CELTIC PUNK OLD AND NEW

The Pogues. The Mahones. Flogging Molly. The Dropkicks. All bands who’ve made their mark on the Celtic-Punk genre. But we can’t forget the lesser-known bands too, the musicians working tirelessly to keep the flag up and flyin’! In his first guest post, Andy Beck (aka. The Celtic Punk Author) showcases the old and new from his small, but growing Celtic Punk playlist on Spotify.

We kick things off with Sir Reg, an energetic six-piece from Sweden with a top Irish singer in Brendan Sheehy. “Giving It Up (The Drink)” is a prime example of what these guys can do, arguably bettered only by the irresistible “FOOL (Fight Of Our Lives)”. This outstanding track appears further down the playlist, and is taken from the same album, 2018’s The Underdogs.

If Reg are still too well-known for ya, then how about the acoustic fun of Anthony Leclair? “A Prayer To Spirits” is an expletive-laden number that sits finely among the rest (before proceeding to fall drunk under the table). “Jack Daniels can just fuck right off, I’d rather drink shite beer”, is how it goes. And I can get behind that. Sorry, but you’re talking to a single malts guy who’s visited about half the distilleries in Scotland, so mine’s a Lagavulin 16.

One more fun acoustic one before we get back into the heavier shit. Check out “McGuffin” by an outfit called Gypsy Rebel Rabble, hailing from Dublin’s fair city. This song was written about a man with some sort of grudge, and an unstoppable urge for revenge, and I’ve been hooked on it since first it was recommended to me. So be sure to give that one a spin for proof that Celtic punk don’t always gotta be distorted.

Gypsy Rebel Rabble hail from Dublin. Give the uptempo “McGuffin” a spin!

Meet the Germans!

If you’re lookin’ for Celtic music beyond the Celtic countries, you’ll go a long way to find a more fertile place than Germany. There are about a dozen Irish pubs in Berlin alone, and I’m unashamed to tell you that it’s precisely this fine city that got me into Irish music properly. I lived there for 6 years, travelled around the country a bit, and came across a number of awesome acts who can hold a candle (and a Guinness) to any Irish, Scottish, American or Canadian folk punk band out there.

On the playlist, we kick shit off with The Feelgood McLouds. If “McGuffin” (see above) had me hooked from the go, so did these guys’ track “Dirty Bastards”. It’s a catchy offering by the Saarland group, with lyrics about camaraderie and a bagpipe leading the tune against a wall of distorted guitars. I challenge you to listen to it and not start nodding your head, tapping your feet or whatever the feck else one does when enjoyin’ a tune.

Another band you shouldn’t miss is the Kilkenny Knights. I had the honour of playing the same festival as these guys in 2015, when they won the Newcomer Award that my old band The Celtic Gobshites had won the previous year. And sure enough, “A Drinker’s Song” boasts a catchy accordion riff that takes me right back to them Irish pubs and mediaeval markets that I loved so well.

No reference to German Celtic punk would be complete without a nod to the kings of ’em all – Fiddler’s Green. These guys organise an entire festival every year in North Bavaria, known as the Shamrock Castle Festival, and it would have taken place this year too had it not been for that bastard virus. Still, “John Kanaka” is the band’s fine-ass reworking of an old Hawaiian sea shanty, complete with beer cup antics before the guitars and drums knock your ears into gear. “Yindy” is another one I chucked on the playlist, with fun – albeit slightly silly – lyrics to keep ye grinning.

The Kilkenny Knights, all the way from Coburg, Germany

A Few Surprises!

I’ll leave yers with a few surprise tracks that ye may not have expected on a Celtic punk playlist. Ever heard of Saor Patrol? If no, these guys are aboot as Scottish as it gets, ya wee bawbags. They’re a pipes and drums band whose proceeds go entirely to the Clanranald Trust, an educational establishment that preserves and spreads medieval Scottish culture. “Three Wee Jigs” is a perfect example o’ how these guys can rock ya socks off, so stick it on, crank the volume and go mental.

If the Germans had ya riveted earlier with their take on the music, then check out French outfit Toxic Frogs too. This all-female act knows how to sing, scream and folk with the best of ’em. The lyrics are admittedly a tad difficult to understand, but show me a punk fan who cares much about that and I’ll show ya a bad seed.

Last of all – but by nae means least – I have to cite the mighty Alestorm! Though pirate metal is these dudes’ specialty rather than Celtic punk, I believe they deserve a spot or two on the playlist. Almost all of their songs are about pirates and sailing the seven seas, so the outrageously funny “Wooden Leg” will surely not disappoint! Check it out, but be prepared to be hooked (no pun intended).

So where’s the damn playlist, then?

Thought you might ask me that Click HERE to be taken there, ye gobshites.

If ya like what you hear, the creator would sure appreciate a like. Feel free to tell someone else about it if ya think they’d like it too (in English: please share). Got any recommendations for what should be on the ol’ list? Send ’em to The Celtic Punk Author on Instagram -> @thecelticpunkauthor

Sláinte mhaith and enjoy the ceol, ya bollockses x

ALBUM REVIEW: TIR NAN OG- ‘From The Gallows’ (2018)

From The Gallows is the fourth album from German Celtic folk punk band Tir Nan Og. Released in January 2018 according to Marvey Mills it delivers an instant slab of authentic folk punk loveliness from the opening song to the very last drop of the fourteenth track.

It is necessary, when reviewing an album, to draw comparisons with others of the genre in order to locate it in the broad and diverse spectrum, for the delight and delectation of the reader. I have found that many European Celtic folk punk bands tend to focus on a few keys themes; drinking, fighting and wenching, wrapped up in fast aggressive tunes with the distorted guitar turned up to 11 and the drummer beating out a rhythm like a runaway train. Songs you might imagine singing along with at the top of your voice, pint of booze in one hand and the other clenched in a fist punching the air in defiance of the oppressive overlords of the past. From the Gallows is not one of those albums. Think of a combination of Black Water County, The Biblecode Sundays and Mad Dog Mcrea with a little of the whimsy of Merry Hell thrown in for good measure and you will get somewhere close. Don’t get me wrong, all those good old familiar party themes are well represented here, but the musical underpinning is layered, sophisticated, varied, skilfully delivered and occasionally surprising.

The opening track, “O’ Hanlon’s Last Words”, sets out the stall for the album and I knew by twenty seconds in that I would love the whole album. Leading from the front with some capering-pace solid fiddle licks and acoustic strums it melds seamlessly into the opening lyrics. Robert Meyer, the most Irish sounding German voice I have ever heard, delivers “Bless me Father for I have sinned done quite an evil deed”. His gravelly tones supported by dancing flute riffs, you know instantly where this track is going. He is joined on vocals by Sarah Kucharek, sounding for all the world like Shannon from Black Water County, in some fabulous backing harmonies as the song build pace.

Tir Nan Og left to right: Sarah Kucharek- Vocals, Traverse Flute * Robert Mayer- Guitars, Vocals * Andreas Fingas- Backing Vocals, Bagpipes, Whistles * Volker Katzki- Drums, Bodhran * Joachim ‘Joggi’ Fink- Bass * MatthiasPracht- Fiddle, Nyckelharpa

Loosely themed, naturally enough, around the struggles of life and death with the shadow of the gallows ever-present, the album keeps up a blistering pace, throwing in the ubiquitous tin whistle, flute and some alternative percussion I could not quite identify, as it romps from song to song. By  track three, Sarah takes over on lead vocals on the excellent “Firestorm” with scaffolding ably provided by some growling fiddle, droning pipes (maybe!) and backing harmonies from the rest of the band. The thoughtful fourth track “Monster (In My Mind)” dials down the pace a little and is pushed along by interwoven flute and whistle harmonies, with a beautiful flute and fiddle breakdown towards the end.

Sarah returns on haunting lead vocals for my personal favourite track on the album, ‘Last Farewell’, telling the sorry tale of Myles Joyce, one of three men wrongfully convicted and hanged in 1882 for the murder of a local family on the border between Mayo and Galway after a shameful trial by British authorities. “Toll for me the Angelus bell, let it ring let it sing my last farewell”.

The pathos is punctured admirably by the next two tracks “Three Nights in Town” and “Shaun O’Malley”. Riotous and ribald romps documenting the misfortunes of drinking too much when seeking romance and of being mistaken for the ne’er-do-well Mr O’Malley wherever the author turns. The latter being the perfect song for spinning and reeling audience participation at any whiskey-fuelled gig at a certain point in the evening! I am looking forward to being in that crowd one day, screaming “Who the fuck is Shaun O’Malley” along with the band onstage.

The fun doesn’t end there though. Seven more tracks complete the album, including two bonus tracks, with the instrumental “Bastard Reel” being a standout joyous and fiddle-driven reel, with one of the final songs sung in the band’s native tongue. The final track “Johnny Pirate”, with alternating English and German verses, is happy pirate rock documenting the life and times of Johnny Depp!

Tir Nan Og’s music is familiar, even on the first listen. Authentic and eclectic in its influences it draws on a pantheon of instantly recognisable themes. This absorbs you, quickly and completely. But just when you think you know where it is going, the band changes tempo, drops in a change, adds a different instrument or goes in a new direction. That is one of things I really enjoyed about this album, it never seems to get complacent or relies on regurgitating that which has gone before. Skilled and layered musicianship expertly woven together with glorious vocals and harmonies create dynamism and energy exhibited by the best that Celtic folk punk has to offer. I like this band so much I am off to purchase their first three albums and I will be looking out for them eagerly on the gig and festival circuit.

Discography

Ardacris (2016) * Jack Of Folk (2015) * Bitter Brew (2012) * After Work (2019) *

Buy From The Gallows

FromTheBand  Amazon

Contact Tir Nan Og

WebSite  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube  LastFM

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS OUR BEST OF 2014!

TOP TWENTY CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS OF 2014

Last year our ‘Best Of’ list was completely dominated by bands from these shores but this time there’s a much more international flavour to 2014’s Best Album’s list. Again Irish influenced bands dominate but the absolute standout album for me was without a doubt Uncle Bard And The Dirty Bastards from Italy who nailed their fusion of punk rock and traditional music completely. With their own roots and influences included along with some amazing uilleann piping they are deserved winners of the Best Album spot. Kitchen Implosion join them in what has been a great year for Italian bands. Sure not all of these twenty bands are celtic-punk in the dictionary definition of the phrase but sod that anyway. These are what we liked and they all fit in in some way. Twenty bands from thirteen countries (Italy, England, Sweden, Brittany, Canada, Ireland, USA, Australia, Brazil, Catalonia, Germany, Switzerland and Belguim) which only goes to show the international appeal of the celtic-punk scene these days. A special mention for London Irish band Creeds Cross superb debut album. Only just caught them live and they were awesome so hoping to see much more of them around town in 2015.

As ever we have reviewed some, though not all of these albums, so click (here) after the title and you will be re-directed to our review.

We compiled the ‘Best Of’ lists together from the scraps of paper handed to me by the various admins from the London Celtic Punks facebook page.

1. UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS- ‘Get The Folk Out!’ (here)

2. CREEDS CROSS- ‘Gods And Fighting Men (here)

3. ROVERS AHEAD- Always The Sinner, Never The Saint (here)

4. LES RAMONEURS DE MENHIRS- Tan Ar Bobl (here)

5. THE MAHONES- The Hunger And The Fight

6. BLOOD OR WHISKEY- Tell The Truth And Shame The Devil (here)

7. THE ROUGHNECK RIOT- Out Of Anger

8. BASTARD BEARDED IRISHMEN- Rise Of The Bastard (here)

9. JAY WARS- Carry Me Home (here)

10. THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY- Letters from the Road Less Travelled

11. 6’10- The Humble Beginnings Of A Rovin’ Soul (here)

12. LUGH- Quando Os Canecos Batem (here)

13. SIGELPA- TerraMorte (here)

14. KITCHEN IMPLOSION- Pretty Work Brave Boys! (here)

15. THE KILKENNY KNIGHTS- Bradys Pub Tales (here)

16. BEYOND THE FIELDS- The Falcon Lives (here)

17. THE YOUNG DUBLINERS- ‘Nine (here)

18. KELTIKON- Agenbite Of Inwit (here)

19. FM 359- Truth, Love And Liberty (here)

20. THE BLACK TARTAN CLAN – Scotland in Our Hearts

a special special mention for three absolutely brilliant compilation albums too. Can’t really include them in the Best of charts so heres all three in no particular order at all as they are all 11 out of 10!

a class album with 4 songs per band and an absolutely beautifully put together record. THE PORTERS/ THE JUDAS BUNCH/ THE MAHONES/ MALASANERS 4-WAY SPLIT DOUBLE ALBUM- ‘Welcome To The Folk Punk Show’ (2014)  here

a mostly Russian compilation paying tribute to all (lets just face it they are!) our favourite celtic-punk band- ‘Ex-USSR Tribute To The Dropkick Murphys’ (2014)  here

this ought to be the number one album of the year to be honest. a fecking amazing compilation of Indonesian celtic-punk bands.the quality is amazing throughout.absolutely stunning. I cannot recommend enough!! ‘Wind From The Foreign Land- Indonesian Celtic-Punk Compilation’ (2014)  here

TOP FIVE CELTIC PUNK EP’S OF 2015

No question which EP deserved this and Russia’s Middle Class Bastards just blasted us away with their follow up to their 2013 album. Superb use of bagpipes and brass instruments combined with fast but tuneful punk rock. A bit unfortunate for Black Water County who looked nailed on to win this for most of the year with their fantastic 2nd EP. The Breton band The Maggie Whackers released their EP back at the start of the year while The South Sea Ramblers from South Africa literally released theirs just a couple of weeks ago while LQR from Holland slipped theirs out in time for St Patricks Day… ooh err missus! So spread out across the year but these are the ones that left their mark. Looking forward to hearing more from them all and long players must be arriving soon I hope.

1. MIDDLE CLASS BASTARD- Rebel To The Core (here)

2. BLACK WATER COUNTY- Fellowship Of the Craic (here)

3. THE MAGGIE WHACKERS- Naoned Whisky (here)

4. LQR- A Touch Of Liquor (here)

5. SOUTH SHORE RAMBLERS- Bare Knuckle Blackout

TOP FIVE TRAD ALBUMS OF 2014

As the blog is for (mostly) celtic punk so it is that we only review stuff that isn’t celtic punk if we really really (really!!) like it. All these rocked our boat and we loved them all to bits. Hard to decide which order they should go in but this is how we ended up. Turned out to be an all Irish list with I DRAW SLOW from Dublin with beautiful alternative country sounds and both Cork’s THE BUACHAILLS and London’s THE CRAICHEADS going head to head with both bands playing similar styles of music while Irish-American supergroup THE ALT’s debut album was a worthy runner-up to fellow Irish-Americans RUNA’s brillliant fourth album.

1. RUNA- Current Affairs (here)

2. THE ALT- ‘The Alt (here)

3. THE CRAICHEADS- Brewed in London (here) 

3. THE BUACHAILLS- At Your Call (here)

5. I DRAW SLOW- ‘WhiteWave Chapel (here)

BEST CELTIC PUNK WEB-SITE OF 2014

once again there is no question who gets this

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

(find it here)

 keeping the whole wide world up to date with what’s going on and who is doing who within celtic punk (and more!) while also supplying us with regular free downloads and free compilations. Waldo you’re great. Keep it up mate!

BEST GIGS

Apart from the ones we put on which were all amazing and showcased some amazing performances from JAY WARS and THE DEAD MAGGIES from Aus, THE GREENLAND WHALEFISHERS from Norway, a couple of benefit gigs for Mad Dog out The Popes (hope youre back on your guitar highkicking soon pal!), BLACK WATER COUNTY played their London debut and went down a fecking storm, me O’s mates STEVE WHITE AND THE PROTEST FAMILY were as superb as ever and released a fantastic album. One of the major highlights was discovering the quintessential London Celtic Punk in ANTO MORRA and we look forward to working with him again in the future. We teamed up with fellow Londoners of Urbankelt and will be doing so again too.

I also saw DAVID ROVICS for the first time, THE MEN THEY COULDN’T HANG’s amazing 30th anniversary show was incredible, NECK and their sadly ended residency at TChances which had us all pissed on Polish lager on Sunday afternoons for the first 6 months of the year, FLOGGING MOLLY in Reading in June which showed they havent lost a thing and are as great as ever, THE POGUE TRADERS were the best Pogues tribute band I ever seen. Disappointing was missing so many gigs where I just didnt have the cash especially The Pogues various outings. THE STANFIELDS from Canada seemed like a decent bunch of lads but their London gig was a total rip-off. The pre-gig ticket price was £7-50 which more than doubled to £15 on the door on the night. Oi bands watch out for charlaten promoters won’t you? Rebellion music fest brings loads of decent bands over to play but that means that they all end up playing in the same week so I had to forgo THE GO-SET’s return to London. Missed out on THE WOLFE TONES London gigs too due to work. All three of them! THE LAGAN have been brilliant. Far far too many of their gigs to go into detail so we have choosen the whole of St Patricks Weekend as our Number One! With NECK playing three gigs over the weekend and both THE BIBLE CODE SUNDAYS and THE LAGAN playing on the same day as well it seen a clean sweep of all the London bands done. Afterwards sick days were phoned in, headache pills were taken and the best St Patricks in donkeys was had.

Now were just looking forward to catching THE DROPKICK MURPHYS ‘Celtic Invasion ‘ Tour in Dublin and London this year round St Patricks Day.

Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- 2015

 

Of course all these things are very subjective so don’t be dismayed if your album ain’t here. What appeals to one don’t neccessarily appeal to another. It would be impossible to keep up with the multitude of celtic-punk related releases so these are the best of of what we actually did get to hear. All the various sites in the celtic-punk family had different winners so to see what they thought check out the Best Of lists of the following sites…

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

IRISH PUNK

PADDYROCK/GRINNNING BEGGAR

MacSLONS IRISH PUB RADIO

click on the blog logo at the top of the page to find more of this kind of stuff…

ALBUM REVIEW: KILKENNY KNIGHTS- ‘Brady’s Pub Tales’ (2014)

Bagpipes, Accordion, Tin Whistle, Mandolin… celtic-punk as it says on the tin!

Formed back in 2009 in the town of Coburg in Bravaria in the south-east of Germany this small town has something other than inventing the hot dog to be famous for and that my friends is the latest in a long line of wonderful German celtic-punk bands The Kilkenny Knights!

As I write this its just a few days since Kilkenny beat my team Tipperary (yet again) by just a point in the National Hurling League but I won’t let that get the better of me and how could I as the Knights play brilliant old-fashioned celtic-punk with a German folk twist combining to make a great first record from the Knights and one we can’t recommend enough.

‘Brady’s Pub Tales’ is the result and the band can be proud to have a produced an album full of first class songs that not only are all original Kilkenny Knights compositions but even with the CD clocking in at over 53 minutes and 14 songs never drags and just simply flies by.

As for the actual music it’s pretty hard to pigeon hole except it has a real German feel to it. When I reviewed the album by The Auld Corn Brigade (here) I had the same feeling. Something just felt ‘German’ about them in a way I couldn’t say about bands from other European countries. That is in no way a slight and that German folk twist I mentioned earlier really adds to the music and takes it in a different direction to what I’m use to. This is something I’d like to see more of in the celtic-punk scene. Too many bands ignore their own culture’s and are reluctant to share their music. As someone once said

“All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard no horse sing a song”

As is law, and we must obey!, in celtic-punk all new bands in the scene must be compared to the ‘Holy Trinity’ of celtic-punk bands The Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly and The Pogues. There’s definitely influences of the first two, more so The Murphy’s due to the bagpipes leading the way. Have to add a extra mention here for Wolfi’s bagpipe playing which is as good as I’ve heard on any celtic-punk album.

The album kicks off with ‘Raise Your Pints’ yer standard celtic-punk exclamation about even though bad things may happen in life you should raise your pint and drink with your friends instead of feeling sorry for yourself…and who could argue with that. Straddling both the Murphys and the Mollys its a great song to have a listen to when you’re down in the dumps. Followed swiftly by ‘Piperdemon’ showcasing more of that outstanding bagpipes I’ve been raving about and then slowing down for ‘Rebel’ with the excellent lyrics standing out clear and proud

“Some call them rebels

-and rebels fight proud

but does a rebel only fight for his home?

I don’t call them rebels

cause rebels can die

and a hero stands the test of time”

All the instruments are played with absolute gusto and are superbly played from the electric guitars and drums down to yer more traditional folk ones. ‘Adam The Hunter’ has probably the most German folk feel to it with flute leading the almost thrashy guitar.

‘Dance’ is great bagpipe led punk track about guess what…

 “Guys come a little closer and listen to us,

When The Kilkenny Knights right sing their chorus”

Followed by the stand out track for me, ‘Final Course’, a mid-paced song about a man who looks back on a fulfilled life setting sail for his final journey. Great tune and great lyrics with the accordion to the fore this time. ‘Wind In My Sails’ is a very clever song using metaphors a sailor would use to describe being in love. Lyrics on the album certainly deserve a special mention and it never ceases to amaze me that non-english speaking bands can write such amazing lyrics in english and the Knights are no exception. Every song is a wee story in itself. The CD comes with a lyric booklet but with everything sung so clearly by the band you’ll hardly need it.  ‘A Drinkers Song’, extolling the virtues of drinking whiskey, jigs by as fast as anything and ‘O’Farrells Chest’ is a lovely ballad telling the story of how it’s possible to build a legend out of a little thing that might not be that important.

 “Everybody knows that if talking is silver… silence is gold!”

 The album ends with The Kilkenny Knights anthem and the song they bring down the curtain with in their shows ‘Not A Friendly Farewell’ which tells the story of a pub fight interspersed with ‘Amazing Grace’  and ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and a great punk rock tune- (bravely the Knights admit to losing the fight!!).

A really great release and hopefully The Kilkenny Knights will go on to bigger and better things and get the recognition this album certainly deserves.

Jeez the list of bands I need to see is getting out of hand!

Contact The Band

WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  MySpace  Twitter

Buy The Album

Here