EP REVIEW: THE WORKING CLASS SYMPHONY – ‘Mulat Sarira Angrasa Wani’ (2021)

A island nation with a great seafaring tradition and history of invasion and occupation that became a republic two years after Ireland. Why Indonesia of course and one of the leading lights of the Celtic-Punk scene are The Working Class Symphony.

Over the years that this site has existed we have reviewed many Celtic-Punk releases from Indonesia. In fact I’d go so far as to say that the scene there rivals Germany in it’s number of bands away from the traditional Irish/ Celtic diaspora communities. Tenholes, Black Rawk Dog, The Cloves And The Tobacco, Rain In Summer, Dirty Glass have all graced these pages but it was the magnificent Wind From The Foreign Land compilation that really exposed the Celtic-Punk scene to many outside the region. Featuring fourteen bands it is still one of the best compilation albums I have ever heard. Of course todays band The Working Class Symphony were one of the highlights and have gone on to feature here several times subsequently, the last time being August last year.

Founded in 2010 in Surakarta, in central Indonesia, a couple of good friends (one a drunk and the other a musician!) were working together in an internet cafe listening to Irish pub song compilations. Inspired by the music it sparked an idea to get together with some other friends and play similar music. When this became a solid group shortly afterwards they decided to take the name The Working Class Symphony to reflect their roots and positive attitude.

Life in this country is already very difficult, if it still has to be added by listening to mainstream music as it is today … Really it will be FORGETTING..There is no other way than making music that can be uplifting … God Save The Working Class !!!!!

So having missed their 10th anniversary due to the Covid lockdown they see in their 11th with the new EP Mulat Sarira Hangrasa Wani. Recording did actually begin last year at the Biru Solo Studios but were delayed until recently. For those of you not too fluent in Indonesian the phrase translates roughly as “brave with sincerity to see one’s shortcomings”.

The Working Class Symphony in no particular order: @alby.moreno – Guitar/ Vocals * @andreaspyex – Lead Vocals * @mistergomz – Bass * @ami.ragil.sagita – Bagpipes * @erwin_ardz – Tin Whistle * @bimoaryp – Banjo/Mandolin @dannyfvckinshit : Drums @tuan.duaempat : Violin

Their are six songs here. Four new ones a previously released single and a cover. The EP begins with ‘Wani Perang’ and the drone of bagpipes soon gives way to the rest of the band and this is top quality Celtic-Punk. It owes a lot to the sound of Oi! (another genre popular in the underground music scene there) with its catchy rockin’ tune, gang vocals, great hooks and the pure ‘pint in the air’-ness about it! Several elements at play here that all work great together.

Next up is ‘Alerta Song’. This came out as a single last year and is a tribute to Cornel Simanjuntak an important figure in the development of Indonesian music. The song includes many of Cornel’s words and still inspire many today.

The Working Class Symphony dedicate this song to Cornel. With straightforward lyrics, as a picture of the reality that is happening here. Finally, keep on loving our country no matter what happens until the end of closing of your eyes… Freedom.

‘Don’t Forget Your Roots’ sees the Symphony take a much more Punk/ Hardcore route but still with their trademark sound intact. Not a band to stand still and without the confines of a more traditional Celtic-Punk band The Working Class Symphony show their not afraid to get a bit heavy at times. We can only guess at the lyrics but I’m sure from the title we can all agree. A lot of the island’s Celtic-Punk bands play more Trad Folk based Celtic-Punk while The Working Class Symphony have always edged towards that early Dropkicks sound but on ‘Lelaki Bekarja Dan Kemaki’ they show they can do the trad Folk sound too. They continue in this style with ‘Sahabat Yang Telah Pergi’ and every Celtic-Punk release needs a ballad and this is this ones and it is terrific. Sung with passion and gusto it really does soar and it needed worry you that you can’t understand the words. Wrapping up the EP is a cover of ‘The Holy Ground’ and what a fantastic cover it is too. On hearing it I am actually a bit surprised it hasn’t been covered by more Celtic-Punk bands as it has the perfect chorus for shouting and banging tables! Made famous by The Dubliners and Luke Kelly and his dulcet tones here the guys give it the pub feel with plenty of oomph among the “fine girl you are” chorus. The best song here for me but I love the whole EP so I’ll probably change that to something else by the time this comes out. Lyrically The Working Class Symphony usual staples are that of hard work, football and the real events that surround them. To close with The Holy Ground is a real good touch and I’m sure Luke is looking down with a twinkle in his eye at a bunch of young Indonesians paying this tribute to him and Irish music.

The EP artwork is by good friend of the band Jahlo Gomez from Belukar and those with an interest in Indonesian Celtic-Punk will recognise his artwork from other bands releases and logos. It is great to hear from the band that for this release many people were asking for a physical release and has been not only across Indonesia but the entire world. All the great things about Celtic-Punk are present here. Think of the Claddagh ring and its motto of friendship, loyalty and love. That is The Working Class Symphonys message and I’ll leave off with their words

“We hope that this can be the embryo of the rebirth of the punk spirit with its various variations.
Keep on trying, towards infinity and beyond.”

For the moment contact TWCS to buy the CD via Instagram/Facebook

Download coming soon!

Contact The Working Class Symphony Facebook  ReverbNation  Instagram  YouTube

EP REVIEW: RAIN IN SUMMER- ‘Discordant Anthem From The Gutter’ (2017)

Formed from a grain of sand on baladewa streets in early 2008!

Indonesian celtic-punk of the punky variety.

Without going too far into the history of celtic-punk it can be said that the genre was back in the day originally a product of the Irish diaspora living in England and mainly in London. With the worldwide popularity of The Pogues it very soon spread across the Atlantic to north America to the Irish communities there and from there we had a couple of bands who went on to become absolutely massive and helped spread the modern day celtic-punk scene into every corner of the globe. In just the last few weeks on this site for instance we have published reviews of records from Hungary, France, USA, Netherlands, Belarus, Germany and Galicia  and now we have a band from one the biggest and best celtic-punk scenes in the world- Indonesia.  Yes it may seem strange and even unbelievable but the Indonesians have embraced celtic-punk and seem to have taken to it completely. Rather than go into the various bands of the scene you’d be better off checking out ‘Wind From The Foreign Land- Indonesian Celtic Punk Compilation’ from 2014. An album of fourteen tracks from fourteen different celtic-punk bands from across Indonesia. From folky almost traditional folk to celtic-Oi! and hardcore it’s all there and is one of the best album’s I have ever heard (here). Out in the Indian ocean and a thousand or two miles from Australia Indonesia gained independence from Holland after the second world war. The country itself has a population in excess of 230 million and comprises nearly 13,500 different islands and for a country that is 87.2% Muslim the scene has adopted one or two of celtic-punks better known subject matters, if you know what I mean…

Rain in Summer have been going almost a decade having formed in 2008 and this is their second release. It came out in a short run of 100 CD’s for Record Store Day in May just gone. That first release was a 6 track EP titled Untuk Kutaku which you can hear below on the ReverbNation player.

Discordant Anthem From The Gutter begins with ‘Suara’ and it sounds like about two dozen musicians locked in a pub! At least three singers giving it welly with electric guitar keeping time but with the sound (suara) of tin whistle, mandolin and fiddle throughout giving it that unmistakable celtic sound. A catchy as hell wee punky number to begin with. ‘Are You Okay?’ is up next and starts off in a kind of trad celtic-punk style before going punky and then returning, thanks to tin whistle, back into celtic-punk. The vocals are brilliant throughout and while it may not be polished it sounds all the better for it. Growing up listening to DIY punk releases means I can overlook some things and appreciate the rawness of others and the passion here shines through. Lyrics this time are sung in English while the rest of the EP is in Indonesian. ‘Semua Terekam Dalam Media’ follows and is a fast paced punk number with throaty vocals and mandolin. ‘Kita Semua Saudara’ is next and slows it down not that most will notice though. The electric guitar is still there as well as the gang vocals and heavy drums. It’s one of those moments when played live that you reach for the sky and grab your mates and your loved ones. A swirling and catchy as hell three minutes of perfection. ‘Eksploitasi’ (‘Exploitation’) is another fast paced punk song which slows down a couple of times only to get faster again. The EP is all over in less than twenty minutes. It grabs your attention and then just as quickly is gone. We are now onto the last song ‘ Warrior’ and straight from the off its reminiscent of Belfast punkers Stiff Little Fingers. For me the standout track of the EP with its perfectly paced fast punk rock and the celtic instruments just nicely accompanying. Again the tin whistle, fiddle and mandolin are all over this song and place the band firmly within celtic-punk. The production on the last song seems a bit clearer too to these big ears as well.

The EP was released on WLVR Records who not only released the Indonesian Celtic-punk compilation mentioned above but also fantastic records by The Cloves and The Tobacco, which we reviewed here, and Dirty Glass, here. Discordant Anthem From The Gutter places them firmly on the punkier side of celtic-punk and with a sound that straight away informs you they are a part of that blossoming Indonesian celtic-punk scene. As already stated it’s not polished but too many releases are tinkered with and all that manages to do is to remove that live feel that is crucial to any celtic-punk release. Here listening to this you could almost be in the pub sweating away with the lads on stage. Six songs of catchyness that will have you headbanging away and anyone planning on a holiday to Indonesia be sure to contact some of these bands as I get the feeling a concert out there would be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Buy

Contact wlrv.record@gmail.com

Contact Rain In Summer

Facebook  Twitter  ReverbNation  YouTube

WLRV Records  Facebook  Twitter  Soundcloud

WLRV Records is a Yogyakarta based independent record label, focusing on celtic punk and punk. Started by YK Mass in 2012 we are here to support Indonesian Celtic Punk / Irish Folk Punk / Paddy Punk movement.

• There is a fantastic Facebook group called ‘Indonesian Celtic Punk’ (here) we recommend you join. The Cloves And The Tobacco are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Indonesian celtic punk so invest a bit of time and find out a bit more about this great scene.

2016 REVIEWS ROUND-UP PART TWO. KORRIGAN’S CELTIC ROCK, MICK FLANNERY, ACROSS THE BORDER, TENHOLES, THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY, KING OF THE TRAVELLERS

Every year we have been doing this has got better and better for celtic-punk releases. As happy as we are that this is so it also means that we just cannot keep up with everything out there. We haven’t had the chance to review everything we received or heard so here is Part 2 of our 2016 Round Up where we catch up with some of the releases that we missed first time round. Here at 30492- LONDON CELTIC PUNKS blog we much prefer to do really detailed reviews but it has been impossible to keep up so here’s a few quick ones just to catch up and get 2016 out of the way. Each and every one are worthy of your time so go ahead and check them out. Last week we featured releases from the America’s (here) so this time we will try to fit in the entire rest of the world taking in Ireland, Indonesia, Germany, France and good auld Australia!

KORRIGAN’S CELTIC ROCK- ‘Tournée Générale!’ EP  (Bandcamp)

There is quite a strong and vibrant celtic-punk scene happening in France at the moment and by France I mean France and not Brittany which as you should know is a completely different country! One of these bands are Korrigan’s Celtic Rock who were formed in 2007 in Franche-Comté in eastern France and released their debut EP, Tournée Générale!, earlier this year. They take their name from the mythical creatures who were opposed to Christianity when the Apostles came to convert Brittany. The EP kicks off with a rocking start with tin whistle that AC/DC would be proud of. Next up is ‘Hypocrisie’ with more of a ska beat and the bombarde is introduced. I love the sound of this instrument and will be familiar to fans of the Breton legends Les Ramoneurs De Menhirs. They add bagpipes too into ‘Putain De…’  and this is my favourite track of the EP. The title track ends the EP and is straight up celtic-punk rock. A quarter of a hour well spent. These guys cover all the angles and we are destined to hear much more from them in 2017.

Facebook  WebSite  YouTube  Bandcamp

MICK FLANNERY- ‘I Own You’ LP (iTunes  TowerRecords)

Mick Flannery comes from county Cork in the south of Ireland and funnily enough the artist he reminds me of the most is also from Cork, Cathal Coughlan of the excellent Microdisney/Fatima Mansions. This is Mick’s fifth album and the first I’ve heard properly. There may not be much here for the traditional celtic-punk fan except that if you love good music then you will also love this. From what I have read this album is much darker than his previous releases and the excellent Tom Wait-esque title track is based on the idea of class inequality and told as a poor man breaking into a rich man’s house. Dark and foreboding and downright bloody brilliant!

“Thought you heard something on the way home, was that a rustle, was that my belly rumblin?”

Elements of rap and dance music alongside the dark folk and even darker pop here and the songwriting is compelling and worthy of hearing just on it’s own. On ‘Cameo’ Mick’s famous introspection comes out.

“But if I’m so happy/ why do I lie awake at night?/ Why am I angry all the time?”

Though often found with an electric guitar its still very much based on folk melodies and the comparison to Bob Dylan and his change to electric guitar himself is not so odd.

Facebook  WebSite  YouTube  Twitter  Soundcloud  LastFM

ACROSS THE BORDER- ‘Calling 999’ EP  (Bandcamp)

Formed in Remchingen in the South of Germany not far from the French border Calling 999 is their first release since they reformed having split up back in 2012 having been together since 1991! It sure is good to have them back as on the basis of this EP they right are back on form. With a stack of LP’s and EP’s behind them this stands up there with the best of them. A mainly accordion led band, very popular in their home country, this EP begins with the title track and its catchy punk folk throughout with distinctive vocals from Jochen with the lyrics sung in English. ‘Rob, The Man’ is a hilarious romp showing a good sense of humour with a good auld Irish twist with plenty of fiddle this time. The EP ends with the sad but lovely ‘Sometimes’ and your nine minutes is up with a real Tom Waits-esque bar-room ballad accompanied with piano and accordion. This is the song it would be worth getting your lighter out for! A great release but far too short. We want more!

Facebook  Bandcamp

TENHOLES- ‘Loyalty’  (Juno)

Formed in 2004 in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta Tenholes are a working class Oi! band with celtic music influences. Loyalty is their second album and their best yet. ten songs and thirty-five minutes of punk rock’n’roll from the streets that reminds me of those first couple of Flatfoot 56 albums for energy. An absolute stunner of an album. Great production and comes bursting out the speakers at you from Track One. We have featured Indonesian bands several times before when we reviewed Dirty Glass (here), the great Indonesian celtic-punk compilation Wind From The Foreign Land (here) and the review of The Cloves And The Tobacco last album (here) so go there to find out more about this fantastic scene. So much to recommend here but for certain if you favour the Dropkicks/Flatfoot then this album is for you. I give you a guarantee you WILL love it! You can hear plenty of music at their Facebook page under the Band Profile tab including some songs from Loyalty. Anthems for the working class with stories of urban life, stories about them and us!

Facebook  ReverbNation  Twitter  YouTube

KING OF THE TRAVELLERS- ‘Pros & Cons’  (Soundcloud)

The third release from Fremantle seven-piece King of the Travellers. Blending elements of folk, punk, ska and gypsy music to create a hoe-down of epic proportions! With instruments as diverse as the French horn and clarinet they are not your run-of-the-mill folk punk band but there experimentation does remind me of fellow Aussies the Dead Maggies even if their music aint too similar. With a reputation as a raucous live music act how well did they manage to transfer their sound to disc? Well the answer is pretty damn well. First track ‘Another Day’ has brass and a catchy ska-ish beat to it and kicks off these six songs in style. They speed it up for ‘Travel Away’ and then slow it down for ‘First Thought’ and again its all catchy as hell with the many instruments blending very well together thanks to the spotless production. Gypsy/Eastern Europe flavours the next song ‘Curly’ and on ‘Trenches’ the mando is back in charge for this anti-war song which sounds to me like something Stiff Records may have come out back in the day.

The EP comes to an end with ‘Curly Reprise’ which is of course the earlier track ‘Curly’ slowed down but with extra flourish. The clarinet works surprisingly well and could maybe have done with popping up a bit more often. Overall a solid EP. Not a weak song here just catchy punky folk music with a stack of influences from all over the place and spat back out by a bunch of Aussie’s. Now that is recommendation enough surely!

Facebook  Soundcloud  YouTube

THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY- ‘Whitewashed Graves’ (Bandcamp)

And our final review of 2016 is also one of the best we reviewed and no surprises that it’s another Australian release! Just released earlier this month this is the first new record from The Ramshackle Army since the beginning of 2014 but they have certainly been busy if not recording then touring right across the globe! The band began in the pubs and bars of their home town Melbourne but The Ramshackle Army have gone on to become one of the leading lights in the Australian celtic-punk scene and in a scene that is chock-a-block with great bands then that ought to be recommendation enough. Hampered by line up changes they have now got a settled team so lets hope it leads to a new album soon. Here we get six songs and just under twenty minutes of high tempo, catchy as feck traditional celtic-punk. The standout track gotta be the single ‘Foreign Soil’ but it could easily have been any of them such is the quality of this fine EP.

“Imprisoned by our plight and desperate acts faith,
They enter battles in our name and battle cry our pain,
Just keep me sane and welcome my escape”

All the songs are self penned and its an absolute stunning return to the scene from one of the best bands in it. Heavily influenced by the story-telling style of the Aussie folk/celtic-punk tradition that bursts with  the live energy of an Ramshackle Army live gig. Highly recommended!

Facebook  WebSite  Bandcamp  YouTube  Twitter

So ends Part 2 of our Round-Up’s and we are sorry we weren’t able to give each album the full on London Celtic Punks treatment. Apologies to all the bands as each and every release deserved that full treatment. We have still probably missed some fantastic music so all the more reason to send in your stuff to us to review. We are always looking for people to join the reviews team so don’t be shy if you fancy giving it a go. 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.

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS OUR BEST OF 2015!

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

TOP 20 CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS

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

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

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

4. FEROCIOUS DOG- ‘From Without’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. THE CUNDEEZ- Sehturday Night Weaver  (here)

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

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

15. JOLLY JACKERS- ‘Sobriety’  (here)

16. MALASANERS- Spanish Eyes’  (here)

17. SKONTRA- ‘Foguera’  (here)

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

19. KITCHEN IMPLOSION- ‘Selfish’

20. THE TOSSPINTS- The Privateer  (here)

TOP TEN CELTIC PUNK EP’S

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

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

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

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

4. ZUNAME- ‘Pipes Not Dead’  (here)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TOP TEN FOLK/TRADITIONAL RELEASES

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

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

2. BARRULE- Mannannans Cloak’  (here)

3. LE VENT DU NORD- ‘Têtu’  (here)

4. BRYAN McPHERSON- ‘Wedgewood’  (here)

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

6. ANTO MORRA- ‘Boudicca’s Country’

7. JACK OF ALL- ‘Bindle Punk’  (here)

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

9. FFR CELTIC FIESTA- ‘Fresh Blood’

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

11. SKWARDYA- ‘Domhwelyans/ Revolution’

TOP CELTIC PUNK WEB-SITE

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

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

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- 2015

all the major players in celtic-punk do Best Of lists so click below to check out what they thought

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

CELTIC-ROCK

PADDYROCK

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

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

EP REVIEW: DIRTY GLASS- ‘Drunken Summer Night’ (2015)

friends, gigs, Irish music and cheap wine!

For those of you who are new to listening to celtic-punk it may come as a suprise that one of the best scene’s in the world for celtic-punk is in Indonesia. A whole bunch of bands (far far too numerous to go into in this review so after you read this go straight to our review last year of the Indonesian celtic-punk album ‘Wind From The Foreign Land’ here) that live and breath celtic-punk and play among the worlds most authentic sounding celtic music. Superb musicians and tight as feck songs and great production is what they all have in common and unfair as it is to pick out a few stand out bands from such an amazing scene then I would have to put Dirty Glass into that select group.

From Left To Right: SteXdog : Accoustic Guitar  Nathan Pijoh : Electric Guitar  Yasuspade : Tin Whistle  Ryan Frederiksen : Mandolin, Backing Vocals  Emil Nk : Bass  Rudech : Drums  Jr Miko : Vocals  Front: Ganang : Violin, Accordion

The band hail from Yogyakarta city the capital of the Java region which is known as a centre of education and culture within Indonesia. The EP lasts a few seconds under twenty minutes this is full on energetic Irish influenced celtic-punk with all your usual instruments but put together and gelling perfectly. Acoustic and electric guitars can be heard side by side and if you’re able to pigeonhole these bhoys then good luck to you. There is a certain recognisable Indonesian celtic-punk sound but I’m buggered if I can put my finger on exactly what it is. You’ll just have to listen to them and see if you can figure out what it is. The EP kicks off with ‘Good Mornin Eli’ and goes straight into a fiddle led punky number. Joined by tin-whistle and accordion the song bursts with energy and that energy stays up right until the end of the EP.

Next track ‘Ballad Of Lonely And Whiskey’ starts off giving the impression of being a slow number before again kicking right off. A catchy as hell song with a great chorus. A standout track on a standout CD. Joined by Little Ayash on ‘1000 Miles’ her beautiful voice accompanies the band perfectly on this lovely track. Tin whistle dominates inbetween the acoustic guitar with Dirty Glass taking a softer approach but still sounding as celtic-punk as feck!

The EP’s title track ‘Drunken Summer Night’ does have a Dropkicks influence but the fiddle then takes it into Mollys territory before Dirty Glass stamp their authority on it and I’m left wondering again who they sound a bit like. Final song ‘Anthem’ ends the EP and you’ll be sad to see it go. The EP has left me wanting an album soon as possible so come on bhoys get writing some songs. ‘Anthem’ has a Poguesy feel to it and a shouty gang chorus.

Possibly the most impressive thing for me is that this EP is all original numbers and with all five songs being as good as they are that is some achievement. Not just that but each song has a different sound and different approach. I cant’t recommend this enough. Investigate the Indonesian celtic-punk scene they will appreciate it and you will hear some fantastic music as well.

Contact The Band

Facebook  ReverbNation  Twitter  Soundcloud

Buy The EP

FromTheBandOnFacebook

and also don’t just take our word for how good the Indonesian celtic-punk compilation is read our musical comrades CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE’s review here

there is a really good Facebook group CELTIC PUNK INDONESIA so go now and join up and sit back and enjoy some great music and the company of great people.

ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS- ‘Wind From The Foreign Land- Indonesian Celtic Punk Compilation’ (2014)

superb

/sʊˈpɜːb; sjʊ-/

adjective

1. surpassingly good; excellent a superb actor

2. majestic or imposing a superb mansion

3. magnificently rich; luxurious the jubilee was celebrated with a superb banquet

Derived Forms

superbly, adverb

superbness, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French superbe, from Latin superbus distinguished, from super above

Well what to say about this album…? Well its an album of fourteen tracks from fourteen different celtic-punk bands from across INDONESIA. Aye, that’s right. Indonesia out there in the Indian ocean and a thousand or two miles from Australia. These facts alone should have every self respecting celtic-punk fan from across the globe racing to their computer screens to order copies. First a few facts about Indonesia… they gained independence from Holland pretty much straight after the second world war. Their language is Indonesian (that’s not as obvious as it sounds when a country has been invaded and colonized!). The country itself has a population of over 230 million and comprises nearly 13,500 different islands and for a country that is 87.2% muslim this diverse bunch of bands have certainly adopted some of celtic-punks better known subject matters, if you know what I mean…

Panglima Kumbang

Party Time

Black Rawk Down

So now you know how worthy it all is the next question should be “is it any good?”. Well the answer to that is “yes its bloody brilliant”! As with all compilations there’s going to be some tracks you like better than others but this album really does showcase the Indonesian celtic-punk scene very well and everything from the albums production to the cover to the mix of songs and the order they’ve been put in has obviously been a labour of love for all involved and in fact the only fault i can pick with the whole thing is that one of favourite bands have included a ballad rather than a more punky song! You’ll be amazed at how well these guys’n’gals play their instruments and you can have hours of fun playing this for your mates getting them to guess what part of Ireland the bands are from!

Musically the fourteen tracks veer from everything from the Mollys to the Murphys to the Pogues and all points inbetween. Many sing in their own language which i love to hear, despite the obvious floor in not knowing what they’re singing about…Kicking off with a  new band to me, Party Time, and great accordion and tin whistle led punk it is too. Traces too of what I can only suppose are Indonesian instruments and tunes. Unmistakable celtic-punk though with shouty lyrics and choruses. Panglima Kumbang are more north american sounding to these big ears, nothing wrong with that, with a more celtic-pop punk sound.

Skarockoi start with a brilliantly played mandolin and fiddle and a more traditional celtic punk vocal style. Heard these before and always been impressed by them. Billy The Kid I have a few tracks by and this fantastic ballad shows exactly how good musicians they are. Black Rawk Dog is fast paced fiddle and mando punk played at breakneck speed with gang vocals. Ciusquad and Dirty Glass, another band I have heard before, and we’re half way through the album and still waiting on a duff track. No sign yet! Dirty Glass provide one of the standout tracks and its the production on this track i’m most impressed by. Gang vocals, celtic and brass instruments melting together with yer punk perfectly in a proper celtic-punk classic tune. Charlie’s Rum And The Chaplain are a band I only recently picked up on and are definitely one of the scenes leading bands. Starting off slow before heading to a more traditional fast paced tune and another of the standout tracks. Rain In Summer sound like The Pogues in their heyday with an acoustic punk song that soon turns into a proper celtic punk belter. Jeralax is another beautifully played ballad about whiskey. This track could be any of the scenes greatest bands to be honest. The Barley Hops I have also come across as well and they don’t disappoint either. Another standout track and followed by The Working Class Symphony who are quite simply a superb band. See definition at beginning of the review. Very accomplished musicians with great songs and vocals. Lots of instruments and band members but in the perfect production nothing is out of place or too loud or too quiet. Super Mario start with a bit of a DKM piss take and a great song follows.

Finally the last track and the band we’ve been waiting for. The Cloves And The Tobacco (a kind of cigarette i’m told!) are arguably the best known of the Indonesian celtic-punk bands and  they bring the curtain down on this great album with ‘The Indian Ocean’ the standout standout track. We can forget sometimes that we’re not the only sea faring race and in a country of over 13,500 islands these guys know their sea shanties. This album is, to put it as simple as i can, faultless. Great bands and great songs. Each one is worthy of following up on and each deserves to be as famous as any of the scene’s leading lights.

Contact The Bands

simply click on the band name in Italics and you’ll be directed straight to them. They are mostly Facebook pages but not all.

Buy The Album

WLRV Records

Decent Sites To Visit

heres a couple of decent Indonesian places to check out

Punk Indonesia MP3  free music

Celtic Punk Indonesia  facebook group for all things Indonesian celtic-punk!

CelticFolkPunkAndMore Spanish blog with lots in their vaults about Indonesia.