⚓ Brand new album from The Scarlet. Folk-Punk crazies from Hungary 🇭🇺
Their was a time, and it wasn’t all that long ago that the Celtic-Punk scene in Hungary was without doubt the best in the whole of Europe. We even once ran a feature on the scene there called The Who’s Who: Top Ten and celebrated Hungarian Celtic-Punk Week back in 2018. Since those days we have of course had the pandemic so it’s always great, and an enormous relief, to hear that our Celtic-Punk bands have survived and have continue to release some great music.
“you can feel that we are fed up with the confinement and anxiety all over the record“
The Scarlet were formed in the Hungarian capital Budapest in 2012 and Freedom Call is their follow up to their 2017 debut album Hardcore Shanties which itself followed a Demo EP and the excellent Midnight Avenue, six songs of self penned Dropkick Murphys influenced Celtic-Punk blessed with plenty of pirate ‘Yo-Ho-Ho’s’ and Metal guitar riffs.
The Scarlet left to right: Aurel – Bass * Juli – Flute * Daniel – Vocals * Dominika – Violin * Gabor – Drums * Hubi – Guitar *
The work for the album actually began before the pandemic with two songs released back in those carefree days that would lead to Freedom Call. The album kicks off with ‘Now Once And For All’ and the welcome return of thrashy Metal guitar coupled with some stunning fiddle work from Dominika is a reminder of The Scarlet’s sound. Dániel’s vocals are clear and focused and the slight accent is reminiscent of many of the other Hungarian bands who also mostly sing in English,. The schools over there must be excellent. A great opener with all the required boxes – catchy danceable fun.
‘Rebel Inside You’ takes the Celtic-Punk of the opener and adds a slight Ska / Reggae tinge while also injecting the sound of Pirate-Punk as well. Fast and catchy again and it’s good to see that with some new members on board they seem to have slotted in well. Like fellow countrymen Firkin, The Scarlet use the flute to great effect. I wasn’t too overly keen on this instrument until we were lucky enough to put on Firkin one special New Years Eve in London a few years back and their manic flautist PJ stole the show completely. Since then I have grown to love it and coupled here with the fiddle it ensures that the ‘Celtic-ness’ is never left out. Longest track ‘Storm Earth And Fire’ tells of pirate life and begins with acoustic guitar and is perhaps the perfect combination of Celtic and Metal while still remaining kind of pretty traditional Celtic-Punk. These are not your usual band and their songs take several paths but always in a interesting way. Of several standouts here ‘Urban Buccaneer’ is my favourite. Take it for granted that all these songs are catchy as hell and guaranteed to get your feet moving. ‘Back To The Pub’ sees the compulsory beer song ticked off with the Punkest song here! ‘On My Way’ was the first single from the album and was a great way to announce their return. Another high point for Freedom Call.
The songs here have an amazing quality about that in that I feel they could be completely accessible to anyone. The underlying Folk tunes and sometimes harder Rock riffs fit together very well and could easily please anyone fortunate to come across the band. ‘Serve The Dark’ chugs along at a lovely pace while ‘Little Sister (Of Your Pal)’ sees The Scarlet ‘Irish’ it up with a song with a nice sense of humour. Not a band you hear a lot of covers from they see out Freedom Call with ‘Country Medley’ with The Scarlet treatment given to several famous Country-ish songs (‘Country Roads’, ‘5000 Miles’, ‘Cotton Eye Joe’) and while it could have easily slipped into cheesyness it manages to just stay on the right side though perhaps that is exactly what they were going for.
The album was again mixed and recorded by Zoltán Cs.Szabó, of the Hungarian garage rock band The Trousers, at the Artist Factory studio in Budapest who has done a brilliant job. He has also worked on their previous releases and has always got the maximum out of The Scarlet. Their are only nine songs here but it does last just over half an hour and the songs never outlast their welcome. Another great album from The Scarlet who deserve to be heard a lot more from outside their own borders. Me and the good lady are looking forward to visiting Hungary sometime in the near future and I intend to be arranging it to coincide with The Scarlet playing so expect a glowing gig review when I get back!
(You can stream the whole of Freedom Call below on You Tube)
Download Freedom Call Various Sites Here
Contact The Scarlet Instagram Facebook YouTube
followed with news that the band will go on. Andy the vocalist from Hungarian giants Firkin has decided his time is up for the band. Nearly six years of commuting from his home in Serbia for gigs and practises has understandably become too much on top of his full time acting work and family commitments. The guys all remain good friends and he will always be a dear member of the Firkin Family!
1. THE LAGAN- Let’s Do It Again
1. MARYS LANE- Wild Unknown 
So eleven songs and thirty-five minutes and an album that is mostly covers that you will be very familiar with but it’s well worth getting hold of thanks to their own original songs. If you would prefer to hear their won material then I recommend obtaining their album. Packed with energy and passion but beware its contagious and will have you singing and jigging along to songs new and old ones you thought you were tired of ever hearing again. Selfish Murphy visited these shore earlier in the year to headline Góbéfest, the UK’s only Transylvanian festival of arts and culture in Manchester. Though we couldn’t make it a few of our northern readers did and reported their brought they house down so here’s hoping they make it again and a bit further south this time. In fact I’m surprised one person can remember anything at all so fond was he of pálinka, the traditional local spirit from the Carpathian region that he didn’t remember much else!
Now as is the case with music genre’s many overlap and while to the casual listener it may all sound the same but to those that like to label things this is probably more towards the pirate punk end of celtic-punk and maybe even celtic-metal as well.
So the album is over and you get ten songs all penned by the band themselves that comes in at literally just over half an hour long. If you like your celtic-punk a bit different then Hardfolk Shanties will be right up your street. More punk than most and with metal influences that keep it on the harder side side of things but thanks to the addictive flute and fiddle here it is firmly within the celtic-punk scene. Fiddler Dominika can be thanked for the superb pirate themed album artwork and the album was mixed by Zoltán Cs.Szabó, of the Hungarian garage rock band The Trousers, who has done a grand job and got the maximum out of The Scarlet. A great album and as already stated it sits proudly on the harder edged side of things but it is nevertheless still a fine concoction of both old time folk and more modern punk and metal. Heartily recommended ship mates!
Well what can I say except its another blinder and I can report also that they haven’t slowed down any either! Twenty-six minutes was the length of Sobriety and twenty-six minutes is the length here as well. The album flows ceaselessly and leaves you only wanting more. At home in both seedy punk venues as well as massive arena’s Jolly Jackers are living proof that it’s songs that get you places as well as good old fashioned things like touring and record releases. You can play as often as you like but if you don’t master your songs then you’ll go nowhere in the long run. They are yet another in a long line, and growing rapidly, of excellent releases from Hungary. Absolutely superb and recommended to anyone who likes their celtic-punk both folky AND punky.
So welcome to you to our third and final part of Hungarian Celtic Punk Week. After two fantastic celtic-punk bands in The Crazy Rogues and Firkin we calm it down a little with The O’Neills and their debut EP. We can be quite parochial in celtic-punk sometimes and tend to stick to bands we know or have heard of but there’s an absolute wealth of music out there begging to be heard and some of it may be from countries you wouldn’t expect. If the only thing this blog does is gain some of these bands a tiny bit of recognition then we are succeeding in what we set out to do. Leave your misconceptions at the door and take off your pub shoes and dip your toes into the celtic-punk scene worldwide and what better place to start off in than Hungary!
The Crazy Rogues 
Paddy And The Rats are probably the best known of all the Hungarian celtic-punk bands and deservedly so. Hard work and constant touring have paid dividends for the band and these days they are known throughout Europe for their superb records and great live shows. With three albums behind them- ‘Rats On Board’, ‘Hymns For Bastards’ and ‘Tales From The Docks’- I awaited this new album with bated breath and I am very glad to report I was not disappointed at all.
Buy The EP
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