated to the FDNY, inspired by the events of 9/11, and subsequently used in the 2011 CBS show ‘Unforgettable‘.
Second album ‘Boots or No Boots’ followed in 2008, and included the track ‘Maybe It’s Because I’m an Irish Londoner‘, which was subsequently adopted by premiership rugby club, London Irish RFC, as the club’s anthem. With their growing popularity and adoption by both Celtic FC and London Irish RFC supporters, the band’s fanbase has grown to include Europe and the States, with performances at major sporting events and stadiums, including Twickenham and music festivals, including Glastonbury. In 2007, they were invited to perform on the Sky Sports Christmas Day special. In 2009, with growing popularity in the US, the band were invited to support The Dropkick Murphys for their Boston St Patrick’s Day concert, a relationship which continues to date with BCS supporting The Dropkick’s on their 2012 UK Tour. With the addition of Kian on lead guitar and ever-maturing song writing, a new BCS sound started to emerge which began to find its way into their live performances.
The new BCS album New Hazardous Design was released in November 2013 and was launched with a sell out gig at swanky London venue Under The Bridge and we loved it so much we awarded it the London Celtic Punks Album Of The Year For 2013 by us here. A great band and a London Irish treasure.

From the community, For the community, Of the community

Palestine GigYou can catch the Bible Code Sundays playing pretty much week in and week out throughout London and the surrounding areas throughout the year but what about this for a great gig. Next Friday on December 11th ‘Irish Music For Palestine’ presents The Bible Code Sundays live on stage at Hennessys Bar in South Harrow with the original post-Pogues celtic-punk legends Neck. This will be the first time they have played together since the old days of the famed London Irish nightclub The Galtymore back on St Patrick’s Day in 2007 I think it was. Also supporting is Anto Morra. London Irish singer-songwriter of great standing. A great roster of bands and wrapping it up Greenford Bhoy will bt DJing all your favourite Irish rock and rebel all through the night and after the bands have finished. And all for the children of Gaza as every penny will go to the educational charity ‘Voices Of Gaza’. You can find out a whole lot more at the Facebook event here. Tickets are a straight £10 and you can get them here.

Contact The Bible Code Sundays

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PREPARE YOUR LIVERS FOR THE WORSE LONDON! COMING SOON…

Ireland, Live Gigs, London November 19, 2015 Leave a comment

Sorry if you don’t live in London but if you do you lucky souls are in for a cracking weekend from December 11th to the 13th!

2nights

FRIDAY 11th DECEMBER 2015

NECKHennesseysIRISH MUSIC FOR PALESTINE
BENEFIT CONCERT FOR ‘VOICE OF GAZA’
We are proud to announce a benefit gig in aid of the Palestinian charity ‘Voices For Gaza’
We have lined up some of the best Irish acts around for you with the marvellous BIBLE CODE SUNDAYS set to headline. They are simply the best band in the Irish scene in London.Best described as “The Clash on Irish steroids”. NECK are the original celtic-punk band. Taking The Pogues and The Clash and The Dubliners as a starting point they invented their own genre ‘Psycho-Ceilidh’ and have toured the world spreading the London Irish message to the masses and ANTO MORRA a singer-songwriter of great standing. Anto (real name Anthony Morrissey) was raised in London by Irish parents, and this background provides a theme that runs throughout his fantastic music. Three fantastic acts representing the London Irish community and Neck and The Bible Codes haven’t taken the stage together since the days of The Galtymore so you’rein for a rare treat.
Tickets are £10 in advance with no extra fees. All money going to ‘Voices For Gaza’. Get your ticket from here. Official Facebook event here.
The gig is being held at Hennesseys Bar, 399 Northolt Road, South Harrow, HA2 8JE. Nearest tube is South Harrow on the Picadilly line so come out of the train station and turn left and walk approx 500 metres.
Buses galore but 140, 487, 258 stop directly outside the bar. Live music is from 7-30pm till 11-15pm and last tube is around 11-45pm so people can get back to central London.
…but for those that stay our special guest DJ MR GREENFORD BHOY will be spinning the best in Irish rebel folk rock and more till the early hours.

Voice Of Gaza (VOG) project, is helping young Gazan female students to overcome trauma through writing about their experiences. They will participate in a 2 year programme learning all aspects of English, so their voices can reach out into the world. VOG has no tuition fees, to enable any student access to the project. Abedalrahman Elderawi has established an Educational Non-Profit Center in Gaza. This programme will give these young people:
The tools they need to become more effective writers and speakers
The platform to help their expressions reach the larger world
Build their character as future leaders able to speak eloquently for the Palestinian people
Enhancing their spiritual side through music and arts, while also helping them cope with the trauma of war and occupation.
Voice Of Gaza Facebook page here.
If you can’t make the gig feel free to still buy a ticket to support the great work ‘Voice Of Gaza’ are doing or go to the Go Fund Me page here and leave a donation.

SUNDAY 13TH DECEMBER 2015

POGUETHE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS /URBANKELT CHRISTMAS PISSUP BASH

On October 4th back in 1982 something happened that would forever change peoples lives and perceptions. A band called THE POGUES took the stage in an iconic old venue in Kings Cross and the rest as they say is history!
with THE POGUES run of yearly Christmas shows seemingly ended we know you all miss a good auld Pogues yuletide pissup so hows about the UK’s Number One Pogues tribute band THE POGUE TRADERS live at the very venue that The Pogues actually had their first ever gig!
And its not just a marketing ploy to describe them as the UK’s best Pogues tribute band – that’s what The Pogues own drummer Andrew Ranken said about THE POGUE TRADERS ably supported by COMRADE X one man whirlwind of numerous influences and traditions best described as “Woody Guthrie meets Oi!”. One geezer, one guitar, three chords and the truth. ANTO MORRA is back again. A singer-songwriter of great standing. Anto (real name Anthony Morrissey) was raised in London by Irish parents, and this background provides a theme that runs throughout his music. In the best tradition Luke Kelly, Brendan Behan and Shane himself.
and all at the historic music venue The Water Rats at 328 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8BZ. Situated just a couple of minutes walk from Kings Cross station so perfect for loads of rail and tube links and with the music set to finish around 11-30pm you will be able to get back to anywhere in London or further afield.
The bar will stay open a little longer and we will have MR GREENFORD BHOY dj’ing all your favourite celtic-punk, Irish, Punk and rebel tunes until we are shown the door.
Admission is only a fiver so you’ll already be saving £30 on the real band! Tickets are available from here. Official Facebook event here.

So prepare your livers… and your wallets and see you there!

P.S we will have the new London Celtic Punks t-shirts (and Badges) available so bring plenty of cash wont you. They will make great Christmas presents.

LONDON’S GREEN’n’WHITE: THE WAKES LIVE AT THE COCK TAVERN SATURDAY 29th AUGUST 2015

Celtic Football Club, England, Glasgow, Live Review, London, Scotland August 13, 2015 Leave a comment

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

CHANGE OF VENUE

LONDON’S GREEN’n’WHITE

CELTIC SUPPORTERS IN LONDON UNITE!

wakes @ cock

supported by the
UNDERGROUND CELTIC SUPPORTERS CLUB
HAYES BHOYS CELTIC SUPPORTERS CLUB
BRIGHTON CELTIC SUPPORTERS CLUB
LONDON CELTIC SUPPORTERS-FACEBOOK
URBANKELT
LONDON CELTIC PUNKS

Buy Tickets Here

click above to buy advance tickets

THE WAKES

we are pleased to announce the headliners who will be making a very rare London appearance. The Wakes are a folk rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band’s sound is a mixture of Celtic traditional music fused with punk rock. The band’s lyrics embrace their culture, heritage and surroundings. They cover all manner of subjects from anti-fascist politics, immigration and unemployment to uprising and rebellion in Scotland, Ireland and beyond.
http://www.thewakes.info/

supports act will include
ANTO MORRA
the music of London Irish Celtic and QPR supporter Anto can be found somewhere between the Pogues and Ian Dury with a dash of Madness.
http://www.antomorra.com/

BUCKETS OF COURAGE
an old school streetpunk band made up of Celtic fans all the way from County Kilburn!
https://www.facebook.com/bucketsofcourage

GREENFORD BHOY

our resident DJ Mr.GREENFORD BHOY will be spinning his ipod playing a whole host of celtic punk and rock, trad folk, rebel Irish and just plain auld rebel before, inbetween and after the bands.

more acts to be announced (and SPECIAL GUESTS to be confirmed!) so keep an eye out here…

the proceeds for the gig will go to the Clapton One. an anti-fascist Celtic supporter who was recently arrested unfairly in London and received a huge fine. lets show that we look after our own…

Entry is from 7-30pm and is £10 and advance tickets are available (click the giant ticket stub above). If their are any tickets left then it will be Pay On The Door. The gig will end at midnight.

The Water Rats is closed for refurbishment (thanks for telling us!) so we have had to move to The Cock Tavern, home of the Underground Celtic Supporters Club, literally just around the corner from Euston station and not far from the Water Rats either!
Plenty of trains, tubes and buses galore will get you back to pretty much anywhere all through the night. Map and some other shit here and here.

cock tavern

The Cock Tavern

23 Phoenix Road, Euston, London, NW1 1HB

020 7387 1884

Facebook event here

https://www.facebook.com/events/933811693308277/

come down before the gig and join the infamous UNDERGROUND CELTIC SUPPORTERS CLUB for the Celtic v St Johnstone game which will be shown live in the pub at 3pm.

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS OUR BEST OF 2014!

Album Review, Australia, Barcelona, Best Of's, Brazil, Brittany, Canada, Catalonia, Chicago, Denmark, England, EP Review, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, London, Netherlands, Piedmont, Russia, Scandinavia, Single Review, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, USA January 5, 2015 Comments: 5

TOP TWENTY CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS OF 2014

Last year our ‘Best Of’ list was completely dominated by bands from these shores but this time there’s a much more international flavour to 2014’s Best Album’s list. Again Irish influenced bands dominate but the absolute standout album for me was without a doubt Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards from Italy who nailed their fusion of punk rock and traditional music completely. With their own roots and influences included along with some amazing uilleann piping they are deserved winners of the Best Album spot. Kitchen Implosion join them in what has been a great year for Italian bands. Sure not all of these twenty bands are celtic-punk in the dictionary definition of the phrase but sod that anyway. These are what we liked and they all fit in in some way. Twenty bands from thirteen countries (Italy, England, Sweden, Brittany, Canada, Ireland, USA, Australia, Brazil, Catalonia, Germany, Switzerland and Belguim) which only goes to show the international appeal of the celtic-punk scene these days. A special mention for London Irish band Creeds Cross superb debut album. Only just caught them live and they were awesome so hoping to see much more of them around town in 2015.
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.
We compiled the ‘Best Of’ lists together from the scraps of paper handed to me by the various admins from the London Celtic Punks facebook page.