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

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2016!

Yes I know it only seems like five minutes since the last one but it’s that time of year again when we give you, for what it’s worth, our opinion on who made the best music in the celtic-punk scene over 2016. It’s been another outstanding year for the music that we all love and some truly fantastic records came out in the last twelve months. So read on to find out who came #1! Remember though this is only our opinion and these twenty-five album’s are only the tip of the iceberg of what was released last year. Feel free to comment, slag off or dissect our lists. We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

TOP 25 CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS

1. THE RUMJACKS (Australia)-‘Sleepin’Rough’  Review

2. THE NARROWBACKS (New York)- ‘Arrogance & Ignorance’  Review

3. THE CLOVES AND THE TOBACCO (Indonesia)- ‘Across The Horizon’  Review

4. MICKEY RICKSHAW (Boston)- ‘Behind The Eight Ball’  Review

5. THE WAKES (Glasgow)- ‘Venceremos!’  Review 

Absolutely no surprise here at all. For the first time we had an unanimous vote from all the admin’s that sees The Rumjacks sail away with the #1 spot for the second year running. It’s been an outstanding year for the Bhoys and with an American tour on the horizon they about to take another giant step in their campaign of world domination! Other notables were NYC’s Narrowbacks whose second album really showed the depth of their songwriting and could just have easily won the folk/trad best of too! The Cloves And The Tobacco deserve plaudits galore in another fantastic year for Indonesian celtic punk bands while Mickey Rickshaw could probably be said to have won the ‘unified title’ across all the various celtic-punk sites. In all we have twenty five bands from fourteen countries including USA x 6, Australia x 3, Indonesia x2, Germany x2, Netherlands x2, Catalonia x 2, Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Czech Republic, Russia and Belarus with The Wakes being the only Celtic country based band which goes to show how international the scene has become.

6. THE CLAN (Italy)- ‘All In The Name Of Folk’  Review

7. HOIST THE COLORS (USA)- ‘Mourners’  Review

8. SIR REG (Sweden)- ‘Modern Day Disgrace’  Review

9. FOX n FIRKIN (Australia)- ‘No Vacancy’  Review

10. FIDDLER’S GREEN (Germany)- ‘Devil’s Dozen’  Review

11. LUGH (Brazil)- ‘Histórias Do Mar’  Review

12. JAY WARS AND THE HOWARD YOUTH (Australia)- ‘Love In The Time Of Fear’  Review

13. BUNCH OF BASTARDS (Netherlands)- ‘My Drinkin’ Ain’t Done’  Review

14. SIGELPA (Catalonia)- ‘Rabant Original’  Review

15. TENHOLES (Indonesia)- ‘Loyalty’  Review

16. THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS (Germany)- ‘Seven Hearts One Soul’  Review

17. 13KRAUSS (Spain)- TheEnd Is Nigh’  Review

18. DRINK HUNTERS (Catalonia)- ‘Shameless’  Review

19. PIRATES OF THE PUBS (Czech Republic)- ‘Drunken Forever’  Review

20. THE MUCKERS (USA)- ‘The Muckers’  Review

Whiskey Outlaws (2016)

21. LQR (Netherlands)- ’10 Pinter’  Review

22. THE Пауки/THE PAUKI (Russia)- ‘La Isla Del Muerto’  Review

23. Всё CRAZY (Belarus)- ‘По Морям’  Review

24. RUSTY NAIL (USA)- ‘Bitter Ale, Bitter Heart’  Review

25. THE LANGER’S BALL (USA)- ‘Whiskey Outlaws’  Review

A special mention here to the ever prolific and always a pleasurable experience The Mahones who released a greatest hits entitled The Very Best: 25 Years Of Irish Punk which couldn’t be included in the Top 25 but if it did would have given The Rumjacks a run for their money!

TOP TEN CELTIC PUNK EP’S

1. MICK O’TOOLE (England)- ‘A Working Class Battalion’  Review

2. THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY (Australia)- ‘Whitewashed Graves’  Review

3. DRUNKEN FAIRY TALES (Russia) – ‘Пьяные Сказки’  Review

With The Rumjacks returning a year later to sweep the Album Of The Year it’s no surprise then that Wiltshire lads Mick O’Toole follow up last year’s win in the EP Of The Year awards to do the same thing. A great year for them that has seen them play less and less within the celtic-punk scene and really start to make waves outside of it. A foreign tour and more support slots to various punk rock legends than most bands play in a lifetime and all in the space of twelve months. The Ramshackle Army EP got lost in the post leaving us to do a rush-job review and given time I’m sure they may have given the O’Toole’s a run for their money. Drunken Fairy Tales impressed everyone and Matilda’s vinyl only release deserve a mention as well Mick O’Toole grabbing the 5th spot too.

4. MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS (England)- ‘Crowleys Curse’  Review

5. MICK O’TOOLE (England)- ‘False Flag Collapse’  Review

6. BAY STREET BASTARDS (Canada)- ‘Small Batch’  Review

7. LEXINGTON FIELD (USA)- ‘Redwood’  Review

8. HANDSOME YOUNG STRANGERS (Australia)- ‘Battle Of Broken Hill’  Review

9. MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS (England)- ‘The Organworks Recordings Session’  Review

10.  BALSALL HEATHENS (England)- ‘Life’s Too Short’  Review

TOP TEN FOLK/TRADITIONAL RELEASES

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-1CG

1. ANTO MORRA (London)-’16’  Review

2. THE LOGUES (Ireland)- ‘Comin’ Of Age’  Review

3. MICKEY RICKSHAW (Boston)- ‘Wild Atlantic’  Review

Possibly the hardest Best Of List of them all to do is this one as so many releases cross over the genres between rock and punk and folk and trad but our good friend Anto Morra, the ‘London Irish folk-punker’, just edging it from The Logues with his superb tribute to the 1916 Easter Rising. Mickey Rickshaw swept to third with their specially recorded acoustic EP that came out for their European tour and ShamRocks put out an album of high quality and original Irish folk with imagination galore. A special mention for Blackwater Banshee whose EP came out later in the year and shows enormous promise and one or two original songs would have seen a much higher position I am sure.

4. ShamRocks (Ukraine)- ‘Captain’s Log’  Review

5. LARKIN (USA)- ‘A Toast To St. Jude’  Review

6. FOLK THE SYSTEM (England)- Unrest In The Wolds’  Review

7. SHAMBOLICS (Australia)- ‘Riot On Race Day’  Review

8. CLEAR THE BATTLE FIELD (USA)- ‘Set Me Free’  Review

9. SOLAS (USA)- ‘All These Years’  Review

10. BLACKWATER BANSHEE (Bristol)- ‘Blackwater Banshee’  Review

TOP CELTIC PUNK WEB-SITE

Now this has over the years become the Celtic Folk Punk And More Top Celtic Punk Web-Site award so often has that esteemed site walked away with the top spot but there’s a new kid on the block and this year we are happy to award top spot to our good mates over at Mersey Celt Punks. They only kicked off the site a few months ago but super regular postings on all manner of celtic-punkness has seen them triumphant. You can join their fun over at Twitter and Facebook and we heartily recommend you do. A special mention here also for Viva La XV another new kid on the block which looks amazing but sadly as none of us can read Spanish we can’t tell if it’s as good as it looks! We’re sure it is and you can check it out for yourselves at the Blog or over on Facebook.

Right now the details. The Best Of lists were cajoled and bullied out of the four admins on the London Celtic Punks Facebook page. The various scraps of crumpled paper were received and then tallied up over several pints of Guinness in Mannions in north London while watching the football on the telly.

We are now in our fourth year of doing these Best Of lists so if you would like to have a look at the previous years best in celtic-punk then click the link below the relevant year.

https://londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/best-of-2013-polls-results-in/

https://londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/london-celtic-punks-presents-our-best-of-2014-2/

https://londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/london-celtic-punks-presents-our-best-of-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

PADDYROCK

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

CELTIC-ROCK.DE

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

Only one more thing to mention about 2016 and that is to remember here Erik Petersen the lead singer of the influential folk-punk band Mischief Brew who sadly passed away earlier this year. I still find it hard to believe that he has gone but he will always be commemorated.

“So tattoo our arms and raise our glasses, call out your name at New Year’s Eve, maybe next time we kneel at a casket, we can say at least the story’s complete”

Read our obituary for Erik here and raise a glass the next time you get the chance to.

 Rest In Peace comrade.

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2017

ALBUM REVIEW: DRINK HUNTERS- ‘Shameless’ (2016)

Catalan Bhoys showing the rest of us how to do Celtic-punk again!

Welcome to the third long player from one of the top celtic-punk bands in Europe, Catalan celtic-punkers Drink Hunters (their is no ‘The’). Formed in Barcelona in 2008 they have previously self-released two outstanding albums on a shoestring budget and set about raising money for this one by crowdfunding among their fans who responded magnificently and raised the necessary readies in no time at all. The band got together in Barcelona in 2008 when Pau (drums and vocals) and Aaron (bass and lead vocals) wanted to get a band on the road and decided to follow the path of celtic-punk. They talked about the idea with Raja (guitar and vocals) and a band began to take shape. Only thing now missing was to fill their energetic punk rock with some Irish folk touches. And for that they contacted with Nando (fiddle) and Rosa (accordion) and in early 2013 they signed Isra (Irish tin whistles and banjo) and Drink Hunters were armed and ready to go.

When we reviewed their last album (here) we described them as

“…which sounds pretty much like NOFX doing celtic-punk! The ‘celtic-NOFX’ label fits in quite well with The Drink Hunters and the majority of the songs fly by in around 2 minutes”

and to be perfectly honest that still fits them pretty damn well. Members have come and gone from the band but Drink Hunters philosophy of combining solid punk rock tunes with Irish traditional folk and themes has made them a sure fire hit across Europe and among those in the know in celtic-punk circles.

Shameless was released in July and is eleven tracks long that rolls in just a minute short of thirty minutes. Of those eleven songs all are written by the band themselves and as usual top marks for that. As much as I do love to hear version after version of ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’ its far more enjoyable to hear what the band themselves have made and nurtured. Shameless begins with the short and very very snappy ‘1234’ and for a second you could imagine it as Bad Religion till the celtic instruments kick in and Drink Hunters are back with a right bang. All the lyrics are sung in English or should I say Californian! While we would prefer bands to sing in their native tongue its understandable why bands don’t always and Pau from the band is at least honest when he said, when we reviewed their last album,

“yeah, I feel that the English language can open more doors, particularly in this genre which is not very popular in Spain yet”

Next up is ‘Trashy Music’ and again from the start the music kicks in and the Bhoys put the boot into shitty sell out bands which is something you could never accuse them of being. Completely independent and totally DIY in ethos.

The album continues with ‘Do More Listening’ and ‘I Need To Forget’ which ramp up the speed and keep the fiddle player busy keeping up. A fantastic combination of old and new traditions Drink Hunters are that odd thing in celtic-punk. A band that follows no-one, sounds like no-one else and ploughs their own trough in coming up with something truly unique within celtic-punk.

(two songs from the album that were released in advance done all acoustic like!)

Album title track ‘Shameless’ is one of the shortest songs on the album and shows the band at their most fluid as they take the piss out of themselves somewhat.

“And they can say
we have no class
we have bad manners
and we want to be like them

But we’re sure
we’re so prooooud!”

‘Picnic Blanket’ has some real good Irish fiddle parts while the music steamrolls along. A real foot stomper this one and a real album standout. ‘My Car’ treads the same path as before with a silly song about being in love with your car.

“Your car is a crap
My tapes make me so elegant”

They showed they can play their instruments too by recently releasing an acoustic version of ‘My Car’ as well and it rocks mightily!

Next up is ’34’ and fiddle and tin whistle over pounding drums until friend of the band El Nota pops up to do a short rap in the middle. We are storming to the end and their is no let up in the speed of Shameless and ‘What Am I Waiting For?’ is no different. Fast paced and heading out in a bang with ‘Someone Else’ and finally the album comes to an end with my favourite song on the album. Encapsulating everything I love about the celtic punk scene it is called simply ‘Celtic Punks’. In Spain’s fractured land where one day we would hope to see freedom for the Catalans, Basques and Galicians the song offers a hand of friendship. As with Scotland its not necessary to hate your neighbours. One day you will all be on an equal footing so let solidarity be the key to your freedom.

“We are Celtic Punks!

You will never understand why we’ve chosen this path
our way of seeing things neither our music.

This is not a fad, It’s a way of life
feeling it inside our hearts
We’ve not given up yet.
No matter whether you are male or female
We are few people but we are united!

Celtic Punks gara gu (Basque)
Nos somos Celtic Punks (Galician)
Nosotras somos Celtic Punks (Spanish)
Nosaltres som Celtic Punks! (Catalan)”

An absolutely storming way to finish and worth the price of the album on its own. The most obvious thing for me that stands out about Drink Hunters is that if they were North American they would be, and pardon my French here, totally fucking massive. They certainly deserve it and as one of the hardest working bands around international stardom shouldn’t be too long with catching up with them.

(have a listen to the whole of Shameless by pressing Play on the Bandcamp player below)

Discography

2010- I Love Whiskey I Love Beer, 2011- With My Crew, 2014- Lurking Behind The Woods

 

Buy The Album

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Contact The Band

Facebook  Bandcamp  Soundcloud  MySpace YouTube

* their are a host of other great bands in the region with Sigelpa also from Barcelona leading the way but one of the best ways to keep up with whats happening in Spain, Catalonia, Galicia, the Basque country and the celtic-punk scene in general is to follow the ever brilliant Celtic Folk Punk And More web-site. Begin here by checking their review of Shameless.

ALBUM REVIEW: 13KRAUSS- TheEnd Is Nigh’ (2016)

Part Dropkicks, a wee part Molly’s but always 100% celtic-folk-punk!

The End is Nigh is the follow up album from 13Krauss  to their excellent debut album, Seguir En Pie, which was released to great acclaim back in 2014. For our review of that grand album then check out here. Originally forming up as a straight up, no frills punk rock band but after a Real McKenzies show in their home town they were inspired to change direction and take the celtic-punk high road. So the boys went on to add an accordion player and a bagpiper and 13Krauss the celtic punk band were born! Hailing from Zaragoza in what is basically the dead centre of Spain they have become firm favourites on the Spanish scene, and further afield as well, and on the basis of these two albums it is no surprise why either.

The album begins with ‘Reza Por Tu Vida’ and the sound of an ocean and a toiling bell adds some nice touches to this blistering slab of fast and furious celtic-punk. One of only three songs sung in Spanish, the rest are in English, except for the one instrumental. Its a brilliant start with shouty gang vocals atop of acoustic guitar and bagpipes and its very Dropkicks sounding indeed. ‘Doomsday’ follows and reminds me of my current scene fave’s Ferocious Dog with the fiddle looming large and cranked up electric guitar and mandolin. Bodi vocal style is excellent. Shouty and strained but never unintelligible and you know that if pushed he could give it a real ‘croon’ with the best of them. The bagpipes are back out for ‘Flying Broken Chairs’, a catchy as hell track telling of a wicked and wild night down the boozer. They literally just released the video for ‘Flying Broken Chairs’ just yesterday featuring footage from this years St Patrick’s Day gig in Sala López in their home town of Zaragoza.

The best celtic-punk bands have the ability to slow it down and with the aptly named ‘Slow Down’ 13Krauss prove they can do it too. The story is of looking for leprauchauns and has quite the polka sound to it. Much like The Dreadnoughts use to play. Another thing a lot of non-celtic in origin celtic-punk bands are very good at is bringing new sounds and influences into their music and again ‘En Mi Ataúd’ has a sort of polka /Russian thing going on and its great. ‘Don’t Feed The Goblin’ is the only instrumental here and instrumental by name MENTAL by nature. A fast as hell ride through Dropkick Murphy’s style bagpipe punk rock. 13Krauss switch it up again and ‘Miserable Bridges’ has a skate-punk feel to it while again David’s bagpiping is absolutely superb. We are nearing the end now and ‘The Smitting Blow’ changes it up again with a country folk punk number that is unlike anything else here but equally as good and then finally we have ‘El Mañana No Espera’ and the end of the album. The bagpipes are loud and proud and the curtain comes down on this fantastic album with another piece of Murphy’s influenced celtic-punk rock.

The album was recorded and mixed in their home town and the nine tracks clock in at a very healthy thirty minutes. It was released just after St Patrick’s Day earlier in the year and is available for download as ‘name your price’ and only €9 for the actual physical compact disc which comes in a rather nice jewel case with all the song lyrics, credits and pictures in a extensive twelve page booklet. That there’s not a single cover version here is the first thing that struck me on hearing The End is Nigh. Just nine great slabs of celtic-punk that show the influence of other bands in the scene but always with the 13Krauss stamp of individuality on it. They have a great knack of switching it up and just as you feel your in for a ride of Dropkick Murphys expectations your off in another completely different direction. There are some outstanding celtic-punk bands from the region with Catalan bands The Drink Hunters and Sigelpa due to release new albums very soon, Bastards from Galicia still touring Europe relentlessly and The Fatty Farmers having also recently released a excellent new album too. 13Krauss deserve to be heard beyond Spain but also beyond Dropkick Murphys fans too as this album will appeal to all fans of the genre whether you prefer the punky or the folkier side of celtic-punk. 

(You can have a free listen to The End Is Nigh by pressing play on the Bandcamp player below. Follow the link below to buy)

Buy The Album

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Contact The Band

Bandcamp  Facebook  Twitter   MySpace   YouTube

* the guys from 13Krauss have also set up the ZARAGOZA CELTIC PUNKS group on Facebook so trot along there and join up here…

(Check out this full concert from 13Krauss. a unusual camera angle but you can see how much the crowd gets into as the gig goes along. Brilliant!)

EP REVIEW: SIGELPA- ‘Ens Van Diagnosticar Un Transtorn’ (2015)

Sigelpa are truly one of the best and inventive celtic-punk bands in the scene right now!

Late last year Mrs London Celtic Punk decided it was time we go off on a proper holiday somewhere. Sick and tired of going to the seaside with me she said what about Barcelona? Now i don’t have travellers legs to be honest. I made it to London and that has been it really, but Barca… hmm “why not” I thought. So off she went to book the tickets and off I went to message Sigelpa that I would be coming to visit and would they be playing anywhere that week. I was heart broken to hear their reply that they were out on tour and my heart sank even further when The Drink Hunters said they were too! Still a lovely week was had wandering around that lovely city getting incredibly sun burnt thanks to my Celtic genes, plastering the place in London Celtic Punks stickers and getting plastered on Estrella!

The word on the street has it that Sigelpa will be releasing their follow up album to last years brilliant ‘TerraMorta!’ later in the year but in the meantime heres a wee five track EP of four originals and one cover to keep us going. That first album ranked very highly for us and it strolled in at 13 in our ‘Best Albums Of 2014’ list (read article here) so to say we are looking forward to the follow up is an understatement.

from left to right: Alba (diatonic accordion), Robert (electric guitar), Pol (singing and guitar), Albert (violin), Bruna (singing), Xavi (bass guitar), Guille (drums)

Sigelpa come from Terrassa in the Barcelona region of Catalonia and they mix up punk, hardcore and good old fashioned Irish folk music. Everything about the band is pretty amazing right down to their extremely clever name. Its a acronym of the initials of the seven deadly sins in Catalonian. Superbia/ Pride, Ira/ Wrath, Gula/ Gluttony, Enveja/ Envy, Luxuria/ Lust, Peresa/ Sloth and Avaricia/ Greed.

‘Ens Van Diagnosticar Un Transtorn’ means ‘We Got Diagnosed A Disorder’ in Catalan but theres certainly nothing wrong with this band! The EP’s five tracks sail past incredibly in just over ten minutes. The energy is boundless and will have you leaping around on first listen. The instrumental ‘3.0’ kicks the EP off with some great solo Irish fiddle until the guitar and drums kick in and accordion soon follows. A great tune of pure bred Irish folk-punk. ‘Necroguateke’ follows and sorry but I can’t tell you the story as its all in Catalan like the majority of their recordings. Dual male/ female vocals work extremely well, especially in a scene where there is a lack of female vocalists. Just when you start to think that Sigelpa have stood still and are happy to stay within the confines of celtic-punk ‘Sant Jordi’ follows and gruff vocals and fast loud guitar can’t hide the bluegrass roots of the superb tune and the bands progression. ‘Dacrifilia’ returns them to what they are best at. Again the dual vocals are there and again the accordion is to the fore with fast guitars before it all slows down for a nice bit of ska before building up again and letting go again. The mental Pogues classic ‘Bottle Of Smoke’ ends the EP and Sigelpa keep the pace and manicness of the original going. A great tale of one of lifes losers bet on the horses coming in accordion starts before Shane MacGowans words are spat out over fast Catalan celtic-punk. The man himself would be as proud as punch.

“The moon is clear
The sky is bright
I’m happy as the horses shite
Up came the Bottle of Smoke”

Sigelpa are a great band who put great thought into all they do. Their debut album was outstanding and ‘Ens Van Diagnosticar Un Transtorn’ is as well. The sound that has served them so well has been expanded on and developed and I can only see Sigelpa getting bettter and better. The band have generously made it available for free (or ‘name your price’) so its not even a gamble like the ‘Bottle Of Smoke’ get it downloaded now and sit back (or go mental!) to one of the best, and certainly one of the most inventive, celtic-punk bands in the scene right now.

(you can listen to the entire EP below by pressing play below. Its available to download on ‘Name Your Price’ so please be generous if you can but if you are short then download for free… guilt free!)

Contact The Band

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Buy/Download The EP

Here

ALBUM REVIEW: THE DRINK HUNTERS- ‘Lurking Behind The Woods’ (2014)

This is the second album from Catalonian band The Drink Hunters.  Formed in Barcelona in 2008 they previously self-released ‘With My Crew’ on a shoestring budget in 2011 and now ‘Lurking Behind The Woods’ lands on our doorsteps and, as is always the big question with second albums, how does it rate to that excellent first album?
The answer is pretty damn well as it goes. Personally I’d say I prefer it to the first album but opinion seems divided looking at some of their reviews. They’ve added tin-whistle to the bands repertoire and although the Drink Hunters sound has evolved fans will be more than happy with the result.

Fourteen tracks clocking in at just under 40 minutes and completely financed and controlled and put together by the band. DIY in perfect perfection!

Starting off with the title track Spanish sounding guitar with a voice over film sample soon bursts into ‘Speciecism’ which sounds pretty much like NOFX doing celtic-punk! The ‘celtic-NOFX’ label fits in quite well with The Drink Hunters and the majority of the songs fly by in around 2 minutes. Lyrics are sung in English

Pau from the band expands on this “yeah, I feel that the English language can open more doors, particularly in this genre which is not very popular in Spain yet.”

and easy to understand so songs like  ‘Breogan’s Descendents’ and ‘Big Fella’ that talk about real celtic history don’t get lost in the sound. For me its the fiddle led songs like ‘The Hunters Song’ and ‘Kill The King’ that are the standout tracks. Another class song is ‘Speak More Than a Fucking Politician’, check out the great video at the bottom of this page. The whole album is a singalonga masterpiece of celtic-punk with elements of Spanish/Catalonian music as well as medieval-punk moments that completely work with their style of NOFX/Bad Religion/’skate punk’

The best thing anyone can say about the Drink Hunters is that if they were North American they would be, and pardon my French here,  fucking massive! But as one of the hardest working bands in Europe that international stardom can’t be far away.

for further info on The Drink Hunters have a look at ‘Celtic Folk Punk And More‘ Blog for a album review here and band interview here.

Buy The Album:

from Here

Contact The Band:

Facebook  Bandcamp  Soundcloud  MySpace  YouTube

ALBUM REVIEW: 13KRAUSS – ‘Seguir En Pie’ (2014)

Debut album from 13Krauss a new band from Zaragoza in Spain. Originally forming as a straight up punk band they were converted to celtic-punk after the boys attended a show by The Real McKenzies in their hometown. They added bagpipes and accordion into the band and hey presto 13Krauss were born! A year later and this debut album hits the shelves…

You get 9 tracks of which seven are in Spanish, one in English and an excellent instrumental The album clocks in at a bit of a measly 25 minutes and the songs fly by with an energy you’ll only find in the celtic-punk world. It is self produced by the band themselves so get onto Bandcamp and support them by buying the download (from only £2!). It was produced by Xavi Estivil together with the band and was mastered by Javier Roldón at “Vaccum Mastering” in Zaragoza.

Sounding at times like the folkier bits of the Dropkick Murphys but without losing the punky feel to it. They very occasionally go into Flogging Molly territory but don’t get me wrong, saying this in no way makes 13Krauss a copycat band. It’s the celtic instruments that lead the way and both the pipes and the accordion are excellently played. I bet they were a decent punk band too as the rest of the band play their parts well and together they have produced a great wee album that puts them at the forefront of Spanish celtpunk. It’s been quite prolific over there recently with The Drink Hunters, Brutus Daughter and The Fatty Farmers all releasing excellent albums recently. I don’t include Bastards On Parade for the obvious reason that they aren’t Spanish! Hats off also to Celtic Folk Punk And More which for those who don’t know is a fantastic Spanish based blog and the inspiration for us to start our own one!

Things are looking bright for the bands future having played this years main St Patrick’s Day stage in Madrid with Bad Manners and a forthcoming tour of mainland Europe taking in France, Germany, the Czech republic and Switzerland in April 2014. The band deserve credit for producing a album of purely original numbers that is also chock full of tight as f*k, expertly played, fast paced celtic punk rock that will appeal to all!

Contact The Band  Bandcamp  Facebook  Twitter   MySpace   YouTube

the guys from the band set up the ZARAGOZA CELTIC PUNKS group on Facebook so trot along there and join up here…

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…