EP REVIEW: THE MAGGIE WHACKERS- ‘Naoned Whisky’ (2014)

Sans Regrets Sans Remords

This great celtic-punk band were formed in the city of Nantes in 2009 and are at the forefront of an amazing Breton celtic-punk scene along with Les Ramoneurs De Menhirs and the Sons Of O’Flaherty. We noticed recently that our pages were starting to become a little dominated by solely Irish music so we’ve tried to rectify that by trying to cover more about the other celtic nations and their influences so recently we’ve had articles on Scotland and Wales.

Sadly one of the lesser known celtic nations is Brittany. Occupied by France since the 15th century it is simply incredible and a remarkable testament to the people that despite, in common with all the other celtic nations, centuries of repression, discrimination and emigration that Brittany has clung so solidly to its celtic roots. Their language is very closely related to both Cornish and Welsh and despite the French government being able to show the British a few things in how to suppress native languages more than a quarter million people still speak Breton fluently! Today estimates suggest over 20% of the population have a knowledge of Breton and with the language and independence movement stronger than it has been for decades things are looking good for Brittany and whose to say it wont follow Scotland and Catalonia into independence. The sooner the better say we!

This release follows the path of their 2011 self titled release in that it also has 5 songs, also has a couple of traditional covers and the rest of the EP is made up of funny, drinking and political songs. That first release got them plenty of critical acclaim but this was followed by a period of silence that led me to believe they had split up. I was delighted then to recently come across a video of them playing with hip-hop world superstar Macklemore (here) at a gig last year and that was followed by news of a St Patrick’s 2014 tour of Brittany with the aforementioned Sons Of O’Flaherty…that would surely have been a set of gigs to die for!

So what do you get here. First track is the celtic-punk standard ‘Drunken Sailor’ which starts off as you’d expect but soon speeds up and the fiddle, mandolin and tin-whistle are soon working overtime to keep up with the vocals. Track 2 is ‘Sans Regrets Sans Remords’ which translates as ‘Without Regrets Without Remorse’ and is the only song not in English and is also the EP’s most punk rock song though the Breton bagpipes stand out enormously. ‘Fucking Goblins’ makes use of the electric guitar and mandolin again in a song about drinking too much whiskey! The fourth track is ‘I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Everyday’, a trad Irish song made famous by the Godfathers of celtic-punk The Pogues and would I’m sure make them as pleased as punch to hear it. The final song is my favourite and I could be a bit biased here as the chorus to it is

“Burn in hell Maggie Thatcher”

ska, celt and punk collide in a real fist in the air singalong and brings this fantastic EP to a end. Don’t come along to the Maggie Whackers expecting to hear ‘Irish’ celtic-punk as Brittany has its own celtic ways and traditions and sounds and this is evident in everything the band do and ought to ensure they are heard far and wide.

Contact The Band

Facebook  WebSite  MySpace  YouTube  Bandcamp  Noomiz

Buy The Record

Bandcamp

*By the way the title of the record is in Breton and simply means Nantes Whisky!

For everything you need to know about Brittany and its drive to independence The Breton Connection is an absolutely fantastic place to look so click here and find out more.

 

CELTIC HIP-HOP’S TOP SEVEN ARTISTS AND BANDS

For the sake of this article I have defined celtic hip-hop as being of two things… hip-hop made by people from a celtic background and hip-hop that is fused with celtic music. For that reason I haven’t included any rappers/hip-hop from the countries of origin. Mainly because I don’t know any but also partly because this blog is to celebrate and promote the celtic diaspora and the influence of that diaspora.

1. HOUSE OF PAIN

Not a lot to be said about these. Their are probably tribal villagers in the rain jungle who have at some point jumped around to that song!! Formed in 1991 in New York the group of school-friends became absolutely-bleeding-massive with the release of, yes, ‘that’ song in 1992. They released three albums and a compilation ‘Shamrocks And Shenanigans’. Although they stuck pretty close to the standard hip-hop way of doing things and never really included any celtic/Irish instruments they did occasionally use signatures reminiscent of Irish jigs. Absolutely huge world wide and can be credited with being a huge influence on Irish-America and the wider Irish diaspora, even today. Still performing but more so these days to promote the lead singer Everlast’s solo career.

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2. MARXMAN

From their name you ought to be able to tell they veered a wee bit to the left. Formed in Bristol by college friends towards the end of the 1980’s these boys did not mess around! Marxman were unrepentant socialists and championed the underdog and victims of social injustice. Their first album ’33 Revolutions Per Minute’ included the song ‘Sad Affair’ which comprised lyrics from the Christy Moore penned song ‘Irish Ways And Irish Laws’ and was subsequently banned by the BBC. They also touched on themes such as domestic violence and slavery. They incorporated Irish instruments alongside the music making something totally original for that time. They sadly faded away after their much less politicised 2nd album came out though they are credited with being one of the fore-runners of the ‘Trip-Hop’ (see Portishead or Tricky) genre which originated in Bristol.

LastFM  Discogs

3. MACKLEMORE

We’ve already done an article on the Seattle born rapper Ben Haggerty here so head there if you want to read a bit more on him. Suffice to say he’s another Irish-American rapper who wears his roots proudly on his sleeve. Debut album ‘The Heist’ came out in 2012 and this year his massive hit ‘Thrift Shop’ hit #1 in far too many countries to mention here! His lyrics are a million miles away from most major hip-hop artists and although he doesn’t use any celtic instruments or tunes his song ‘Irish Celebration’ can leave you in absolutely no doubt where he stands!

Web-Site  Facebook  Twitter

4. BELTAINE’S FIRE

Formed in 2005 in San Francisco by solo-anarchist rapper Emcee Lynx they started out as ‘folk-rap’ with influences alongside their hip-hop from Scottish and Irish music but soon evolved and introduced other musical elements and aspects into their sound. They have released 3 studio albums, the last being ‘Anarchitecture’ in 2011 (the profits of which they donated to Occupy Wall Street). Huge supporters of file-sharing much of their music is either free or ‘pay as much as you can’. Another highly political band and they have played many benefits and appeared on many compilation albums for causes such as the Anarchist Black Cross and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Web-Site  MySpace

5. SEANCHAI AND THE UNITY SQUAD

Chris Byrne a Irish-American cop co-founded the celtic-rock band Black47 with Larry Kirwan in 1989. While playing with Black47 Chris set up these lot as a side-project. A ‘seanchai’ is a traditional Irish storyteller/historian and ancient teller of old tales so in this respect its a absolutely spot on name! They’ve released several albums and all contain the same mix of hip-hop, Irish folk, rock and punk, R&B, reggae/ska, protest anthems, rebel songs and prank phone calls to radio hosts that we have come to expect. Really, when you put on a Seanchai LP you never know if you’re gonna hit a punk song like ‘Irish Catholic Boy’ or hip-hop like ‘Sportin Paddy! A casserole of cultures that will soon make them a staple on your musical menu.

MySpace  LastFM 

6. MANAU

Not being a huge hip-hop fan I was going to keep it short and just do the Top Five but after coming across this band I thought I better expand it into a Top Six. Manua (the old Breton gaelic name for the Isle Of Man) were formed in 1998 in Paris by members of that cities huge Breton diaspora. In 1998 they had a massive hit with ‘La Tribu de Dana’ which tells the story of the tribe of Dana, and is the name of a group of figures in Irish mythology. They have released six albums, the last being this years ‘Fantasy’ and although they have moved somewhat away from the celtic sound sometimes those early releases are absolute stand-outs in the celtic-music world.

Web-Site  Facebook

7. SLAINE

Well so much for a Top Six! Slaine, or George Carroll as he’s known to his mammy, is a Boston born rapper and these days a quite famous actor as well. Inspired by the House Of Pain and a move to New York he became active in that city’s burgeoning underground hip-hop scene. He’s released several albums and been on countless compilations and has just released his latest called ‘The Boston Project’. He teams up with Danny Boy O’Connor from the House Of Pain to perform as the House Of Slaine and they sell some of the most brilliant alternative Irish t-shirts on the internet. Well worth a look here.

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A couple other notables are the ‘Lordz Of Brookyln’ and ‘Da Ded Rabbitz’ but no one could tell me anything about them …

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Related articles

• Celtic-Hip Hop! Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – ‘Irish Celebration’ (londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com)

CELTIC-HIP HOP! MACKLEMORE AND RYAN LEWIS – ‘IRISH CELEBRATION’

Once upon a time St. Patrick’s Day was a day for the Irish worldwide to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, but over the past few decades it has slowly but surely morphed into a advertising campaign for Guinness. Fortunately Macklemore is here to rightfully reclaim the day with his anthemic Irish Celebration, a cut that both lyrically and sonically pays tribute to the Emerald Isle. Production duties are handled by his partner Ryan Lewis, who masterfully manages to approximate bagpipes without using actual bagpipes, creating a foot stomping beat that Macklemore expands into a sing-along-able homage to his ancestor’s fierce pride: “I’m an Irishman, leathered weathered Irish skin, beard orange as the sunset and the flag.”

I’m an Irishman
Leather weathered Irish skin
Beard orange as the sunset  over the flag
In the night sky we fly it in
Pride for the life we fight  to live
History, I write with it
Spit it with the dialect
And this  is a celebration of course
The green, white, orange
And when they pulled  up on that shore
First generation born
Toast to those that made it on a  boat to New York
And when the English came the colonizer came
They  filled up bottles of gasoline, turned ’em into balls of flame
And hurled ’em  to protect what’s ours
Don’t touch these lucky charms
Whole bunch of  Irish screaming “Fuck the London Guard”
I’m kidding not dissin’ London, this  bloody war
But go against the Irish and get a bloody jaw
Preaching  nonviolence but reminds of the scars
And the bias, put a pint up everybody  sing a song

We put our glass to the sky and lift up
And live tonight  ’cause you can’t take it with ya
So raise a pint for the people that aren’t  with us
And live tonight ’cause you can’t take it with ya

From New England to New Brunswick
Galway to Dublin
A rebellious nation of freckled face hustlers
Heart,  blue collared workers and family
My heritage, proud to be a Haggerty
Now  with whiskey in our veins
Claiming were the bravest men
I drank Old  Crow, but pretended it was Jameson
Dad sipped Guiness, I sipped Old  English
‘Til he sat me down at 16 and said “boy, this is what a beer is”
I put down the drink, couldn’t drink like a gentleman
That doesn’t mean I  can’t make a drinking song for the rest of ’em
Challenge us in football,  yeah we might lose
But don’t put us next to a bar stool
We take the  history, script it in song
Light the torch then you pass it on
That’s  right I said, lineage through the rhythm we script it from the palm
and we  give til’ Ireland is on
Bottoms Up

We put our glass to the sky and  lift up
And live tonight ’cause you can’t take it with ya
So raise a  pint for the people that aren’t with us
And live tonight ’cause you can’t  take it with ya

‘Irish Celebration’ is from ‘The Vs’ EP but you can get a free download of the song here from MACKLEMORE’s web-site.

or here http://www.sendspace.com/file/cgrrab

great interview with yer man here from Rap Ireland where goes in depth about his Irish heritage, his struggles with addiction and the work he puts in outside the studio to stay creative.