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

There has been a huge gap in the Celtic-Punk scene since the sad demise of the Celtic Folk Punk And More web-zine so in an attempt to make ourselves useful and fill it we’re starting a new regular monthly feature here. 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), live streams, crowd funders etc., to us at londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or through the Contact Us page and it will go in here!

 

The best Celtic-Punk album I have heard yet in 2020 has been the debut long player from Norway’s OGRAS and they have a new video out featuring Children Of Dust a standout track from their recently reviewed album No Love In The City.

The video to the debut single from new highly rated Edinburgh band THE GALLOWGATE MURDERS Wreck Head Wedding came out to a big fanfare. Filmed and directed by the main geez himself Frankie McLaughlin in Govan and Edinburgh. One of a few new bands in the scene we are expecting to here an awful lot more from once the lockdown ends!

Rose family Irish-American supergroup THE WILD IRISH ROSES album ‘Full Bloom‘ which was reviewed during St. Patrick’s Week is now out on vinyl.

After the hugely positive response to THE PLACKS debut single, My Dearest Friend the band are releasing a second single in May. Official release date will be announced soon but it will again be available for download and this time also on 7″ vinyl.

March was a mental time for releases and far too many came out for us to get round to but we did our best and hopefully we’ll get round to them all but these are the most recent releases we are aware of.

FEROCIOUS DOG – ‘You’

LEXINGTON FIELD – ‘Here’s To You: Ten Years Of Fiddle Rock’

NORTH ALONE -Punk Is Dad’

BLACK WATER COUNTY – ‘Comedies And Tragedies’

THE DEAD RABBITS – ‘The Dead Rabbits’

PADDY MURPHY – ‘Rams Rebels Goats and Girls

PEAT & DIESEL – ‘Light My Byre’

HUGH MORRISON – ‘The Other Side’

Been a good few years since the series of Shite’n’Onions compilation albums came out but luckily MacSLONS IRISH PUB RADIO have taken on the job and Volume 5 of Raise Your Pints is all set for release in early May. The Cloverhearts, The Placks, The Rumpled, Krakin ‘Kellys, The Gallowgate Murders, Ferocious Dog plus loads more. Find out more direct from MacSlons.

New York Irish rockers 1916 have a new album out later in the year and released the first single / video. After a successful St Patrick’s Week where they live streamed several entertaining shows including both full and acoustic band gigs and some solo shows from frontman Billy this is the Celtic-Punk scenes most anticipated album of 2020.

The crowd-funder for the second full-length 6’10 album, ‘Carried in Retrospect’ has ended and so the album is set for release sometime in the next few weeks.

THE DROPKICK MURPHYS after their Paddys Day show on Facebook are now even more bloody popular and celebrated with the release of a new single. The rather laboured ‘Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding’ is backed by the brilliant cover of Black 47’s ‘James Connolly’ and is available everywhere.

German band THE FEELGOOD McLOUDS may not be a band on every bodies lips but they are a bloody good band and have their new album ‘Life On A Ferris Wheel’ out very soon and having heard it can guarantee it will be one to watch for the end of year Best Albums Of 2020.

Swedes BLACK ANEMONE are very active in promoting the Celtic-Punk scene and have made a lot of friends because of that but they are also a cracking band and they have a new album due out any day. Here’s the title track and even with the current condition they still manage to bring out a decent video.

There’s a new Celtic-Punk band on the scene and thanks to SCORDISCI from Serbia for alerting us to the release of their cracking new song and video, a cover of The Pogues ‘I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’. Watch out for these guys!!!!

Having suffered the lock down longer than the rest of us Chinese band GRASS MUD HORSE have a had a busy couple of months with a fantastic new logo c/o Laurence Crow Illustrations and a massive range of merchandise for you to spend your hard earned on. They also put out the 6-track Quarantine Sessions of Irish covers and also featured on the Beijing Underground music compilation (both available for free) and also have an EP of original material out soon.

The Italian Celtic-Punk scene is on fire so far in 2020 and I’ve had a sneak peak at the new album from UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS ‘The Men Beyond The Glass’ and can confirm it is another brilliant release. They put out ‘Back on Your Feet’ as the first single from the album.

To wrap up our first edition of Odds’n’Sods we have two local bands to us the first being the excellent CALICO STREET RIOTS who were just getting into their stride with a whole pile of gigs lined up before lockdown came along. Their new single was written by bassist Nick about his son Harley and shows the Riots more reflective side.

London Irish alternative trad folk rockers and one of my favourite bands CROCK OF BONES released the video for the beautiful ‘Ferry’ and as all the videos here is well worth a look.

Finally (tomorrow May 1st) streaming site Bandcamp are doing away with revenue fees for the day so all money will go direct to the bands so check out your favourite bands BC sites and send rest assured that for one day at least these vultures won’t be pocketing a decent sized share of your money for doing absolutely nothing.

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.

FOUR NEW CHRISTMASSY CELTIC-PUNK SONGS FROM SCOTLAND, ENGLAND, SAN DIEGO AND CHINA!

Well Christmas is over and I hope you all had a festively good time. If you are still in need of some good cheer though then wait no more as we have four brand new stonking 2019 Christmas-ish Celtic-Punk songs for you to delight over.

Craic open the Jamesons!

PEAT & DIESEL- ‘Fairytale Of Stornaway’

The story began when three Stornoway Cove’s (Innes, Uilly and Boydie) met up in the house to have the craic on a Saturday nights playing music with just the dog and cat watching. After a few tunes getting thrown across the room Boydie stated muttering a few sentences. As he is a man of few words not attention was really given to him until he shouted ‘Quick, line me out!’ Not a second to spare a set of old broken headphones were cable tied to a guitar amp and out came a few cobwebs followed shortly after with a sound nobody had ever heard before. What came next was five gallons of lyrics, verse after verse, song after song – PEAT & DIESEL WAS BORN! The songs won’t make much sense to the average person, but the person behind the lyrics isn’t your average man so if you have a listen and you can relate to it you are a special breed! Peat & Diesel take you on a journey to the heart of the Western Isles, where #peatlemania was born. You might have time for a brandy in the ‘Airidh’ but don’t miss your ride in Calum Dan’s Transit Van, we ain’t stopping till we lose the water!

Contact Peat & Diesel  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube

CALICO STREET RIOTS- ‘Going Home’

In the summer of 2008 Calico Street Riots were born. Having formed immediately after the summer, Calico Street Riots wrote and recorded an EP, and were gigging by the end of the same year. After numerous gigs and plenty of praise in the folk-punk community, a second EP, From The City to the Shores surfaced in 2011. This EP showcased the band’s eclectic tastes coming together, flawlessly forming their own unique sound. The band would continue to play sporadic gigs and festivals throughout this time. Now, after an eight year hiatus from recording, Calico Street Riots have bounced back with some of their most unforgettable material to date. Most frequently compared musically to Flogging Molly meets The Dreadnoughts via The Pogues, Calico Street Riots draw their influences from a multitude of sources, fusing them into a satisfying blend of beer-fuelled, riotous and lively, folk-punk.

This track has been with Calico for a very long time, and we finally got round to recording it properly. They were fortunate to win studio time as part of a charity fundraiser in aid of Dementia UK so it felt like the right thing to do to help raise some more funds with this track. The single will be absolutely free, however we’d really appreciate it if you can spare anything at all, and make a donation to the charity via the link below. Dementia is a horrible illness, one which some of us are currently experiencing first hand, and hope to help the charity by raising funds into further research and prevention.  www.justgiving.com/fundraising/calicostreetriots

Calico Street Riots  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube

LEXINGTON FIELD- ‘Christmas At The Pub’

Formed back in 2009 in San Diego, southern California the band have previously released five albums, Old Dirt Road, Poor Troubled Life, No Man’s War, Greenwood and Dreamers as well as a bunch of quality EP’s as well. All have came garnered the same critical praise from both the celtic-punk and wider punk/rock music media. They have played and toured solidly and to call what they do unique is no way giving them enough credit! Lexington Field play a mixture of music blending genres from country and Americana as well as punk rock and not to be forgetting a massive dose of traditional Irish music with a expert fiddle player right slap bang in the middle. The band call what they do ‘fiddle rock’ and is as good a description as you could give them two words.

Contact Lexington Field  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Bandcamp

GRASS MUD HORSE- ‘Christmas Time In China’

Lao Wai punk rock based in Qinhuangdao China. Singing about our lives in one of the strangest, most amazing and sometimes horrible places on Earth. We sing in both English and Chinese, all our music is tongue in cheek and we hope it makes you smile! Grass Mud Horse are a punk band based in Northern China fronted by Chris Barry, who also writes all the songs. Originally from Liverpool he now lives in China and was also a member of the Canadian Rock band The Strange. The music is an eclectic mix of various punk styles, including Skate, hardcore, Ska, Celtic and features a diverse array of musical instruments (most also performed by Chris Barry). The lads are currently working on their debut album, Beijing Bikini.

Inspired by ugly Christmas jumpers (featuring llamas on them) the idea for a Christmas single formed. Now the reason for the bands name Grass Mud Horse is that it is the literal English translation of the Chinese term for the animal known as a llama or an Alpaca. In Chinese the llama is named 草泥马 (pronounced Cao Ni Ma.) As Chris says

“Now the reason we chose this for our name, is because if you say “Cao Ni Ma” with the wrong tones…you don’t say Alpaca at all, in fact you tell somebody to go fornicate with their mother.  In addition to this being quite funny, China is of course a land of extreme censorship and to avoid getting in trouble for swearing, young Chinese angrily exclaim “Llama!”, when in fact they mean something else entirely.”

And that is why some ugly Christmas jumpers with lamas on them inspired a Christmas single which could in turn act as a really nice lead-up to the bands debut album due soon. You can buy the single here.

Grass Mud Horse  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube

SINGLE REVIEW: CALICO STREET RIOTS- ‘Through The Storm’ (2019)

After a eight year hiatus Calico Street Riots are properly back and with a vengeance! Two new tracks with more promised on the way. Through The Storm carries on where they left with Celtic-Punk packed with passion and enthusiasm.

Calico Street Riots are a six-piece folk punk band hailing from the wonderfully named (and quite apt!) Gravesend in Kent. Formed in 2008 they shot to fame with the release of their debut EP From The City To The Shores from way back in January, 2011. One song on that EP perfectly captured the imagination of the worldwide Celtic-Punk scene and ‘A Drink And A Fight’ introduced the band to a worldwide audience. That EP is now available a free/pay what you like download and you can stream it on the Bandcamp player below.

Several gigs around town including supports to the Greenland Whalefishers at the, now sadly long gone, Gaff and a headline show at the spiritual home of the London Celtic Punks in Tottenham at Mannions. The band went quiet soon after though reforming every now and then to play locally around Kent and though it may have seemed like they had given up the towel was never quite thrown all the way into the ring. The success of Boomtown festival has also contributed to the rise again of Calico Street Riots with various members of the band heavily involved in the organising and the promotion of the festivals dedicated Irish stage, the Shamrock Bar. Calico Street Riots playing every year at the festival to a new crowd of adoring Celtic-Punk fans.

Calico Street Riots live at this years Boomtown, with guest bodhrán player Gilbert, from left to right: Nick Whiteoak – Bass * Tage Wood – Acoustic Guitar * Laura Felstead – Violin * Dave Irving – Electric guitar & Vocals * Dave Felstead – Drums * Nat South – Accordion *

So it was that this year and again set to storm Boomtown the band booked a handful of gigs as a warm up for the festival and even announced the release of their first new songs in over eight years. Though only two tracks Through The Storm has been worth the long wait and will win them over both new and old fans alike I’m sure. First track ‘A Course For Home’ speaks of a sailor returning home after months away at sea.

“Before I’ve had a chance to breathe I feel the storm surround me
But as the stars burst through the clouds I see the way to go
As each step towards the wheel steadies the ground beneath me
I feel the wind upon my skin ready to take me home”

A not too uncommon theme in Celtic-Punk the song has a certain influence from The Dreadnoughts and singer Dave handles the vocals with ease. Also like The Dreadnoughts they are not afraid to mix up genres and traditions and with some Eastern sounding accordion accompanying a Gaelic fiddle while the rest of the band give it plenty of oompf keeping it fast and furious. They have lost none of their passion for their music I am delighted to hear.

The other song here is ‘Broken Bones’ and this time it’s a much more ‘traditional’ Celtic-Punk track. The major influence here is The Pogues as distilled through Flogging Molly. The song may be about a prisoner or then again maybe not but the lyrics are clever and make your brain work. Another real foot-tapper with again Dave shining on vocals while Laura on fiddle and Nat on accordion also shine on the folky instruments. The whole gang come together to belt out the chorus

“We won’t always have to run
So catch your breath before it’s gone
And when I fix these broken bones
I’ll walk with you to never be alone”

and the song is over in a flash and left me wanting much much more from them. The production is excellent so hats off to the engineer Paul West at Awesome Source Studios for a job very well done. Hopefully Calico Street Riots have learnt their lesson now and won’t be going off again for another eight year break in a hurry! Passionate, intelligent and rowdy as hell Celtic-Punk is sometimes hard to come by down here in the south of England with just The Lagan and Neck thinly spread so to have the Riots return and back at their best to is the most exciting thing to have happened this year and I can’t wait to catch up with them.

(you can hear Through The Storm on the Bandcamp player below)

Download Through The Storm  FromTheBand  iTunes  Amazon  

Contact Calico Street Riots  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube  Bandcamp