Our regular monthly feature of all the Celtic-Punk news that’s fit to print. Band news, record releases, videos, tours (not individual gigs though yet sadly), live streams, crowd funders etc., send it into us at londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or through the Contact Us page. All will get a mention but I need YOU to help if it’s going to work.
Well it looks like St. Patrick’s Day is cancelled again this year. Still loads to keep us occupied during the ‘Celtic month’ of March. Here’s all the Celtic-Punk news that’s going on and a load of new music and videos to check out as well to forget your troubles to!
No question what the big news recently has been. The announcement of the release date for the new DROPKICK MURPHYS album. Turn Up That Dial is out on April 30th and is available for pre-order here. No doubt their will be multitudes of different packages and merchandise options so get saving now! They also put out the first song from the album, ‘Middle Finger’.
New Jersey Irish singer/ songwriter SEAN TOBIN is my new favourite artist and he played a Live Stream last week on You Tube well worth checking out. Blue-collar, working-class Irish American Folk music. Watch out for a review of his new EP in the next few days!
BROPHY’S LAW release their favourite live track ‘The Bachelor’, a traditional authentic Folk-Punk sound with an alternative edge. Neil Brophy says he wrote this aged 18 influenced by watching The Pogues performing in their glory days on the London scene. They sang about the drinking holes of London, a great recipe for ‘The Bachelor’ a song that paints a picture of a working class guy who surrenders his life to the devil in the jar and drinks himself insane.
FEROCIOUS DOG have signed to Graphite Records and are currently recording their 5th studio album called The Hope!
More news out of the Ferocious Dog camp is that FD’s Dan and Nick Burbridge (ex- McDermott’s Two Hours) have collaborated on a new album titled Icons. A year in the making now of 12 songs, maybe 13. Once the FD album is off for mixing it will be finished and out by the end of spring/early summer. Jeremy Leveller is doing the album and t-shirt artwork. To pre-order the CD, t-shirt or bundle visit the web-site at https://nickanddan.co.uk/
The Bandcamp vultures are waiving their massive revenue share on all sales next Friday, March 5, 2021, from midnight to midnight Pacific Time. If the greedy bastards really wanted to “support musicians during Covid-19” then maybe they wouldn’t take so much of their money the rest of the time. So only buy on that day for the next couple of weeks and you can support us here, we have a handful of releases where all money raised goes to support the Justice For The Craigavon 2 campaign (#JFTC2)
There’s a extensive interview from NY State Celtic-Punk band THE TEMPLARS OF DOOM in the new Winter edition of Punk N Praise. Its a new internet Christian Punk fanzine and is available for **FREE** simply by sending your email address to pamsbnb@aol.com or at tinasaol@aol.com. This issue also includes British Christian Punk band, Peter118.
Lockdown Lullabies is a 5-band compilation CD featuring four major kick-ass Celtic Rock and Punk bands THE SHAMROGUES, KILMAINE SAINTS, BARLEYJUICE, POEHEMIA and JAMISON. Twenty tracks from the Tri-state area’s best bands. Available from Ryf Records.
THE PLACKS from the Scottish Highlands and Islands are one of the most prolific bands around at the moment and not letting the lockdown hold them back too much! ‘The Sabbath’ is their fourth single in the last 12 months and comes out on the 5th March but is available now for pre-order.
To France now and hot on the heels of the Toxic Frogs recent EP comes the Folk’n’Punk band THE MULLINS with a great new video. Lots of new music on their You Tube channel worth checking out.
Fellow Frenchies THE MOORINGS have a new album out soon and you are invited to help get it released here.
The first news out of the MATILDA’S SCOUNDFRELS camp in a very long while sees them release a new 7″ single/ download. Available to buy now on pre-release from Bandcamp. Also a new video featuring ‘Jousting Crowd’ from the single.
The legendary show that started PEAT & DIESEL’s sold out 2020 tour at Glasgow’s most iconic venue, The Barrowlands Ballroom. All the favourites from their first two albums Uptown Fank and Light My Byre played live in front of 2000 diehard fans and the atmosphere they brought with them that special night. It is not in any way recorded with any fancy tools to sort any mistakes or nonsense, its 100% raw, just the way Peat & Diesel wanted it!
THE RUMJACKS – Hestia
PEAT & DIESEL – Live at the Barrowlands 2020
MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS – The Devil’s Dues
THE PEELERS – Down And Out In The City Of Saints
SEAN TOBIN – St. Patrick’s Day Forever (reviewed soon)
THE FEELGOOD McLOUDS – Saints & Sinners (reviewed soon)
NEVERMIND NESSIE – Another Sixpack Drinking Songs
Remember if you want your release featured then we have to have heard it first!
Thanks to Owen for putting me onto the Grand Rapids, Michigan band THE BILLIES. Dedicated to bringing Celtic music to a more main stream audience, blending modern Pop/Rock tunes and Celtic songs. Never heard this band before and I can’t find them on Facebook so we have to suppose that they are no more. Still they have left their mark and Who Wants Some is a fantastic album. Seven mostly original songs that includes one of the best (and surprising) covers I have ever heard- ‘Mighty And Superior’ by London anarcho-punk band Conflict!
Sad news from Australia and the demise of one of the countries best Celtic-Punk bands FOX ‘N’ FIRKIN. A bit of a cryptic announcement on their FB page but we wish the guys well and thanks for some bloody brilliant music. You helped make the Aussie scene the best in the world!
In light of a recent event and information we have only just been made aware of we are no longer able to move forward as a band. We wish to give no further comments on the situation. Robbie, Adrian & Leigh want to thank our fans for the years support.
Originally from Cork, Ireland, CATHAL COUGHLAN is the co-founder and singer of acclaimed 80s/90s groups Microdisney and Fatima Mansions. Widely considered to be one of Ireland’s most revered singer/songwriters, beloved by fans of caustic literate lyricism and erudite song craft. He has a new album, Song Of Co-Aklan, out at the end of March available for pre-order now.
A new song of high-octane Folk from Massachusetts (and a little bit Rhode Island) band THE KING’S BUSKETEERS. Traditional songs from the British Isles and North America shake the rafters, with some bardic acapella hollering and floor-stomping originals added in for flavour.
A new track from Dutch band THE ROYAL SPUDS over on Bandcamp. The Spuds were one of the bands whose tour we had to sadly cancel due to the original Covid lockdown last year. Available as a ‘name your price’ download is all you need to know. Well that and that it is brilliant!
Great new song/ video of ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ from Italian Celtic-Folk-Punk-Trad band PATRICK’S telling the story of Tim Finnegan the only man who escaped death thanks to whiskey and the incredible adventures of poor Tim and his drunken friends during his funeral wake!
Loads of live streams going on around St Patrick’s Day. The main ones of course being Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys of course. It will go live at 2am on the Thursday but loads of live music to take you up to then. Expect sets from 1916, Cutthroat Shamrock and more. Check the London Celtic Punks Facebook page on Paddy’s Day for what we will be watching and recommending!
A plug for some good friends of ours over on Facebook. The Dropkick Murphys- Fan Page and the Celtic Punk, Folk And Rock Fans are two of the best music forums on FB let alone Celtic-Punk. Ran By Fans For Fans. Just like and join in the fun!
and before we end something a little bit different. Celtic-Folk-Metal pioneers TUATHA DE DANNANN from Brazil release their 7th album In Nomine Éireann. Known for their merry Celtic dance rhythms, flute melodies and Celtic mythology-inspired lyricshere they pay tribute to Irish music and culture. Songs and Tunes taken from the traditional lore with special guests like John Doyle (Solas) and Keith Fay (Cruachan) making this album truly unique and special.
All we need to do now is for you to help fill this page with news and remember if you are new to the London Celtic Punks blog it is easy to subscribe / follow and never miss a post. Also if anyone is interested in helping out on the reviews front then let us know via the Contact Us page.
We continue in our vain attempt to catch up with the Celtic-Punk and related releases we missed throughout the year! Each year the number of releases we receive here at 30492- LONDON CELTIC PUNKS continues to amaze us. Now this is great news but 
The perfect place for Brophy’s Law seeing as despite being based in Copenhagen they actually contain members from Cornwall, England, Scotland and Denmark. They came to prominence last year as they embarked on a UK wide tour with Swedish Celtic-Punk heavyweights Sir Reg as The Neil Brophy Band. A year later and a new name to reflect the full band sound and a new album of thirteen self penned songs spanning the Folk-Punk genre. The album touches on themes as diverse as world travel, revelry, small-town England, record collecting, refugees, propaganda, vikings, lucky people, fishing and homecoming. Their single from the album, Nice To Know, released on Record Store Day received plenty of favourable press and airplay most notably from Steve Lamacq on the UK’s favourite alternative music station BBC6. The song reflects on Neil’s return to his home town of Northampton after a few years away. Life in the city may seem to change fast to us but the reality is at local community level some things never change. As Neil sings: “my country, my heritage will remain!”
Die Dödelsäcke are a German band from Mülheim and are not a band I have been previously aware of. This is a shame as this EP of seven songs is their swansong and the band officially split up in September after playing a gig in Oberhausen. Not only that but they have chosen to split up on what would have been their 30th anniversary together making them one of the oldest Punk bands in Germany. Even stranger is that they have a massive discography going right back to 2002’s Durst 609 and a reputation as being ‘The Kings Of German Bagpipe Punk’. An affinity with Scotland is evident on this album despite all the songs being sung in German. The band has eight members combining your traditional punk rock instruments alongside bagpipes, mandolin, banjo, flute and tin whistle. Vocalist Andel McGoy has the perfect voice for Celtic-Punk being just the right side of hoarse! The first single from the EP was ‘Letzte Fahrt’ which wraps up proceedings on the EP and is a great example of the German style of Celtic-Punk.
Taking their name from a 1980 release by rockers Motorhead Hellraisers And Beerdrinkers are a band that also hail from Germany and the small town of Schwäbisch Gemünd. This is their second album after 2016’s Folk’s Gaudi. They play a style of Celtic-Punk that is more Folk related but with a Punk Rock attitude. Most of the songs are sung in English bar a couple in their native German but with a name like Hellraisers And Beerdrinkers you can kinda guess that this band is in it for the kicks and throughout it’s dance able Irish influenced folk music but with loads of other influences thrown into the mix like the excellent reggae and metal enthused ‘Gaudium Fürs Folk’. They lay claim to be the original purveyors of ‘Gaudi Folk’. Now I’m not sure what this is and whether it relates to the geezer who designed all the wacky buildings in Barcelona is anyone’s guess. With mandolin, banjo and accordion as well as double bass the boys have quite an original sound with the songs ranging throughout the Folk-Punk genre starting with another album high point the opening track ‘Honkytonk’ which brings in elements of Country and Americana. ‘1000’ is another great track with the words sung in immaculate English and its positive message dedicated to rebels everywhere. Slow starting but building up throughout.
The fourth release from Pyrolysis (all are available on Bandcamp) and happy to say they are still pumping out fast-paced and energetic acoustic folk alongside the odd dark and intense ballad and all the time still not wearing any shoes! Completely acoustic (well except for the bass!) and with a bodhrán (Irish hand held instrument) instead of drums they manage to kick up quite a din and the music would definitely be classed as Celtic-Punk if there was an electric guitar in there. Their music ranges across the Folk genre with Punk, Gypsy and even Pirate music getting a nod but it’s their energy that gives them that Celtic-Punk feel. Founded in 2010 in the small Dutch town of Zaltbommel Celtic-Folkies Pyrolysis have been a regular fixture in their home countries festival scene over the years but have also made it over to these shores too. Daylight Is Fading is twelve songs, mostly originals but with a few traditional Folk covers, that comes in just shy of fifty minutes. The opening track is a short instrumental setting the scene for the storming ”The Pace’ which may sound like an electric guitar but you are wrong. The song is as Punk as you can get without electric and the Celtic tinged number rattles along at a grand old pace while main songwriter and lead vocalist Tim has that rather typical Dutch accent where he sounds completely English! In common with a lot of Folk (and Celtic-Punk too) his voice is just another instrument here and used to great effect. They can also turn their hand to a mean traditional song like the instrumental ‘Cooley’s Reel’ or a real foot stomper like the auld Scots classic ‘Donald McGillavry’ as well which leads nicely up to ‘Never Fade’ an album highlight and we are fortunate that they have just released a pretty damn good video to accompany it.
Here’s a first for London Celtic Punks. We thought we had covered just about every country in Europe and then this little beauty arrived on our doorstep all the way from the wee country of Luxembourg. Famous in my youth for always finishing bottom of their European Championship group I knew very little more about them. Joined these days by even smaller countries they have at least risen to second bottom these days! With a population of just over 600,000 with only just over half the population being Luxembourgers with the other 44.5% made up of mainly Portuguese, French and Germans. So it’s a small country but perfectly placed between Belgium, Germany and France. Perfect indeed for a Folk-Punk band looking for gigs! Schëppe Siwen were founded in December 2009 and released their debut self titled album three years later and the follow up 
Andy the Celtic Punk Author
celticpunkcast
classicalbumreviewer
essexmarv
gtmellon
kevingrooney
The Don
shaneoneill1888
Stephen Francis Bourke
theold69th
londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com 
Recent Comments