ODDS’N’SODS. A CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP FEBRUARY 2022

A new year and the first Odds’n’Sods of 2022 and the biggest and best one yet.

A reminder too that we need your news so anything you would like to share with the rest of the Celtic-Punk scene send it onto us.

We start off with hearty congratulations, tipping of hats and raising of beers to Rémi Geffroy accordion player of TARA’S FOLK and THE BOOZE BROTHERS who has just been made world champion for diatonic accordion with 3 button rank. An amazing achievement and literal proof that Celtic-Punk does have some of the best musicians in the world!

We like to champion new music. After all you can’t just sit at home listening to Rum, Sodomy And The Lash for the rest of your days so delighted to hear the debut single from SALTY SPITOONS all the way from that Celtic-Punk paradise Indonesia.

Just like buses along came another amazing Indonesian band PANGLIMA KUMBANG and their new single. I hate Spotify but if you would like to hear more from this fantastic scene check out the Indonesia Celtic Punk/ Irish Connection playlist.

French band THE MOORINGS have a new album out on St. Patrick’s Day and have released one song ‘Cheers’ and put the album up for pre-release sale on Bandcamp.

Irish label ROTATOR VINYL RECORDS are set to officially release the debut album from Dublin based Punk band THE DUBTONES in April but it’s already up on Bandcamp.

Ace American band THE KILLIGANS release a new EP on March 1st featuring a collection of darker songs written during the pandemic. Highlighting three different songwriters and a Killigans rendition of a Eastern European sausage ballad.

Premier league Aussie Celtic-Punk band THE GO-SET are working on a new EP. 4-5 songs that will hopefully be released around April and they will ne touring very soon.

American-Irish Folk band THE ALT release Day Is Come this week. The Alt are John Doyle, Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O’ Leary and each are at the top of their game when it comes to Folk and Roots music. Seven years on from their superb debut album they are back!

One of the first bands we featured on this site was IRISH MOUTARDE from Quebec. At the time they had amassed quite the following but things have been a little quiet over the last few years so we were delighted to hear their new single ‘Vive Le Vent’. Sadly it came too late for our 2021 Christmas songs round-up so apologies but “we can’t review it if we don’t hear it”. 

Basque band McONAK are a band we have been aware of but never got the chance to review so here’s their recent single ‘Kontrolatzen’ featuring Fermin Muguruza.

The song is taken from their 10th anniversary album Bitakora from December last year available from Bandcamp.

Irish Folk-Rock pioneers Tír na nÓg have a new album out, Live 1970-71, featuring live tracks from their earliest days. Some of which have lay hidden away in the vaults since they were first recorded.

THE ALT – Day Is Come

JAMIE CLARKE’S PERFECT – Monkey See, Monkey Do

TIR NA nOG – Live 1970-71

SYR – Sentinel

THE CLOVERHEARTS – The Sick And The Sacred Acoustic

remember we can’t review it if we don’t hear it

Over two decades, Michael Croland has been a Celtic punk superfan and wondered whether he was Irish in another life. He has just published a new book, CELTIC PUNK SUPERFAN! and it’s available from Amazon in paperback ($4.99) and eBook ($2.99). This anthology celebrates the full glory of the Celtic punk rainbow, from the progenitor Pogues to Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys to second-tier old faithful’s and obscure Latin American artists.

Today we present a band from God’s Own country! FOXES FAUX a seven piece acoustic country / folk / punk rock band from Keighley in West Yorkshire. The band have a couple of studio albums behind them but today’s offering Lost Fox is a collection of stand alone recordings, B-sides, EP tracks and four unreleased songs and is available as a ‘name your price’ download. Not a band I know much about except i do recall them playing London at least once and I was delighted to see on their Facebook page that they are still treading the boards round their local town. Upbeat, Folk-Rock of the Lev’s variety and no doubt brilliant fun to watch live.

THE MYSTERIOUS WHEELS have been playing tight, authentic Blues and R&B for over 40 years but for thirty-five of them lead singer Andrew Ranken was a bit busy playing drums for another band (!). Same Shoes New Blues is only their second album in all that time and showcases the band on top form, featuring all original material. The band look forward to playing live again and as we have had several failed attempts at booking them well you never know!

We start with the sad news that THE RUMJACKS extensive UK tour with ‘banjo punx’ SHANGHAI TREASON has now been postponed. No details as yet of re-arranged dates. A couple of gigs to pre-book now. THE WOLFE TONES postponed dates are back on at the London Irish Centre on Feb 23/24. GLENN HODGE BANNED and DYLAN WALSHE are both favourites of the site so even better their both together on the same bill at The Green Note in Camden on April 5th. This will sell out so be sure to get your tickets soon as possible. MR. IRISH BASTARD had their original tour cancelled right back at the beginning of the first lockdown but they are back and set to tour again hitting London at the New Cross Inn on 21st May. BELLOWHEAD are on tour in November. Relevant future dates are all included over on the LCP events page on FB for Social Distortion, The Dreadnoughts, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys and more.

RUSS RANKIN was also the lead singer in Punk bands GOOD RIDDANCE and ONLY CRIME and has only just followed up his 2012 debut solo album with it’s follow up Come Together Fall Apart of which ‘Statutes Of Kilkenny’ is featured.

Canadians SUMMER OF ’92 have just released a cover of the Bruce song ‘Lucky Town’ and made it available for ‘name your price’ download. Their excellent 2012 album Long Kesh is still available too.

Facebook is shit. Proper shit. It’s telling that it only has 2/5 in the play app store! It’s stranglehold on all forms of expression is not good and people are leaving in droves. Don’t despair though you can still keep up with London Celtic Punks posts via our group on the new phone app Telegram. Very similar in style (but better and easier to use) than What’s App but the best thing of all is that it is completely free from outside interference. Join us on Telegram, don’t miss a single post and even receive the odd exclusive and special offer! https://t.me/londoncelticpunks/  

If you like what we do then you can support us by checking out our online store. Just in this month are Polo shirts, in all sizes, and some nifty wooly hats as well as the Green’n’White ‘Skully Cap’ ringer shirts. Sizes for some of the older designs are limited so check carefully. Click the link below for the full range of all our other tatt. Shirts, badges, stickers, flags, CD’s and fridge magnets all the discerning Celtic-Punk fan could ever need! Help keep Punk Celtic!  https://the30492shop.fwscart.com/

A plug for some good friends of ours over on Facebook. The Dropkick Murphys- Fan Page and the Celtic Punk, Folk And Rock Fans are two of the best music forums on FB let alone Celtic-Punk. Ran By Fans For Fans just like you and me. Like and join in the fun!

Be sure to check back this Thursday for quite the feather in the site’s cap. We are unbelievably proud / chuffed to bits to have been able to preview the new album from the legendary IAN PROWSE. Not only that but next Sunday we have a exclusive LCP interview with TheCelticPunkAuthor and Ian. Raised on protest songs and influenced by the Celtic sounds that make Liverpool so unique, Ian has cemented his cult following over twenty five years with indie bands Pele, a five piece alternative rock ‘n’ pop band with an infusion of Celtic sounds, and Amsterdam and now as a solo artist renowned for his incendiary live shows. NOT TO BE MISSED!!!! 

If you are new to the London Celtic Punks blog it is easy to subscribe / follow and never miss a post. Bands, promoters, record labels, venues send in any news to londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or via the Contact Us page.

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2018!

Well it seems like only yesterday that I was sitting in Mannions in north London totting up the votes for the Best Album Of 2017 over a couple of pints and so here we are again. Everyone loves to give out there opinions and we are no different so for what it’s worth, here’s who we think made the best music in the celtic-punk scene over the last year. 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. 2017 saw just about every major player in the scene release an album while in 2018 they left it to many of the lesser known bands to dominate! Remember though this is only our opinion and these thirty 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. As a bonus we figured out how to attach a poll at the end so you can even vote on your favourite release of 2018 yourself. If it’s not listed then simply add your choice.

We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

1. THE RUMJACKS- Saints Preserve Us  here

2. 1916- Far Beyond The Pale  here

3. CLAN OF CELTS- Beggars, Celts & Madmen  here

4. KRAKIN’ KELLYS- Promised Land  here

5. THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS- Green Blood  here

6. SIR REG- The Underdogs  here

7. TIR NA OG- From The Gallows  here

8. FIRKIN- We Are The Ones  here

9. THE MAHONES- Love + Death + Redemption  here

10. THE MUCKERS- One More Stout  here

11. BASTARD BEARDED IRISHMEN- Drinkin’ To The Dead  here

12. HOLD FAST- Black Irish Sons  here

13. LEXINGTON FIELD- Dreamers  here

14. THE RUMPLED- Ashes & Wishes  here

15. TAN AND SOBER GENTLEMEN- Veracity  here

16.THE KILLIGANS- Dance On Your Grave  here

17. ALTERNATIVE ULSTER- Pog Mo Thoin  here

18. PADDY AND THE RATS- Riot City Outlaws  here

19. IRISH MOUTARDE- Perdition  here

20. BASTARDS ON PARADE- Cara a Liberdade  here

21. MR. IRISH BASTARD- The Desire for Revenge  here

22. PIRATE COPY- Swashbuckle & Swagger  here

23. SINFUL MAGGIE- S/T

24. JOLLY JACKERS- Out Of The Blue  here

25. MUIRSHEEN DURKIN AND FRIENDS- 11 Pints And 3 Shots  here

26. THE CHERRY COKE$- The Answer

27. THE CLAN- Here To Stay  here

28. KINGS & BOOZERS- Still Got The Booze  here

29. FALPERRYS- Nova Abordagem  here

30. AIRS & GRACES- Voting At The Hall  here

bubbling under: MALASANERS- Footprints  here

So absolutely no surprises here at all. In fact The Rumjacks have pretty much swept the board across the Celtic-Punk scene with what we even thought was their best release since their groundbreaking debut album Gangs Of New Holland. The Bhoys are going from strength to strength and are set to go through the roof in 2019. They remain as humble as ever and downright lovely folk to know which reminds me, congrats from us all here to Frankie and LCP’er Anna on their engagement. Other notables were Sir Reg who even flew over to London to premier their new album The Underdogs before later returning to embark on a successful nationwide tour… while I was on holiday! London-Irish band Clan Of Celts, despite a few teething problems, delivered a fantastic debut album as well as, my personal favourite of the year, Belgium’s Krakin’ Kellys. A dual release of an album and a EP on the same day is a novel approach but it paid dividends for Lexington Field as they were both brilliant. Sinful Maggie have just been getting bigger and bigger all year and we expect this to continue into 2019. Three albums from the Celtic nations with two from Galicia from Falperrys and Bastards On Parade and Cornwall’s Pirate Copy. All together we have bands from twelve countries with Germany with the most placings alongside  Australia, USA, England, Belgium, Sweden, Hungary, Canada, Italy, Galicia, Cornwall and Japan.

KRAKIN’ KELLYS- Promised Land  here

I was not the only one at London Celtic Punks Towers to be abso-fecking-lutely blown away by the Krakin’ Kellys debut album. Fast and melodic skater style punk rock with bagpipes that will blow the cobwebs away off off anyone! They made quite a wave in the scene thanks to their brilliant videos so go check them out here. This section was the easiest one to award by far!

1. THE LAGAN- Let’s Do It Again

2. MEDUSA’S WAKE- Rascals & Rogues  here

2. HANDSOME YOUNG STRANGERS- The Bleeding Bridge  here

4. THE DANGEROUS FOLK- One  here

5. LEXINGTON FIELD- Modern Times  here

6. SCOTCH- Last In The Bar  here

7. TULLAMORE- Déš An Pr’i Strà, Déš An Int ál Bar  here

8. THE GRINNING BARRETTS- The St. Padraigs  here

9. IN FOR A PENNY- Sometimes Its Better To Not  here

10. THE ROYAL SPUDS- Unforgotten Lore  here

bubbling under…

MOSCHE DI VELLUTO GRIGIO- Of Pain And Glory here and RAISE MY KILT- A New Tartan  here

At one point this was heading towards being an Australian #1, #2 and #3 but at the last minute our local favourites The Lagan released Let’s Do It Again at the end of December and wrestled it away from Medusa’s Wake. Their first studio release in a hell of a long time it came out too late to trouble many of our friends ‘Best Of’ lists but their loss is our gain! Besides them and our Aussie friends the list was made up from bands from the USA, Holland, Italy and Austria which goes to show the international nature of the scene. As an aside you can get the brilliant bagpipe punk debut EP from Scotch for free by following the link to their review. For lovers of the McKenzies you’ll not be disappointed!

1. MARYS LANE- Wild Unknown  here

2. LOUIS RIVE- The Cheap Part Of Town  here

3. THE CRAICHEADS- S/T  here

4. LANKUM-  Between Earth and Sky here

5. MAN THE LIFEBOATS- Man The Lifeboats  here

6. SLIOTAR- Voyage

7. CLOVER’S REVENGE- Gotta Get O’Raggednized  here

8. BLACKBEARDS TEA PARTY- Leviathan  here

9. THE LED FARMERS- Irish Folk Out Straight

10. FINBAR FUREY- Don’t Stop This Now  here

bubbling under: THE BRANDY THIEVES- The Devil’s Wine  here

Always the hardest to do this section as our scope has become fairly wide over the years and gone beyond Celtic-Punk but Irish-American’s Marys Lane managed at once to be a record both me and my Mammy love! Even better the Cleveland based band have made it available to download for free/donation so follow the link above. Scot Louis Rive’s debut album really impressed me and was one of my most played albums of the year and The Craicheads capped a great year with a fantastic single and their lead singer Mick making the papers and the telly for saving a Mum and her babies lives (here). Good on yer Mick. It’s a privilege to know you. More local talent at #4 which ended a year where Man The Lifeboats have gone from first band on to headline shows and a mention for the amazing Finbar Furey who put a most excellent LP at the tender age of only 72.

MERSEY CELT PUNKS

We may be a wee bit biased here but last years winners take it again this year too. 2018 saw them continue to develop the site into an all-round resource for Liverpudlians and further afield. Yeah these guys are always blowing our trumpet we know and we have shared a good few scoops with them, and will again not long after this is published, but we enjoy what they write and it’s all done with an enthusiasm that us auld hacks are constantly jealous of. Plus you are not a major player in the Celtic-Punk scene unless you had your picture took with Elliot! You can also join in their fun and games on their Twitter and Facebook and their Web-Zine. Be sure to subscribe.

So there you go. Remember we don’t pretend to be the final word on things in fact if you check the other celtic-punk media I’m sure we’ve all come up with relatively different lists. Our Best Of’s are cajoled and bullied out of the admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page. The assorted scraps of paper and beer mats were then tallied up please remember not all of us heard the same albums so like all the various Best Of’s ours is also subjective.

This is our 6th year of us making these lists so if you would like to check out out who was where in our previous Best Of’s then just click on the link below the relevant year.

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-es

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-Oq

https://goo.gl/RXNtMC

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-21o

https://wp.me/p3Huvn-29L

We are not alone in doing these Best Of lists in fact all the major players in celtic-punk do them so click below to check out what they thought.

THE CELTIC PUNKCAST

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

FOLK’N’ROCK

PADDYROCK

MERSEY CELT PUNKS

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

Now here’s a new feature. Pick your own favourite below! The Poll will end on the final day of the month!

remember any views, comments or abuse or slander we would love to hear it…

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2019

ALBUM REVIEW: IRISH MOUTARDE- ‘Perdition’ (2018)

Quebecois Irish Moutarde are back with their second album with folklore sounds of bagpipes and banjo mixed with punk rock riffs. This album has something for everyone to enjoy.

Back back in the day when this here web-zine was in its infancy one of the very first bands to send us their new album was Irish Moutarde. To say we loved it is a bit of an understatement and so they have always been a band that we have followed and looked out for so we are delighted that they have safely delivered their follow album and it’s an equal, if not better, than their previous one.

Irish Moutarde were formed in 2009 in Quebec city (the French speaking province of Canada) as a covers band playing trad Irish songs but with a punk feel and attitude. It wasn’t till 2012 though that they released their first single, ‘The Bear and the Maiden Fair’ which went on to become an instantaneous hit right across the celtic-punk scene.

This track was based on a song from one of the novels that inspired the hit TV show Game of Thrones. The song coming out a year before the show debuted. This keen interest lead the group to follow up this release with their first album Raise ‘Em All the following year and they have since gone on to become one of North America’s best celtic-punk bands. Combining the usual punk rock instruments with banjo, mandolin and highland bagpipes. On my first listen they reminded me of a celtic-punk NOFX and it is this winning combination that has saw them at the top of all the various Best Of 2012 lists and will do the same for this year I suspect. Sadly as is the way for bands, especially for celtic-punk bands who tend to have so many members, some of the Bhoys and Ghirls fell by the wayside. Irish Moutarde were not beaten though and after recruiting some new blood to the band they began to slower get back in the swing of things. A few shows were played last year to showcase new songs before hitting the studio to record their new album.

Released on the first day of Spring, March 1st, this year Perdition is thirteen songs of pure celtic-punk heaven! The album begins with one of it’s best songs and from the very off I knew I was in for a treat.

‘Prélude En La (Lala)’ begins with pipes and drums and then the electric guitar comes chugging into ear-shot and Irish Moutarde are off. The song is sung in French and rather than run the lyrics through Google Translate I’m not going to try and decipher them. Bagpipes and banjo rule here and the clear and concise vocals are still pretty punk rock as well. Irish Moutarde are that rare thing in celtic-punk in that they have a female vocalist and they are certainly not a novelty act either. The vocals are shared between Andrée-Anne and Tony but both Sébastien and Fred take the lead as well on occasion. On ‘The Poison Trail’ the story revolves around going for a pint with the devil and its another high quality song with the relentless fast pace, except for a bagpipe solo!, and the various instruments accompanying each other rather than drowning each other out. It’s fast and furious and typical Irish Moutarde good fun.

Next is ‘Terre Rouge’ and they speed it up and some rather gruff metal style vocals kick in in a song shared between vocalists. This could almost be two different songs, one a metal thrasher and the other a sweet celtic number. That they manage to fit the two together is testament to how good they are. On their debut album the vast majority, maybe even all, of the songs were sung in English while here they have decided to concentrate on singing in French. It doesn’t, and shouldn’t, detract from the music in fact I would always rather hear a band singing in their native tongue. On ‘Jarrets’ and then ‘Eat, Drink And Be Merry’ it could be a nod to both medieval punk as well as punk as of the NOFX variety. A good fun number and thank heavens for that. Sometimes all you want is a bit of fun and something to make you smile.

“So sing (dance), dance (hey)
Like no one’s watching
Forget those losers talking ‘cause I don’t care about them anyway
Eat (drink), drink (hey) and be merry
And I’ll be here to carry you home
‘Cause I don’t want to leave here all alone”

The most Irish song here without a doubt is the brilliant ‘N’oublions Pas’ beginning with banjo and some gentle piping and another standout track soon takes a turn into wild abandon and on an album of standout tracks it don’t get any better than this. This is the sort of stuff we were expecting (hoping) the last Dropkicks album to be like but turned out to be Dad-Rock. Here especially the shared vocals work a absolute treat. The formula works again for the following few songs with ‘À La Santé de Lucifer’, ‘Only in Your Lies’ and ‘Bientôt’ all rocking out with abundant use of celtic instruments and punk rock. On ‘Old Days’ we get the albums solo slow number and by Christ I love it too. Nice lyrics about meeting up with a old friend and going on the lash knowing well that the days when the next day wouldn’t be spent ill in bed are long gone!

“Tomorrow is not going to be easy
Weakness, headaches, fatigue and thirsty
And you know that this is the price to pay
To have a good night just like in the old days”

We are nearing the end and its time for Irish Moutarde to ramp it up again and they don’t get any faster on Perdition than on ‘Go Away’. The excellent drumming throughout the album is not bettered here and the band keep up just in time. It may be fast but still accessible I am sure to anyone. Next up is ‘Condamnés’ and sees the band determined to not go out slowly and finally Perdition comes to an end with ‘The Bitter End’ and an unusual but simply brilliant way to go out. Fast and slow in alternate moves and all the time as catchy as feckin’ hell!

Jérôme Bélanger

Andrée-Anne McHalley

Fred Vandal

The album was produced by Sébastien Malenfant and he has done one hell of a job. I always think its one of the particularly hard to produce a record with so many instruments and not just that but that some are relatively quiet compared to say the drums. The music here is mixed perfectly and everything has come out clear as a bell. All the songs on the album have been written by the band and again that’s fairly novel within the celtic-punk scene as well. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that Irish Moutarde would bring out an album that would be as good as their debut, the classic Raise Em All, but didn’t they just go and only bettered it didn’t they! 

Gabor ‘Gabichou’ Somogyvari

Sébastien Malenfant

Tony Vandal

(Have a listen to the whole of Perdition for free below )

Buy Perdition

FromTheBand

Contact Irish Moutarde

WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Twitter  Instagram

Two Interesting Whisky-Fuelled Band Facts:
1. The name Irish Moutarde was chosen because it is a pun on the French expression “relish-moutarde,” which the founding band members felt the name was (and still is) humorous, light and expressed their musical quality.
2. The band’s mascot is Olaf the Irish Giraffe, who was created by fans of the band Julie Lévesque and Guillaume Racine. The sixth song on their debut album is a tribute to this whisky drinking, green metal giraffe who sports a long white mane and long white goatee.

EP REVIEW: TOXIC FROGS- ‘The Mermaid’s Song’ (2017)

French celtic-punk chicks band!
Four Girls Two Fiddles

Toxic Frogs are quite the anomaly within celtic-punk circles it has to be said. As much as i hate the idea of segregating bands into male and female it is refreshing to see a all-female band in the scene and standing tall too. Most of the time it seems to me that when ‘female’ music is brought up we are suppose to like it whether or not we do actually like it or not. The failed and discredited identity politics that handed the American election to Trump have ensured that people can no longer have an opinion on ‘certain’ things without being shouted at and labelled by hysterical bigots with no actually basis in fact. Anyway rant over and my point is that as a music reviewer my job is review music not ‘virtue signal’ to you all how right on I am by giving good reviews to bad or mediocre music just because the band fit someone else’s ideological pigeonhole. I don’t not have to worry about any of that shite here mind you as The Mermaids Song is abso-fecking-lutely fantastic!

I have heard plenty about Toxic Frogs in the short time they have been together without actually hearing an awful lot of what they have put out so far. Always on my list of bands to find out more about I just had never gotten round to it. Their 2015 album Kill The Devil somehow passed me by except for this review from Celtic Punk Folk And More here but they have kept up a steady stream of excellent videos that have at least introduced them to the wider celtic-punk scene if not me personally!

Toxic Frogs left to right: Lucianne Wallace- Guitar * Elvina Lynn- Bass/ Fiddle * Lydie Dupuy- Drums * Ella Beccaria- Fiddle/ Lead Vocals

Formed in the east-central French city of Lyon in September 2014 Ella came up with the idea of staring an all girl celtic-punk band so started to advertise the idea and soon enough the team of girls was ready. Having already played fiddle for French celtic-punk legends Celkilt she knew the scene and as soon as they hit the practise rooms something gelled. Taking their name from the not so friendly nickname the English give to French people they began to make waves in the celtic-punk scene almost straight away but the question everyone wanted to know was did the band deserve the hype and the answer listening to The Mermaid’s Tale is undoubtedly a resounding yes!

The EP begins with the instrumental ‘Scott Is Back’ and what a start to proceedings. The band consists of electric guitar, bass and drums and some almighty fiddle playing. The music sits nicely on the fence between celtic-rock and celtic-punk and many a time could fall into each within a single song and the standout here is that amazing fiddle playing though that’s not to say the rest of the band don’t play their part equally as well. The song begins with a Scottish feel to it I think because of the Scottish style drumming before a more traditional Irish sound comes in. The songs builds to a breakneck speed and ends with a fantastic flourish. There are a couple of bands in the scene that have female singers like Irish Moutarde and Brutus Daughter but most of the the ladies are confined to backing vocals or taking the lead on ‘Fairytale Of New York’! The band sing in English and ‘Criminal’s Heart’ is pure pop-punk heaven. Much more of a folk-punk number until near the end when the celtic fiddle kicks in and leads the song until the end.

Title track ‘The Mermaid’s Song’ is up next and there’s some blatant metal overtones here which remind me of all girl punk legends L7. Again the fiddle comes in well after the song has established itself showing that Toxic Frogs could easily get away with being just a run of the mill rock band as well. Again the fiddle brings the last curtain down on the last couple of minutes. We are in celtic-punk territory with ‘Toxic War’ and the girls go about their job with a frantic fast paced song with plenty of gang vocal “Hey, Hey” going on.

Last year Katie out of The Mahone put down her accordion for five minutes to record the now infamous ‘F*** You’ for the Hunger And The Fight Part Two album and now Toxic Frogs can add to that with their own ‘F**k You’. At just over six minutes long its a bit of an epic and begins with a slow and soaring guitar rock solo. Ella comes in with her vocals and the music lifts and then all of a sudden we back with the more trad Toxic Frogs sound. A great song that never drags and a brave song to record knowing that celtic-punk fans much prefer short n snappy songs …unless they are ballads and then you can go for as long as you like. Shades of grunge are back in ‘Go!’ with the chugging guitar and the EP ends with the majestic ‘Violins and Hammers for Ever’. Yeah they save the best for last in my humble opinion. Like I said just a few lines ago I am a absolute sucker for a well played ballad and here Toxic Frogs manage it in spades. A beautiful song where Ella’s voice on this EP never sounds better. The best way to bring the curtain down at the end of a celtic-punk record without a doubt.

So an excellent record and good enough for me to leave you in a minute to go and check out their back catalogue as well. Seven great songs that clock in at over thirty minutes so probably long enough for us to call it a album seeing as it is longer than a few other 2017 album’s. Their is talk from our fellow London celt’s Urbankelt about bringing Toxic Frogs over to play so hopefully that will come off as they deserve to be seen far and wide.

Buy The Mermaid’s Song

CDbaby  iTunes  Amazon 

Contact Toxic Frogs

WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Twitter  Google+

ALBUM REVIEW: LE VENT DU NORD- ‘Têtu’ (2015)

new music but with deep ties to Québécois tradition that speaks to the fiercely independent spirit of today’s Québécois

As is usual with us we don’t cover an awful lot of solely traditional music on the blog but when we do then it must mean it is something special and take my word this album certainly is! Earlier this year deep in the woods of Québec, a group of mates huddle around a few microphones, putting the finishing touches on their epic eighth record. Their musical intimacy comes from over a decade of being one of Québec’s most popular groups and with ‘Têtu’ (Determined), the multi award winning Le Vent du Nord (translated as The North Wind) hold to a steady course, staying faithful to their Québecois roots while at the same time taking an unyielding approach to innovative new ideas. Sadly they have just completed a small UK tour back in March so we’ll have to wait to sample them in the flesh.

The albums opening track is the atmospheric ‘Noce Tragique’ and from the very first sounds of the hurdy-gurdy and despite the introduction of a string quartet there is nothing to be scared of here for your average celtic-punker. Those first notes that leave your speakers ‘Têtu’ hits the spot perfectly and so begins nearly an hours worth of traditional foot-stomping folk tunes and a smattering of ballads covering politics, love and satire.

The album drives along with the whole band (Nicolas Boulerice- hurdy-gurdy, piano, voice, Olivier Demers -fiddle, feet, voice, Réjean Brunet- accordion, bass, jaw harp, voice and Simon Beaudry- bouzouki, guitar, voice) combining brilliantly and nowhere on the album is the foot-tapping so intense as on ‘Cardeuse – Reipoel’. An instrumental with the power to transport you to wherever you want to go. An excellent example of piano, fiddle, accordion and other instruments coming together. This may be the traditional music of Quebec but the influences from across the celtic nations are obvious too, as well as undertones of the offspring of Quebec folk, Cajun music. I am unable to understand French so I can’t give you much more than a rundown of some of the major themes on the album but I am of the opinion that bands should sing in their native languages anyway. Music crosses all boundaries and bands shouldn’t feel the need to sing in English just to make it. Don’t despair though the album comes with a booklet providing not only the entire lyrics in French but also a brief introduction to all the songs in English. There’s the biting politics of ‘Confédération’, where Le Vent Du Nord show their independent streak. As Nicolas Boulerice said in a recent interview of the songs lyrics

“I owe the premise for this song to S. Harper [Prime Minister of Canada], who announced that he would hold grand celebrations in 2017 for the 150th anniversary of Canada, the Confederation having been signed in 1867. What a strange idea! My ancestors’ Canada is over 400 years old! And my Native great-grandmother probably would have added a few thousand years to that count. So I did a number on our country’s memory. Often times, people have tried to make us believe things, swallow dates, and integrate ideas that had been pre-thought for us. ‘Confédération’ is about our collective selective memory when it comes to the historical events at the core of my people’s existence—French, Metis, Celtic. Events that were meant to put us out a little, to numb us quietly, to bring us to ‘acceptance’. Our memory cannot serve our past. Actually, it should be used to build our future.”

There’s the moving ‘Pauvre Enfant’, which skips along beautifully with amazing fiddle work and the album finally closes with the superb ‘Amant Volage’, a totally uplifting number with the whole band joining in to sing and the music flowing seamlessly away and ending exactly where you came in!

Le Vent du Nord
(Rejean, Nicolas, Olivier and Simon)

‘Têtu’ is the bands eighth album and the sixth with this line up giving them a stability that has come in useful to become one of the very top bands in their field. Though the lyrics are dark (Satan popping up is not an uncommon thing in Quebec music by all accounts) the music buzzes along leaving you feeling great. It shows that Le Vent du Nord ontinue to hold steadfast to their roots while also remaining uncompromising in their identity as movers and shakers in the Québécois tradition. The album is available to listen to on Bandcamp (see below) so take a chance and a hour out of your lives and give it a whirl. Superb traditional arrangements with beautiful male vocal harmonies, call & response, and even a cappella but there is so much going on in this record that I cannot help but feel that this is a very sorry review of ‘Têtu’, certainly there are better ones on the internet, but what I do hope comes across is how much I liked it and that my friends is all anyone is surely interested in.

(you can listen to the whole album by pressing play below)

Contact The Band

Facebook  WebSite  Bandcamp  Twitter  YouTube

Buy The Album

FromTheBand  

get the beers in and gather round the laptop as here’s a fantastic video of a whole Le Vent du Nord concert from Sunfest 2014.

we recently interviewed Quebec’s number one celtic-punk band so click here to find out more about the amazing Irish Moutarde.

NEW DROPKICK MURPHYS TRIBUTE ALBUM OUT TODAY!

Take a Shot Records are proud to announce the release of their first major album as a record label. The idea for ‘Famous For Nothing: A Tribute to Dropkick Murphys’ came from Mike Franey (The Scally Cap Brats) and Chris Arias (Blackthorn Billy), and their love for the band. It was decided that the best way to pay tribute to the band that has influenced them so much was to recruit others who felt the same way and to make a tribute compilation and donate all the proceeds to The Claddagh Fund (Dropkick Murphys’ own charity).

As Mike said

“both of us have listened to the band for a long, long time, and we felt that just covering their songs ourselves wasn’t enough. A quick chat with Ken Casey and he gave us permission to go forward with it and here we are!”

With the permission of Ken Casey and Dropkick Murphys, the compilation features eighteen bands from a wide array of places such as the United States, Sweden, Australia, Germany and Canada and 100% of the proceeds will be donated directly to the Claddagh Fund. Work on the release has been going on for over a year and it promises to deliver an eclectic mix of sounds from celtic-punk to street punk to folk to everything in between. Spanning the Murphys entire career, a wide array of songs have made the final roster for your listening pleasure.

The full track listing is as follows and you can click on the individual band name for more information.

Nowhere USA (Boston) – Never Alone
Blackthorn Billy (San Antonio) – A Few Good Men
BarRoom Heroes (Boston) – Barroom Hero
East End Radicals (Montreal) – Buried Alive

Murder State (Ottawa) – Worker’s Song
Saturday’s Heroes (Finspång) – Surrender
Hoist the Colors (Los Angeles) – Take ‘Em Down
The Ramshackle Army (Melbourne) – State of Massachusetts
Penalty Kill (Boston) – On The Attack
The Lucky Ones (St. Catharine’s) – Get Up
Irish Moutarde (Quebec City) – The Dirty Glass
Skullians (Toronto) – Heroes From Our Past
Machine Gun Dolly (Ottawa) – The Torch
Emscherkurve 77 (Oberhausen) – Fightstarter Karaoke (featuring Al Barr)
Brain Damage (Ottawa) – Curse of a Fallen Soul
The Scally Cap Brats (Ottawa) – Boys On The Docks
Hex Bombs (Kalamazoo) – Forever

and the CD ends with Irish-American celtic-punk legends

The Gobshites (Boston) – Shipping Up To Boston

ORDER NOW AT

 BANDCAMP

Official release date is today Tuesday, February 24th, 2015.

Contact Take A Shot Records  Bandcamp  Facebook

Contact The Claddagh Fund

The Claddagh Fund was founded in 2009 by Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys.  Ken, his bandmates and their families have supported charities throughout the history of the band.  Understanding the power of their position to harness the passion and generosity of their fans, the Claddagh Fund was created to raise funds for and broaden our impact on worthy, underfunded non-profits that support the most vulnerable individuals in our communities.

Utilizing a grassroots approach to fundraising, The Claddagh Fund supports community-based non-profits, with a focus on children and veterans organizations and programs that support alcohol and drug rehabilitation in cities across the country and around the world.  WebSite  Facebook  Twitter

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…

INTERVIEW WITH ‘IRISH MOUTARDE’

We were so blown away after reviewing their debut album last week we thought we’d ask the lads and lasses from Irish Moutarde a few questions so heres their replies!

What’s the music backgrounds of IRISH MOUTARDE? – In the band, we all have specific music backgrounds, but I guess that it is safe to say that we all like punk and metal music in general. Christian and Dominic really dig celtic and traditional music, Sebastien and I love progressive music, Andréa-Anne really love the Beatles, Fred has a strong background in punk music and Jérôme has a strong background in metal music.

Do any of the band come from celtic backgrounds? Where did the idea come from to start a celtic-punk band? –
Nope. Apart from Dominc and Christian being in a traditional celtic music band, we have no other celtic backgrounds. – Irish Moutarde was founded in July 2009. Before that, myself, Fred Vandal, Andrée-Anne McHalley, Jérôme Bélanger and Sébastien Malenfant were playing in a band called Eerie. I was also involved in the newly re-established St. Patrick’s Parade in Quebec City in March 2010, and I suggested to my fellow Eerie members to put together a tribute to Irish and Celtic rock. Everyone in the band responded enthusiastically to the idea. Four years later, we got an album that we are really proud of!

As Quebecians (is that right?) where do you stand on Quebec being a independent nation/republic? Is there much support for independence? – I think that the right word in english in “Quebecers”, though I’m not 100% sure. As a band, we do not have any political stance (we strongly believe that our shows, our public pages and the band as an entity are not appropriate for statements regarding politics). That being said, I can say that we had a referendum in 1995 that got very close to separate the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada (50.58% “No” to 49.42% “Yes”). But it’s something of the past now, people have moved on and the majority of the people who live in Quebec want to stay united with Canada.
Is their much of a Breton population in Quebec do you know? As a celtic nation it would be nice to know that their traditions and culture are surviving in Canada, much like the Scot’s. – As far as I know, there is not much of a Breton Population in our province. Most of our Celtic traditions and culture comes from the Irish.

Montreal has the largest Irish population in Canada i read once. How have the Irish influenced Irish Moutarde and if so why? – Most of our inspiration comes from the Irish and Scottish folklore. We just like the old traditional songs, the history of both nations, as well as their modern folklore. 3 or 4 of us have recently been in Scotland and Ireland, and these two countries are just beautiful.
You have had some amazingly good press recently but has it led to anything that could see you break out of the ‘CP’ bubble! – We are of course very happy that our album got good reviews all around the world. Even though we are a celtic punk band, it does not prevent us from playing all kind of festivals that are not centred around celtic music or even punk music.

The Canadian scene has thrown up some amazing celtic-punk bands over the years but who among the newish bands is worth looking out for? – All of these bands already have a few albums out, but I really like Sir Reg and Paddy and the Rats. I also recently discovered a fellow Canadian band called The Stanfields, which I find really amazing!
What’s the future got in store for the band? – We just released our album “Raise ‘Em All”, so the next year will be to directly support it. We will be playing 5 or 6 shows this fall across the province of Quebec, and 2014 will be a big year for us. We will have a lot of shows in March (for St-Patrick’s Day celebrations), and then the summer festivals will kick in in May. We will also be working on new songs already, we left some great ideas on the table, and we want to develop them for album 2 as soon as possible! Thanks!

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• ALBUM REVIEW: IRISH MOUTARDE- ‘Raise ‘Em All’ (2013) (londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com)

ALBUM REVIEW: IRISH MOUTARDE- ‘Raise ‘Em All’ (2013)

“Electric guitars, bagpipe and whisky: Celtic rock as it should be”

Formed in 2009 in Quebec city (a French speaking province of Canada) as a covers band playing traditional Irish songs but with a punk feel and attitude  and they’ve now gone on to develop into one of Canada’s best new celtic-punk bands. This their debut album  has exploded across the globe and brought them to everyone’s attention with reviews from your usual suspects like Celtic Folk Punk & More and Celtic Music Fan to loads more with no connection to celtic-punk.

Combining the usual punk rock instruments with banjo, mandolin and highland bagpipes, on my first listen they instantly reminded me of a celtic-punk NOFX. Rapid drumming and the up-tempo songs add a touch of rock, punk, celtic and even metal yet it all remains totally accessible in that unique celtic-punk way so that your punky mates as well as your mammy right down to yer wee nephews and nieces would love it. Of course it helps that the vocals are both crystal clear and perfectly sung whether on the ballad ‘Glasses To The Sky’ or the most NOFXie song ‘The Black Mill’. The most unusual thing about IRISH MOUTARDE is that they have duel male and female vocals. In a scene where the audiences are split evenly the actual bands with female vocalists are few and far between, BRUTUS DAUGHTER from Spain/Astures being the only one that springs to mind, most females are confined to fiddle or tin whistle duties and the only usual times you hear female vocals are when someone is guesting on a album!

Fields Of Athenry’ and ‘The Wearing Of The Green’ are the LP’s only covers the rest is all self-penned and mostly in English. The lyrics are mostly about drinking and rebellion. Dominant themes in celtic-punk I know but what the fucks the matter with that I say! The bagpipes are a ever present and it goes without saying are what pushes the album into celtic-punk territory. The Irish diaspora over here in our tiny bit of western Europe never really ever embraced the bagpipes as they did in North America and although I do prefer the sound of the Irish uilleann pipes its the Scots bagpipes that were made for accompanying loud and rocking punk and rock music. You can hear bands like the DKM’s and Real McKenzies in there but they have made the sound their own and in a scene where it is increasingly hard to be original that is a incredible thing. Twelve tracks in all and not a disappointing one among them and the fact that they even managed to do ‘Fields’ without it being a clone of anyone else’s version puts this LP into the classics section already!

Contact The Band:

Web-Site Facebook You-Tube

Buy The Album: Here

Three Interesting Whisky-Fuelled Band Facts:
1. The name Irish Moutarde was chosen because it is a pun on the French expression “relish-moutarde,” which the founding band members felt the name was (and still is) humorous, light and expressed their musical quality.
2. The band’s mascot is Olaf the Irish Giraffe, who was created by fans of the band Julie Lévesque and Guillaume Racine. The sixth song on their debut album is a tribute to this whisky drinking, green metal giraffe who sports a long white mane and long white goatee.
3. Their first original song was based on a song from one of the novels that inspired the hit TV show Game of Thrones. The song came out a year before the show debuted.

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• Interview With ‘Irish Moutarde’ From Quebec (londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com)