FROM THE PLOUGH TO THE STARS – NEW COMPILATION ALBUM FROM LONDON CELTIC PUNKS

FROM THE PLOUGH TO THE STARS

A free collection of over twenty Irish rebel songs from some of the Celtic-Punk scenes best bands. Ancient, modern and contemporary. The tradition goes on.

Just in time for the beginning of the most important month in Celtic culture we’re delighted to bring you this new compilation. Twenty-one bands from across the world celebrating Irish resistance to foreign rule. Featuring modern day classics as well as songs that stretch right back in time to the days when to have been caught reciting them by the authorities would have led to execution or banishment. An important part of Irish culture these songs labelled ‘Rebel Songs’ are first and foremost Folk Songs. These songs travelled not only from one end of the country to the other but the four corners of the earth would resound to them. Some of the songs here were written by Priests and school teachers but most were written by people who were classed by the British as illiterate peasants and carried by labourers and the poor working class, moving from district to district and country to country looking for work and respite from oppression. Tailors, shoemakers, dockers, miners… songs written by ordinary people for ordinary people and there lies the secret of their popularity and why they were sung whenever and where ever Irish people met. Know full well though that these songs are not aimed at anyone personally. The older songs tell of wrongs done and battles fought many many years ago and are of important historical significance. Others are more contemporary and these songs too carry on the traditions of rebel songs and will do as long as injustice continues. Immerse yourself in these songs and enjoy them and even the most English among you will, once they know the facts, and the words, join in with a hearty “Up The Rebels!”.

Intro

The Gentlemen 🇺🇸 – Come Out Ye Black And Tans

Templars Of Doom 🇺🇸 – H-Block Escape

The Gobshites 🇺🇸 – Give Ireland Back To The Irish

In For A Penny 🇺🇸 – Easter Mourn

The Tan And Sober Gentlemen 🇺🇸 – Follow Me Up To Carlow

Black Irish Texas 🇺🇸 – Join The British Army

Tullamore 🇮🇹 – Mairéad Farrell

Sons Of O’Flaherty 🇫🇷 – The Fields Of Athenry

The Dead B-Specials 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 – Take It Down From The Mast

Auld Corn Brigade 🇩🇪 – Broad Black Brimmer

Hudson Falcons 🇺🇸 – 6 + 26 =1

The Lucky Pistols 🇺🇸 – God Save Ireland

The Larkin Brigade 🇺🇸 – Sean South From Garryowen

The Fisticuffs 🇺🇸 – Young Ned Of The Hill

O’Hamsters 🇺🇦 – Erin Ga Bragh

Kilmaine Saints 🇺🇸 – Go On Home British Soldiers

Jasper Coal 🇺🇸 – The Merry Ploughboy

Drunken Fighters 🇪🇸 – The Big Fella

The Bleeding Irish 🇺🇸 – The Uprising

St. Bushmill’s Choir 🇺🇸 – The Foggy Dew

Larkin 🇺🇸 – On The One Road

Each track contains lyrics, the history of the song and band information and album links.

https://thelondoncelticpunks.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-plough-to-the-stars-a-celtic-punk-celebration-of-irish-rebel-songs

The album is available as a ‘name your price’ download which means you are welcome to download the compilation for free. In fact we would love you too but if you insist on leaving a donation then there is an option for that too but please within reason! We would be far more happier if you chose to share the link and let others know of it. An absolutely massive thanks to all the bands featured. Thanks you for your permission to use the songs. Each and every one of you we owe a debt of enormous gratitude for doing your bit to keep these songs and traditions alive. If you would like to be featured on a follow up volume then drop us a line.

“The Irish people will only be free, when they own everything from the plough to the stars.”

— James Connolly

ALBUM REVIEW: THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS- ‘Seven Hearts One Soul’ (2016)

Imagine the foggy streets of long ago Dublin, crowded pubs ringing with laughter and singing, a time of sailing fishermen and people with stalwart beliefs. The past wrapped up in songs that make you want to dance and sing along till your throat demands another pint. This is what it’s like to listen to The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats!

The O’Reillys and the Paddyhats played their debut gig at a wedding near Dortmund back in only June 2011 and since then have quickly shot to the top branches of the European celtic-punk tree. Germany has has always had a big love affair with Ireland. As a child it never ceased to amaze me that when i was over in the ‘auld country’ on my school holidays every other person seemed to be a German and their love of Ireland was clear. I remember well a conversation with some German tourist at a train station about The Wolfe Tones as a young teen while getting disapproving looks from my Grandad who though special branch were listening to every word anyone said! These Bhoys and Ghirl from the small town of Gevelsberg, just down the road from the city of Dortmund, are no different. Their love of Ireland is palpable and you can can feel it throughout this wonderful album that is sure to only improve their standing. The German celtic-punk scene is among the best in the world with bands such as Mr. Irish Bastard, Fiddler’s Green, The Porters, In Search of A Rose, The Ceili Family and the sadly deceased Auld Corn Brigade entertaining the world!

This is the bands follow up to their debut album Sound of Narrow Streets from September 2012 and they raised the funds for the release of Seven Hearts One Soul themselves and with the help of their loyal fans raised an incredible E8000 on crowdfunding to pay for its production in full. Recording the album in the famed Principal Studios home of legendary German punk band Die Toten Hosen just up the road from them the album is not simply your typical Irish folk punk record. All the elements are there sure and they straddle nicely the middle ground between scene giants The Murphys and the Mollys between the more folky and the more punky sides of celtic-punk but The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats have found their own niche within the scene and boy does it work well.

Seven Hearts One Soul begins with a short intro set aboard a sailing ship before ‘Black Sails’ bursts into your eardrums and we are off. Chugging guitar and great fiddle work with touches of country but firmly within the pirate tradition with a outstandingly catchy chorus. One of the things that the German celtic-punk bands don’t shy away from is Irish republicanism and I would even go so far as to say it’s one of the reasons why the Germans love us so much. ‘We All Know’ is not your standard rebel but the band give it plenty of oompf and its drives along at a great auld pace. Next is ‘Black and White’ and the banjo stands out here with a slightly slower song without losing any of the bands power. They return to pirate territory with ‘Chief of the Sea’ which starts slow before turning into a real thigh slapper. A solid backline accompanying the celtic instruments in this song about wanting rum!

The video is not the version from the album but if anything I much prefer it. Next up is the fantastic song ‘Barrels of Whiskey’ for which The Paddyhats put out a fecking brilliant video, below. Amazing fiddle here in this song, about illegally making whiskey, as throughout the album.

Follows is ‘Hey You’ and catchy as hell until the chorus kicks in and it manages to get a whole lot better and even has the tiniest bit of a ska beat chucked in there too. ‘Fair Old Lady’ is an ode to their home town of Gevelsberg and begins with acoustic guitar and has some great lyrics. ‘What I Am’ shows The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats in reflective mood with a slow ballad start that soon speeds up but could still be classed as a ballad. They have managed to record an album that captures their live sound well and if I ever get to see this band I expect to be on the receiving end of a sore throat screaming for an encore. ‘Hang By the Neck’ continues the catchyness of this album with more than a wee trace of country. The album ends with the only cover version here and ‘Black and Tans’ is a faithful version of the Dominic Behan penned Irish rebel song that is sure to get anyone’s blood pumping every time you hear it coming on!

“I was born on a Dublin street where the Royal drums do beat
And the loving English feet they tramped all over us,
And each and every night when me father’d come home tight
He’d invite the neighbors outside with this chorus

Oh, come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man
Show your wives how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes in Killashandra”

Tin whistle leads us into this song tells of the brutal paramilitary force the British government sent to Ireland in 1919 to smash resistance and the quell the rebellion that sought to end British rule and links that fight for freedom to others around the world. The nickname ‘Black and Tans’ came from the colours of their hastily put together uniform of mixed khaki of the British Army and rifle green from the Police. With the Irish leading the way and providing inspiration others took up the mantle and fought the British Empire across the world for their own independence. Due to their murderous activities and the atrocities they committed, feelings continue to run high and a ‘Black and Tan’ or just simply a ‘Tan’ remains a term of abuse and their very mention shows they are still despised by many in Ireland. It rocks out and has the best shouty chorus of any rebel song ever written.

left to right: Fitzgerald O’Brien (Bass) ; Sean O’Reilly (Acoustic Guitar, Flutes, Lead Vocals) ; Emily O’Farrel (Fiddle) ; Dr. Bones (Drums) ; Ian Mac Fannigan (Backing Vocals, Washboard, Chain) ; Dwight O’Reilly (Banjo, Mandolin, Accordion, Backing Vocals) ; Ryan O Leary (Step Dancer) ; Connor O’Sullivan (Electric Guitar)

Released on the 9th of April earlier this year it has been slow in reaching us and then we were a bit late in getting this review done but it has been well worth the wait. Of the eleven songs all have been written by the band with the only exception that one excellently played cover. The CD comes with an excellent 16 page booklet with all song lyrics and any other information you could possibly need. The CD also comes in a special limited edition box-set with a whole host of goodies so check out the band web-site for that. Clocking in at 35 minutes the album is a quick and highly enjoyable blast that simply bursts with energy and atmosphere. Transporting you out of your living room and into the one place this kind of music was supposed to be heard. Yes, the pub! The O’Reillys And The Paddyhats play with an passion and pride in Irish music and culture that is a joy to behold. They take us on a journey (by sea of course!) full of tales of love and loss, of rebellion and comrades and friendship and, of course, drinking. The Paddyhats show what is possible in the celtic-punk scene. That it is still possible to come up with something fresh and unique and entertaining from beginning to end.

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ALBUM REVIEW: THE RATHMINES- ‘Ramblin With The Rats. Stolen Songs of Struggle’ (2015)

Berliner celtic-folk-punk band The Rathmines debut album is superb and done with a passion and a feeling and a joy for Irish music that very few Irish bands have. A must hear album.

With Irish/ celtic music’s popularity blazing across Europe we must make a stop over in the country that has truly embraced the music like no other. For whatever reason celtic music and culture have taken off in Germany and they have produced some of the best celtic-punk bands in the scene as a result. The Rathmines are the latest in a line that includes Fiddlers Green, Mr Irish Bastard and, now sadly disbanded, Auld Corn Brigade.

CLICK HERE TO READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH THE RATHMINES

The thing that immediatly leaps out on you as you listen to this album is the degree of respect The Rathmines have for the music. This is no imperialist appropriating of the culture of others this is the joyous celebration of Irishness and inclusiveness. The boys all come from a punk rock background and was a Pogues gig in their home of Berlin that persuaded them to put away the electric instruments and get all folky. The music itself is of the kind our mam’s and dad’s use to listen to but done in such a way that the energy and spirit of punk comes shining through. The albums sixteen tracks come in at just a few seconds under a hour and its a hour well spent trust me.

The album kicks off with celtic-punk standard ‘Drunken Sailor’ and it amazes me that you can get sick of hearing a song until you hear it done in a way that brings it back to life for you. Nothing particulary different but just a great version. ‘Hot Asphalt’ the Ewan MacColl penned song, made famous by The Dubliners ,follows and again theres nothing that should stand out but what you get is a enjoyable enthusiastic romp through the story of Irish immigrants to England digging the roads.

“Well, we laid it in a hollows and we laid it in the flat
And if it doesn’t last forever, sure I swear, I’ll eat me hat
Well, I’ve wandered up and down the world and sure I never felt
Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt”

The first of the albums self-penned tracks is the Parisian style ‘How to Steal Horses’ with accordion drifting through and percussion keeping the beat while the vocals tell a story telling you exactly how to steal a horse and why. ‘Impossible’ is yer classic celtic-punk song about drinking and how missing your love can drive to further into the drink. Another self penned number from The Rathmines and again they hit the spot. The tune moves away slightly from traditional Irish and is all the better for it as it breaks the album up from being just a hour of trad. Hadn’t heard much of ‘Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya’ since I was a kid until the Dropkick Murphys recorded it and The Rathmines give it a blast with a great version and follow it up with more songs made famous by The Dubliners ‘The Leaving of Liverpool’ and, made famous recently by its recording by The Boss, ‘Mrs. McGrath’. ‘Oró Sé do Bheatha ‘Bhaile’ is a song originally written during the Jacobite rising in 1745-6 but was re-written by the great Irish patriot and leader of the 1916 Uprising in Dublin, Patrick Pearse. It was sung by Volunteers as a fast march during the Irish War of Independence.

“Óró, sé do bheatha ‘bhaile/ Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh

Oh-ro You’re welcome home…/ Now that summer’s coming!”

Sung in Irish by the bhoys and with guest vocals by Alexandra Arnsburg it is truly a remarkable song when you consider even how few Irish bands use their own language. Full marks for The Rathmines for this and for pulling off what is an acoustic-reggae-ska-trad Irish version that I am sure has Patrick smiling down from above.

(left to right) Marcus – Bass, Vocals; Rene – Cajon; Egidio – Accordion; Martin – Guitar, Vocals

‘Paddy’s Taksim Square’ is another Rathmines number and the albums highlight for me from the great lyrics to the catchy as hell tune.

Again it strays a little away from their usual traditional Irish sound but manages to keep within the celtic camp.

“Her yer Taksim, her yer Direniş’
Paddy has no difficulties ever understanding this
No matter if it’s Istanbul, Brazil or day or night
Everywhere is Taksim-Square and everywhere we fight”

With their love of The Pogues its perhaps a bit suprising that we get towards the end of the album before a more famous Pogues track surfaces. ‘Poor Paddy (Works On The Railway)’ yeah I know The Dubs did it first but it was The Pogues that I would say are more famous for playing it.  During the mid-19th century poor Irish immigrants worked almost exclusively to build railways in the United States. Untold thousands of Irish section crews worked as track layers, gaugers, spikers, and bolters and the song begins in 1841, during the time of the famine. ‘Rocky Road to Dublin’ is another Dubs classic while ‘Sog Nischt Kejnmol’ is dedicated to

“all fighters who died in prisons, camps and on the battlefields against Fascism during the dark years when Fascists in Europe slaughtered the workers’ movement, Jews and all others”

It is an interpretation of a Yiddish partisan song written 1943 in the Vilnius ghetto by Hirsch Glik who joined the ‘Fareinikte Partisaner Organisatzije’ and participated in 1942 in an uprising in the Ghetto. He was caught by the German troops and deported to an Estonian concentration camp from where he escaped. After this he joined the fight against the German troops and died aged 22.

A worthy tribute to Hirsch.

“Sure the hour that we’re dreaming for will come/
We’ll arrive with steps pounding like a drum”

Talk of ‘The Boss’ earlier and on hearing the traitional murder ballad, Two Sisters, you can almost hear Bruce singing it. Made most famous by Clannad its truly a monstrous song not that you’d notice as its so beautifully done! ‘Whisky In The Jar’ and ‘The Wild Rover’ complete the ‘Stolen Songs of Struggle’ and the album ends with the last of The Rathmines self penned tracks ‘Years Of Depression’. Another standout song that rails agains the bankers and their kind

“All you boldholders, bankers and fuckheads in the firms”

 

and wishes upon them

“Years of depression will be yours”

From beginning to end this album is brilliant. Recorded, self produced, mastered and designed by the band themselves in the living room of their singer it surely deserves a wider audience and I have noticed they have began to make a few waves in the celtic-punk scene over in Europe so hopefuly that continue. The Rathmines are not trying anything particularly different but what they are doing is doing it superbly and with a passion and a feeling and a joy for Irish music that I wish more Irish bands had.

(to hear the entire album press play below)

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if you are on Facebook then get yourself directly to the ‘Irish Folk, Celtic Rock, Celtic Punk – Deutschland’ group here for up-to-date news and more on the German scene.

ALBUM REVIEW: THE PORTERS/ THE JUDAS BUNCH/ THE MAHONES/ MALASANERS- ‘Welcome To The Folk Punk Show’ (2014)

I’ve noticed lately that vinyl is becoming more and more popular within the celtic-punk scene and it’s more recent releases. Not just ordinary vinyl either but the really heavyweight discs that are the super duper best quality you can get. Like the those early Dubliners albums your Da’s got indoors. Still though a bit of a shock though when this, ‘Welcome To The Folk Punk Show’,  landed on our doorstep… well when the postman handed it to me anyway! A four way split, double album of two of the scene’s biggest and best bands and two I had never heard of was not what I was expecting.

This double album starts with The Porters who along with The Auld Corn Brigade and Mr Irish Bastard are at the forefront of the German celtic-punk scene which is probably the biggest in Europe. With three albums tucked into their belts already this five piece from Düsseldorf have traversed Europe with their folk-punk-country sounds. They’ve admittedly moved away a little from the overt celtic-punk roots sound of their debut album ‘A Tribute To Arthur Guinness’ but The Porters sound is still recognisable and is all the better for bringing in a few wider influences.

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They’ve recorded three brand new songs for the compilation and here’s the video for the album’s opening song

Next up are The Judas Bunch who hail from Sweden. They call themselves call ‘Honky Tonk Punks’ and I have to say I really enjoyed their three songs. Fast Rancid style punk rock with the accordion very much up front and very good female vocals to boot.  The singer has a uncanny American accent so it should be no surprise that their mixture of punk, folk, celtic and country has, despite them being relatively unheard of, seen them touring the USA a couple of times already. A band to be filed with others like Old Man Markley or Nowherebound or even Social Distortion I’d say.

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Coming round the bend now is the album’s biggest hitters. Yeah its The Mahones. All the way from Canada is the celtic-punk scene’s most prolific and hardest working band. Fresh from releasing a live album and the first part of their new double album ‘The Hunger And The Fight’ they include three live tracks for this comp and they are all Mahones super standards. The recording is crisp and clear and shows The Mahones at their raucous and rowdy best! Not much to be said about The Mahones as everyone has seen them play and everyone owns at least a couple of their albums so you know how brilliant they are!

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Finally closing the second disc with their trio of songs are  Malasañers who are named after a district of Madrid in Spain. Two of the band are from Spain while the rest are German and the band now reside in Germany completely. They play lovely Irish style celtic-punk with clear vocals in English. They may not have  been together very long but it certainly doesn’t sound like it on these recordings. These working class madrileño musicians certainly bring their music to life and supply two fast numbers and one slower one. They have one album already under their belt ‘Spanish Eyes’ and it is well worth picking up.

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The whole package is beautiful with both the music on the discs and the sleeve artwork as good as it gets. I would get a wiggle on though as there’s only 500 of them and once they’re sold out that will be it. No more will be released. My only gripe is that for such a Irish influenced project why the disc’s on orange vinyl!! A very minor gripe as they look wonderful. That shouldn’t put anybody off as clocking in at forty minutes it is great value and very reasonably priced as well. Wolverine Records are to be congratulated on putting out such a work of art!

Side A:
THE PORTERS
1.Barfly 2.Fathers And Sons 3.Hellbound Lovers
THE JUDAS BUNCH
4.Honkytonk Punks 5.Hey Bartender 6.Jim Dennys Diner
Side B:
THE MAHONES
1.Great Night On The Lash 2.Paint The Town Red 3.Blood Is On Your Hands
MALASANERS
4.Rights 5.Immigrants 6.For A Pint

you can get the album from www.wolverine-records.de at this link here.

ALBUM REVIEW: KILKENNY KNIGHTS- ‘Brady’s Pub Tales’ (2014)

Bagpipes, Accordion, Tin Whistle, Mandolin… celtic-punk as it says on the tin!

Formed back in 2009 in the town of Coburg in Bravaria in the south-east of Germany this small town has something other than inventing the hot dog to be famous for and that my friends is the latest in a long line of wonderful German celtic-punk bands The Kilkenny Knights!

As I write this its just a few days since Kilkenny beat my team Tipperary (yet again) by just a point in the National Hurling League but I won’t let that get the better of me and how could I as the Knights play brilliant old-fashioned celtic-punk with a German folk twist combining to make a great first record from the Knights and one we can’t recommend enough.

‘Brady’s Pub Tales’ is the result and the band can be proud to have a produced an album full of first class songs that not only are all original Kilkenny Knights compositions but even with the CD clocking in at over 53 minutes and 14 songs never drags and just simply flies by.

As for the actual music it’s pretty hard to pigeon hole except it has a real German feel to it. When I reviewed the album by The Auld Corn Brigade (here) I had the same feeling. Something just felt ‘German’ about them in a way I couldn’t say about bands from other European countries. That is in no way a slight and that German folk twist I mentioned earlier really adds to the music and takes it in a different direction to what I’m use to. This is something I’d like to see more of in the celtic-punk scene. Too many bands ignore their own culture’s and are reluctant to share their music. As someone once said

“All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard no horse sing a song”

As is law, and we must obey!, in celtic-punk all new bands in the scene must be compared to the ‘Holy Trinity’ of celtic-punk bands The Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly and The Pogues. There’s definitely influences of the first two, more so The Murphy’s due to the bagpipes leading the way. Have to add a extra mention here for Wolfi’s bagpipe playing which is as good as I’ve heard on any celtic-punk album.

The album kicks off with ‘Raise Your Pints’ yer standard celtic-punk exclamation about even though bad things may happen in life you should raise your pint and drink with your friends instead of feeling sorry for yourself…and who could argue with that. Straddling both the Murphys and the Mollys its a great song to have a listen to when you’re down in the dumps. Followed swiftly by ‘Piperdemon’ showcasing more of that outstanding bagpipes I’ve been raving about and then slowing down for ‘Rebel’ with the excellent lyrics standing out clear and proud

“Some call them rebels

-and rebels fight proud

but does a rebel only fight for his home?

I don’t call them rebels

cause rebels can die

and a hero stands the test of time”

All the instruments are played with absolute gusto and are superbly played from the electric guitars and drums down to yer more traditional folk ones. ‘Adam The Hunter’ has probably the most German folk feel to it with flute leading the almost thrashy guitar.

‘Dance’ is great bagpipe led punk track about guess what…

 “Guys come a little closer and listen to us,

When The Kilkenny Knights right sing their chorus”

Followed by the stand out track for me, ‘Final Course’, a mid-paced song about a man who looks back on a fulfilled life setting sail for his final journey. Great tune and great lyrics with the accordion to the fore this time. ‘Wind In My Sails’ is a very clever song using metaphors a sailor would use to describe being in love. Lyrics on the album certainly deserve a special mention and it never ceases to amaze me that non-english speaking bands can write such amazing lyrics in english and the Knights are no exception. Every song is a wee story in itself. The CD comes with a lyric booklet but with everything sung so clearly by the band you’ll hardly need it.  ‘A Drinkers Song’, extolling the virtues of drinking whiskey, jigs by as fast as anything and ‘O’Farrells Chest’ is a lovely ballad telling the story of how it’s possible to build a legend out of a little thing that might not be that important.

 “Everybody knows that if talking is silver… silence is gold!”

 The album ends with The Kilkenny Knights anthem and the song they bring down the curtain with in their shows ‘Not A Friendly Farewell’ which tells the story of a pub fight interspersed with ‘Amazing Grace’  and ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and a great punk rock tune- (bravely the Knights admit to losing the fight!!).

A really great release and hopefully The Kilkenny Knights will go on to bigger and better things and get the recognition this album certainly deserves.

Jeez the list of bands I need to see is getting out of hand!

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FREE DOWNLOAD: IRISH PUB SONGS COMPILATION

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

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

TRACKLIST

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

02. Drink Hunters (Catalonia) – Drinking Song  Facebook

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. The Detonators (Serbia)- My World  Facebook

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

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

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

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

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

16. 1916 (USA)- Wild Rover  WebSite  Facebook

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

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

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

20. LochNesz (Hungary)- Have Another Whisky  Facebook

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

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

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

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

YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE ALBUM BELOW

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

jftc2.com    www.facebook.com/JFTC2/

CLICK ON THE ALBUM SLEEVE BELOW

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

ALBUM REVIEW: THE AULD CORN BRIGADE- ‘Rebels Till The End’ (2014)

Formed in 2006 in the heart of the corn town of Nordhausen in old East Germany, two mates were playing the occasional pub singalong and decided to try and form a band in the spirit of The Pogues, The Dropkick Murphys and other favourites of theirs. They added a drummer and a female singer and so we had the first incarnation of The Auld Corn Brigade. Later on a bassist and accordion player joined but as with all bands people came and went but the ethos behind the band never changed. That being to connect their love of Ireland and its music and politics with their love of punk rock. I often say Neck are a cross between The Dubliners and The Clash and if that’s true then The Auld Corn Brigade are a cross between The Wolfe Tones and The Angelic Upstarts!
Their only previous album in 2010 ‘A Fighters Lullabies’ was packed to the rafters with traditional Irish rebel songs and while their EP ‘Our Flag’ from 2012 was a kind of break away from traditional songs in which they recorded their first two self-composed songs this, their new album, is mostly their own material and is none the worse for it. 10 of the 14 tracks are penned by the band and although theirs still a fair amount of rebel songs, ‘Graves Of The Fallen Soldiers’ one of the LP’s slower songs, they cover other serious topics like emigration and racism as well. Its not all sober though as theirs a rugby song, ‘Seamrog Song’ one of the LP’s highlights (check out their hometown rugby club with their shamrock logo here!) and also one about St. Pauli Football Club as well as yer obligatory drinking songs.

The album comes in a digipack and has absolutely fantastic artwork (I’ve already ordered me t-shirt!). Celtic Folk Punk & More describe them as celtic-streetpunk and I’d agree with that. The music veers from the thrashy to slowish ballads and all inbetween but with a real German punk rock feel to it.
With most celtic-punk bands theirs always a band more famous that you compare them to, even if they fall outside of comparison to the Murphys/Mollys but its really hard to compare The Auld Corn Brigade with anyone. Most bands tend to shy away from too overt support for Irish Republicanism but these lot totally embrace it with songs covering every era of the war. The vocals are shared between male and female and it works despite the obvious German accents. The album ends with a great version of the standard ‘South Australia’ and at near 50 minutes you certainly get your money worth. Overall their best release yet and yet another one to add to my massive list of ‘Bands I Want To See Live’!!

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