Well that has blown us away. To say we have been delighted with the response to this years Readers Poll is an understatement. For the first time ever over we had 1000+ votes cast. That’s an incredible 600+ more on 2020. Last years winners Mickey Rickshaw would only have placed 5th place this year! It was a three horse race right from the very beginning and we knew it was going to be a good year with over 200 votes cast in the first few hours. It stayed that way until the final day the poll was open and in the last 24 hours one band came from nowhere to sweep to victory!
The winner of the 2020 London Celtic Punks Readers Poll is (drum roll!) Aussies The G-Set with an astounding 25.4% of the votes cast. McScallywag looked odds on for victory leading from day 2 from early leaders Finnegan’s Hell. Black Water County moved into 2nd place and it stayed that way till the Aussie vote turned up. Most of the votes came from the UK with the Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, USA, Canada and France following.
The ‘other’ (the write in part) section was interesting with 22 releases gaining votes with two that I hadn’t heard (The Bonny Men and The Roughians). The Top 5 in this section were
CLOVERS REVENGE – Truants And Absolution
THE NEW RUFFIANS – Shenanigans
7 STOUT CLAN – 7 Stout Clan
PADDY WAGGIN- Race To The Bottom
BARBAR O’RHUM – Journal de B’O’R
the top three here would have all finished above Ogras in the main poll in 5th, 6th and 7th place.
So cheers for taking part in our poll and congratulations to The Go-Set. A wonderful band and proof that they mean an awful lot to a lot of people. You may not know it but they played a massive part in the existence of London Celtic Punks too so we owe them our thanks as well. Hopefully 2021 will bring all these bands the recognition they deserve and things will settle down to normal soon. You can check out the official London Celtic Punks Best Of 2020 list here. Hard to predict what the following year will be like but we do know several releases from ‘big’ bands were delayed from last year so hopefully we will see them emerge soon. Why not consider subscribing and never miss a post (the box is on the left when viewed full size) we promise not to bombard you too much!
Well here we go again. It seems an awful long time since we were compiling all the votes into 2019’s Best Of. Last year saw The Walker Roaders triumph but with this year being a lot quieter on the Celtic-Punk front thanks to the lockdowns around the world bands have found themselves unable to tour and promote new releases so have held onto them till things got better. Still that’s not to say it was a complete wash out and as you can see from below their have been some absolute knock-outs during the year.
Remember this is only our opinion so feel free to comment, slag off or dissect our lists. The Readers Poll is back again this year so you can even vote on your favourite release of 2020 yourself. We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…
(for more information click on the release title in green)
Was very close between the top three this year but Ogras seem to have been not only our favourites but also most of the Celtic-Punk medias too. A lot less albums may have come out during the year but still plenty more that didn’t make the cut. Don’t be down hearted if you are one of them it could just be that one of the judges hadn’t heard that album. Again if we don’t hear your album we can’t review it so the massive majority here are ones that were sent in to us. We only need a download link (NO Spotify!) and we’re happy. Out of the 30 albums 18 countries were represented including 2 from the Celtic nations Scotland #4 and Brittany #13 and our first from Hawaii!
Several bands have taken the chance during the lockdown to release compilations of sorts. While it would be a little unfair to include them in the main ‘Best Of’ section they still deserve a mention. Among these were two 30 year celebrations from two of Celtic-Punks most successful and popular bands in THE MAHONES – This Is All We Got To Show For It and FIDDLER’S GREEN – 3 Cheers For 30 Years. Both fully deserve a round of applause, a raise of the pint and a tip o’ the hat! Band compilations included ANTO MORRA – Twenty, THE DEAD RABBITS – The Dead Rabbits, LEXINGTON FIELD – Here’s To You Ten Years Of Fiddle Rock and LQR – Barrel-Aged. A couple of live albums THE STANFIELDS – Welcome To The Ball and ShamROCKS – FCP Livewere both well received, you may have heard that a little known band THE POGUES put out a new album of previously unreleased materialBBC Sessions 1984-86andQuintessential Quarantuneswas a 6-band compilation released in the Summer featuring the Bible Code Sundays and The Reels. MacSlons Irish Pub Radio also released volume 5 of Raise Your Pints the best Celtic-Punk sampler around of 19 of the Celtic-Punk scenes best bands.
You have to go back to the beginning of January for 1916’s release and though many more would challenge it stayed top of the pile all year long. Some great debut releases here from bands that will I am sure go on to bigger things. This time last year I was crowing about Shanghai Treason and how much I was looking forward to seeing them play… well I still am!
This year’s winner of Best Debut Album comes from a continent where Celtic-Punk appears to be booming! The South American scene has been dominated in the past by bands from Brazil and Argentina (last years winners in this category were Aires Bastardos from Argentina) but with Batallón de San Patricio from Guadalajara in Mexico things are changing with several bands popping up over the last couple of years. The last twelve months have seen Batallón de San Patricio garner favourable reviews from various singles and live streams. Hermanos De Guerra/ Brothers Of War is delivered entirely in Spanish and spans the length of Celtic-Punk from trad Irish up to Celtic-PUNK making it fully deserving of the award.
Always the hardest list to compile as it covers so much ground. Some of these bands play Trad Folk with a Punk Rock heart like Clover’s Revenge while others didn’t quite fit as Celtic-Punk releases but the winners are the Rose family from NY state otherwise known as The Wild Irish Roses. An album that took us by surprise and managed to please everyone.
Now this section is tinged with sadness. There is no question which site has the biggest impact on the Celtic-Punk scene over the last year and while not strictly a web-site the CELTIC PUNK, FOLK AND ROCK FANS group on Facebook fully deserved this years award. Sadness because the group founder Mike Kilroe very sadly passed away at the beginning of the month. Created back in February 2019 it was around the time of last years ill fated St. Patrick’s day and the subsequent Dropkick Murphys live stream show that membership of the group exploded and has now passed over 8000 members. If on Facebook they should be your first port of call, alongside us of course! We had a great interview with the founder of the group Mike back in May that you can find hereand of course our thoughts go out to his family and friends.
We are not alone in doing these Best Of 2020 lists in fact all the major players in Celtic-Punk do them so click below to check out what they thought.
So there you go. Remember we have never pretended to be the final word on things in fact have a look at the other Celtic-Punk media’s Best Of’s and I’m sure they are all pretty different. Our Best Of’s, as usual, cajoled and bullied out of the admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page and then tallied up over a few pints in Mannions in north London. One important thing to note is that not all of us heard the same albums so like all the various Best Of’s ours is also subjective.
Nine years we’ve been doing these lists now. It seems incredible looking back at some of the previous winners and also-rans how so many bands are still with us from Year 1. If you would like to check for yourself then just click on the link below the relevant year.
Alongside the Best Of polls we also run a special Readers Poll where you get to pick your favourite release of the year. This will be The Readers Poll’s third year with Krakin’ Kellys and Mickey Rickshaw previously champions! There is only room to list the Top Ten albums but there is an option to write in your favourite release of 2020. You are allowed to vote for up to two releases but not for the same artist.
The Poll will close at midnight on Sunday 31st January with the result announced soon after.
Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2021
McScallywag are an Dutch Celtic-Punk band. Influenced by traditional Irish Folk music, sea-shanties and good ol’ Drinking songs their second studio album Songs For The Wicked sees the light of day tomorrow!!
This year has been a tough one on all of us but has hit the music industry particularly hard. Most bands have had their album releases shelved, tours cancelled, and plans for world domination put on hold. It must be an extremely difficult time keeping the band members motivated when there is little chance of live performances or releasing new music. It isn’t easy for bands in the Celtic / Folk Punk genre to release a new album in normal times so to do so in the current climate is an exceptional achievement. Well our friends from the Netherlands, McScallywag have defied all the restrictions, lockdowns and other obstacles to deliver their new album Songs For The Wicked. What a brilliant achievement and what an excellent album!!
McScallywag top left: Ashley Buitenwerf – Electric Guitar * top right: Arian Sikkens – Lead Vocals, Banjo *bottom left to right: Ruud Platje – Drums * Talitha Barelds – Bass * Tom Kootstra – Acoustic Guitar * Frodo Bosma – Accordion *
McScallywag are based in Groningen, a city in northern Netherlands. The band was formed in 2013 when members of the hardcore punk band De Klootviolen decided to go in a completely new direction having fallen head over heels with Irish music. They describe themselves as “Dropkick Murphys meets The Pogues” McScallywag’s songs are full of what you would expect. Obviously the subject of drinking comes up but the band don’t confine themselves to being a stereotypical Celtic-Punk band and they intertwine songs about getting pished with the everyday struggles of staying sane in modern day society. Songs vary from mellow and acoustic to Punky and fast and as evidenced by their You Tube channel they are a pretty explosive live act as well.
Their debut album Dirty Water was released June 2016 their debut album Dirty Water was nine songs and half an hour of high tempo original Celtic-Punk that came out at a time when Celtic-Punk had never been as popular in the Netherlands. Circle J, Bunch Of Bastards, LQR, Drunken Dolly, Pyrolysis and The Royal Spuds are all plying their trade over there and we were even due to host a special Dutch Celtic-Punk night here in London till you know what happened! All these bands exist side by side with a sense of co-operation that ought to exist in every music scene. The music may be fast and furious and though acoustic it still owes much to Hardcore Punk in many ways. McScallywag are one of them Folky bands that plays as loud plugged in as not!
Mc Scallywag are a 6-piece band whose original roots come from hardcore punk but have developed into more traditional celtic folk but keep the raw punk edge. With a mix of guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, cello, drums and accordion Mc Scallywag make perfect drinking music. The accordion on the new album really catches your ear more so than on any other album I can remember. Its exceptional.
All songs written by the band themselves (no ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’ here!) and were recorded at Twang Wolf Studio just outside Groningen. The excellent artwork for the sleeve has been done by Steven van Calcar and is crying out to be whacked on a t-shirt (hint hint!).
Although the band is less than 10 years old the new album has a very mature sound. It’s a mixture of high tempo tunes such as The Ballydesmond Polka, Out of Sight Out of Mind and Remember Me along with the slower pace of Run Away and Coming Home. A well-balanced album all round. Unfortunately, due to our current situation it’s not likely we will be able to join the McScallywag guys for a live gig anytime soon which is a real shame. So for now its hat’s off to the guys on the new album and hopefully well be able to catch you at the bar next year.
(you can stream or download Songs For The Wicked via the Bandcamp player below)
Welcome to our regular monthly feature on all the news in the Celtic-Punk scene that you may have missed and we certainly did. Band news, record releases, videos, tours (not individual gigs though yet sadly), live streams, crowd funders etc., we need to hear from you so send it in to londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or through the Contact Us page.
The biggest non-music news this month has been that film company Magnolia Pictures have picked up the North American rights to the Johnny Depp-produced documentary Crock of Gold – A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan. Set for a limited theatrical release later this year in the States with its UK and Ireland debut to be on BBC 4. The Julien Temple directed look at the hard-living Godfather of Celtic-Punk. Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles said “This is something to hoist a pint of Guinness over”. (groan!)
Expect more live extravaganza’s from the DROPKICK MURPHYS after they signed a 6-figure (ooh!) sum to live stream future gigs including on St. Patrick’s Day for the next few years. Word is that their Fenway Park show reached an estimated 9 million viewers and raised more than $700,000 for COVID relief. These are very good guys. Don’t forget to join the #1 Murphys Facebook pageDropKick Murphys – Fan Page. Run by fans. Run for fans.
Canadians PADDY WAGGIN have got around to releasing on CD their debut album. We reviewed Race To The Bottompre-Paddys Day and it’s7 foot stomping original tracks and one Pogues cover. Celtic-Rock at its best. The CD and download is available from Bandcamp.
Finland’s LORETTA PROBLEM have a new singer in Maya and a new song and video too. The band has gone through other changes too and ‘It’s Your Bloody Fault’ reflects that in its sound. Not so Celtic but definitely Punk. New stuff is on its way with a more traditional- Loretta Problem sound. Can’t wait.
Another fantastic band we haven’t heard from in a while is the Dutch Irish Folk Punk band McSCALLYWAG. ‘Coming Home’ is the second single released from their forthcoming new album ‘Songs For The Wicked’ in support of the Bhoys local bars and pubs hit by the corona crisis in their home town of Groningen.
Irish band THE POX MEN have a new tune and video out. A mellow one to calm us all down while bass player Kev Gall has just released a solo album as Cú Ulaid with a load of different instruments not just the bass!
It’s been a very quiet time for new releases this month. Will give us a chance to catch up on things hopefully! Remember if you want a review of your release we have to hear it first!
CU ULAID – Self/Titled LP
THE CLOVES AND THE TOBACCO – Jalan Pulang EP
ALESTORM – Curse of the Crystal Coconut LP
GENTRIFIED FERALS – Droidtown EP
Auld Fart (his words not mine) London Irish Punk Folker ANTO MORRA is at it again and his new single ‘It’s Only A Virus’ came out this month written in May while enjoying a early morning walk. This is the first original song he’s released since 2017 believe it or not!
Big fans of Irish-Americans THE FIGHTING JAMESONS and had a grand auld time watching them live streaming on FB recently. So much so I fell asleep woke up with the worse hangover and back pain I’ve had in months! Amazing production and over 90 minutes long. Outstanding guys!!!
Written by Robin and inspired by a song from the Elvis film ‘Frankie & Johnny’ THE CEILI FAMILY. A slow burning foot tapper and these guys are famous for their Gaelic inspired Folk-Punk. The legend Phil Chevron was a big fan of these guys so that should be inspiration enough.
Catalan Folk-Punkers EBRI KNIGHT are crowd funding for their fifth album. With four studio albums, a live album and a themed EP about the Spanish Civil War behind them everything the band is financed without major backing.
Only just became aware of this great album from Germany. ASH CLOUD hail from Elmshorn and Songs Of Rebellion, Love And Meuterei may have come out in October, 2018 but its still well worth a look. Irish Folk meets acoustic Punk with NO drums or electric guitars but everything else. Bodhrán, fiddle, tin-whistle, low-whistle, banjo, concertina, bagpipes and loads of vocals. Twenty songs for just five Euros adds up to a impressive deal!
We like to end on some local news and while Milton Keynes isn’t exactly local we were delighted to hear about the formation of MILTON KEYNES IRISH FC. The Irish are still here you know! This is not just a Sunday League team and they will play in the Spartan South Midlands League at Step 6 in the non-league pyramid. Plans are being laid for a LCP ‘booze cruise / awayday’ to go see them once the season kicks off. Show the guys some support over on Twitter and Facebook.
On a final note we were delighted that the London Celtic Punks Facebook page hit an amazing 5,000 followers. Love and best wishes to all of them and come and join us if you like!
So you get the idea so all we need to do now is fill it with news and remember if you are new to the London Celtic Punks blog it is easy to subscribe / follow and never miss a post. Also if anyone is interested in helping out on the reviews front then let us know via the Contact Us page.
Celebrate the good life with Dutch celtic-punkers McScallywags. Influenced by traditional Irish folk music, sea-shanties and good ol’ drinking songs McScallywag are on a mission to put a smile on everyone’s face!
Got this album in the post from Waldo over at Celtic Folk Punk And More web-site (always worth checking out here) but with such a backlog of reviews its taken me till now to have a listen and I’m kicking myself for waiting so long!
McScallywag describe their sound as “Dropkick Murphys meets The Pogues” and while live they they provide a healthy mix of classic traditional Irish folk songs and McScallywag originals here on Dirty Water they gone for the originals approach with every song one they have penned themselves. The band are based in the Dutch city of Groningen, an area of the Netherlands renowned for its music and arts. Formed in 2013 when local hardcore punk band De Klootviolen parted ways with their vocalist and the rest of the band decided to continue but in a completely different direction. Armed with new instruments they continue to blaze their way through life celebrating their love for that life through alcohol and folk music. The Dutch scene is particularly strong at the moment with such great bands as Circle J and Bunch Of Bastards , who have both featured on these pages extensively as well as touring these shores, as well as the likes of LQR, Drunken Dolly and The Royal Spuds who we are hoping to catch up with at LQR’s ’10 Pinter’ festival next January.
McScallywag left to right: Tom Kootstra– Guitar, Vocals * Frodo Bosma– Accordion * Ruud Platje– Drums, Vocals * Arian Sikkens– Banjo, Mandolin, Vocals * Peter Janssen – Bass Guitar * Talitha Barelds– Cello, Vocals * Ashley Buitenwerf– Guitar, Vocals. Not in picture Sebastiaan Hidding– Violin
So what do we get here. As I say its nine original songs so that is already a plus in my eyes and the whole album comes in just shy of half an hour. the album starts with ‘Billy’s Curse’ and you not sure which way the album’s going with acoustic guitar and accordion swirling round while Arian’s voice sings out both tunefully and strong. The song doesn’t get much faster but does get louder and you can hear the cello here and it sounds great. Not yer typical celtic-punk instrument but all the better for that. Needless to say of course that Billy’s curse was in fact alcohol! ‘Days of Travel’ is up next and the band start to show what they can do here. Fast and furious acoustic celtic-punk party music. Stop and start fast music that owes much to hardcore punk in many ways.
The video gives you a great example of what McScallywag do. That they are acoustic, except for bass guitar, is incredible and reminds me of what was said about The Pogues that they were louder than any punk band! next up is ‘The Road’ and a real Poguesy feel to this. A slow ballad that speeds up near the end with gang vocals and is a real catchy foot-tapper. Some great positive lyrics here too that had me belting out the words in me living room.
So get up while you can, stand up and be a man.
Cuz there’s no such a thing as getting old,
you’ve got to live it up while you can.
So even when this world is at its darkest,
And your just clinging and holding on to that light.
You’ll find again and again that when your drinking with friends,
you’re gonna make it through the night,
shining bright”
Definitely one of the album highlights without a doubt. ‘Letter to Megan’ is about a subject that crops up quite often in celtic-punk. Hopefully as a warning to others? Screwing up your life and hurting the ones you love. The song starts off slow before bursting into life and ending in typical celtic-punk fashion and while the video below shows the song done to perfection it is annoying hearing people talking throughout BUT…
this is music for the live setting and McScallywag come into their own live from what I can see. That’s not to say that they haven’t managed to transfer that sound onto disc as they have done a brilliant job here and the production is perfect. ‘St. Paddy’s Anthem’ is up now and McScallywag’s tribute to that day where indeed
“It’s Saint Paddy’s anthem keep singing along,
as loud as you can, cuz tonight, everybody is an Irishman!”
Great vocals here and as loud a song as any on Dirty Water. Close your eyes and you can forget your not still listening to De Klootviolen and a band containing banjo, accordion, cello and mandolin.
“And the pubs around the corner there,
said: open all night.
There was Dropkick Murphys on the jukebox,
shouting, drinking what a sight.
They passed me down a bottle, and I bought a round of beer.
We raised our glass to the drinking class,
and we all sang and cheered”
This is hardcore punk-folk! Then we have ‘Eye of the Storm’ and a dramatic shift in style with cello-player Talitha taking over vocal duties for a slow ballad about losing your love at sea. The mandolin accompanies her beautiful voice in a very under stated song where you can smell the salt air. ‘Ashes to Ashes’ is another stand out track for me. As I often say man cannot live on punk rock alone and he needs to slow down occasionally. It’s good for the soul. Vocals are shared again by Talitha and Arian and this is the moment on the album where you must raise your pint to the air. Every half decent celtic-punk album must have one and this is it. Love this song. We nearing the end of Dirty Water and ‘Whiskey I Love You’ is a singalong/clappalong folky number with gang vocals and a catchy chorus. Think Dropkicks ‘Boys On The Docks’ and you’ve got it. The album wraps up with ‘Johnny Went Away’ and it’s more of that stop and start hardcore folk that I love. The mandolin is in overdrive and the band all join in on vocals and bring the curtain down leaving me out of breath!
Having always been a fan of punk music it’s really refreshing to hear a folk band play as though they were a punk band. Its mostly very fast but incredibly tuneful and still folky despite the speed it’s played. They don’t sound like any of the scene’s favoured bands which is something I have said before about Dutch celtic-punk groups and that is something special. A great debut album and a band to watch out for. All the lyrics are on the bands web site (here) and are well worth a look while you listen to the album.
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