ODDS’N’SODS. A CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP FEBRUARY 2023

No round up last m onth so welcome to a bumper edition of all the news fit to print on what’s going in our wonderful Celtic-Punk scene. From the scene’s bands big and small, established or just starting out it’s all in here!

Fresh from storming off with #1 Roots/Folk album in our Best Of awards here’s a new video for one of the best tracks off How To Draw Everything the last album from BRYAN McPHERSON. The good news is we will be helping out with his Ireland and England tour in the Summer. Expect a couple of local gigs!

Nothing beats Aussie Celtic-Punk and MEDUSA’S WAKE are up there with the very best. Here’s a fantastic dozen minutes of them playing at the Hobofopo ’22 festival in Tasmania put on by our friends The Dead Maggies and Folk Til Ya Punk Records.

The internet is awash with incredible footage from the DROPKICK MURPHYS recent tours. We saw them at Wembley Arena and it fair knocked our socks off. The energy throughout was amazing. Maybe even the best I have ever seen them and i saw their first ever gig in London! Here’s ninety minutes of their set. watch it before it gets taken down!

THE CLOVERHEARTS arrived in England from Italy for a short tour last month and we caught them at a busy and lively show at The Black Heart in Camden. Here’s footage of their encore. Looking forward to seeing them again already.

Love THE KINGS BUSKATEERS. Be sure to check out all their videos on their You Tube channel. Here they are doing a ‘Alt-Country Celtic-Punk Labor medley’.

German Celtic-Punks TIR NA OG with a new video and tour dates announced for the next few weeks.

South-Western English band THE JAMESTOWN BROTHERS have a new video and song taken from their new single ‘Just Is’.

We love a new Celtic-Punk band and there is nothing better than a Celtic Celtic-Punk band. TECOR SOCIETARIO hail from the Celtic nation of Galicia currently occupied by Spain. We will be featuring these guys very soon. Love the Peter And The Test Tube Babies t-shirt by the way!

North London junkyard Folk and skeletal Blues group LOCKS have a new single out now called Nola https://lnk.to/NolaLocksSgl and a new You Tube site too.

YE BANISHED PRIVATEERS a monstrous Pirate themed ensemble from Scandinavia teamed up with the Umeå Musiksällskap Symphony Orchestra for this incredible concert. An emotional hurricane.

SINFUL MAGGIE consider themselves a Punk band with an accordion but we think of them as one of us. Sorry folks! Whatever it is it’s bloody marvellous.

THE IRISH AND CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST an award-winning free radio show of some of the best Irish and Celtic music online had their best of recently and you can check it out here https://marcgunn.com/best-celtic-music-of-2022/

The annual St. Patrick’s day Celtic-Punk album release fest is on it’s way with albums from CONTINENTAL, THE GO-SET and FIRKIN already announced and many more to come I’m sure.

RUSTY NAIL – Burnt Prairie, Illinois

DROPKICK MURPHYS – This Machine Still Kills Fascists : Expanded Edition (Extra songs!)

CAROTTE – Glouton Gluten

THE SMITH STREET BAND – Life After Football

Remember we can’t review it if we don’t hear it!

Born and raised on the New Jersey shore Irish-American singer-songwriter SEAN TOBIN has been compared to another famous Irish (and a bit German) American from the same place but he’s much better. Sean has a new 4-track live EP out the end of last month

Amazing Brazilian Folk Metal pioneers TUATHA DE DANANN have a new single ‘The Nameless’ that came out on New Year’s Eve.

From Bern Switzerland the old-school No-Hit Hobo Psycho-Western-Punkabilly sensation BOGOS released their debut album. Punk v/s Ennio Morricone. Closer to Psychobilly but with some amazing Folky touches I’ve been playing this album to death recently.

FOLLOW THE CROWS are a London-based folk-rock outfit with distinct overtones of bluegrass, Irish trad and Americana. A typical setlist blends original material with unique interpretations of folk standards. Expect hard-driven vocals fused with guitar and mandolin mayhem, all underpinned by riotous folk rhythms of rebellion and redemption.

We love Lincoln, Nebraska Folk-Punkers THE KILLIGANS and they seem to have picked up the pace somewhat with plenty new music coming out.

DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS will release The Feminine Divine, their first full original album since the masterpiece One Day I’m Going To Soar was released a decade ago this coming summer! In Kevin Rowland we trust…

The Salty Dog cruise line up is out and it’s very disappointing if you were expecting to see a few Celtic-Punk bands with only HOIST THE COLORS and FLOGGING MOLLY in the line up. Still it does have a free bar! https://www.floggingmollycruise.com/

Sea-Punk, Folk, band hailing from the Cornish coast the Piratey Punks JOLLY ROGER have released a new live album recorded at The Globe Cardiff and Leamington Spa Assembly when they supported Ferocious Dog on tour in November.

We’ve been doing this now for nearly 10 years and in that time we have covered 100’s of bands and musicians but still plenty of bands have passed us by. We can’t see everything after all so this column is to remind us of bands that never made these pages at the time but deserve another mention. These hopefully come with a free download like today so you can help yourself to some free music. Today we head to God’s Own Country to Yorkshire and the debut EP from Sheffield’s WHAT THE FOLK. Tom one of the scenes best banjo players would later go on to be in Shanghai Treason so whether we will see anymore from these is a mystery. They have three releases all available for ‘name your price’ download.

After January when Celtic-Punks in London were spoilt for choice Feb is a bit thin on the ground but things are hotting up for St. Patrick’s this year. Having been robbed of two we gonna make this one awesome! Next month’s Odds’n’Sods will have full listings for London area. The highlight for me so far is DAMIEN DEMPSEY at the Electric in Brixton on the 18th. He has many who try to copy him but there is only one! The founders of Alt-Country THE LONG RYDERS are coming back to these shores with a full Europe and UK tour.

London Celtic Punks presents another night of rip roaring Celtic-Punk and Irish-Folk 

Coming down from Worcester to play London for the first ever time THE WHIPJACKS. Pounding drums, driving bass and screeching guitar flit hand in hand with melodic mandolin, accordion, partial nudity and attitude filled lyrics. https://thewhipjacks.bandcamp.com/

Supported by London-Irish Celtic-Punk band CROCK OF BONES. Hot Irish jigs, reels, foot stompers and lyrical folk out of north London whose backgrounds stretch back to 90s Celtic-Punk, gypsy jazz, dark folk and rock. Using fiddle, accordion, banjo, guitar and double bass, their set contains originals/standards/reels and jigs, from full-pelt foot-stompers like Hot Asphalt to sing-along ballads like the original Ferry. https://www.facebook.com/Crock-of-Bones-327151471252980/

The night will be compered by London Celtic Punk Poet and rabble raiser BENNY RABBLE who will perform between acts with his incendiary working class 2nd generation poems https://www.facebook.com/bennyrabble

The gig is FREE ENTRY so bring cash for beer and to buy some band merchandise and kicks off at 7-30pm sharp. THE BIRD’S NEST – One of the last standing live venues in SE London and one of the best. Located at 32 Deptford Church Street, Lewisham SE8 4RZ. close to New Cross and New Cross Gate tube stations so easily accessible from across London. http://www.thebirdsnestpub.co.uk/

If you like what we do then you can support us by checking out our online store. The Harp’n’Bones design is back in all sizes and on black or white shirts. Also we have new polo shirts, in all sizes, and some nifty woolly hats as well as the Green’n’White ‘Skully Cap’ ringer shirts. 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/

Facebook is rubbish and I can’t wait to see it fold. It has a stranglehold on all forms of expression that is not good and it’s no surprise to see people leaving in droves. Don’t despair though if you are one of them as you can keep up with London Celtic Punks posts via group on the phone app Telegram. Similar to What’s App but 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/

The response to the new London Celtic Punks badge has been amazing. Not surprising really as they are just about the nicest bit of merchandise in Celtic-Punk if you ask me! Comes with butterfly clip and made in Ireland (Guaranteed Irish!) available for just £5 – UK and £7 – EU post-paid and we’ll throw in a few stickers and a button badge too. For further overseas contact us and we’ll work it out. Send to Paypal (friends & family) to londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk

Even though we hate it Facebook does supply the (very) occasional ray of sunshine so a shout out to 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!

Hello to our friends in Indonesia THE WORKING CLASS SYMPHONY. Check them out. If they were American they would be massive! Facebook  YouTube  Instagram. These are the guys that Flogging Molly should be taking on their Cruise!

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.

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.

ALBUM REVIEW: THE JAMESTOWN BROTHERS- ‘Rebels, Rogues and Regrets’ (2020)

Debut album full of Celtic tinged anthemic songs from Somerset based band The Jamestown Brothers. Soul stirring, foot stomping originals drawn from the well of Country, Blues and Celtic Folk.

Don’t know what they put in the water (or the cider!) down there in the South-East of England but when it comes to bands with a Celtic influence the counties of Devon, Dorset and Somerset can’t get enough. Bands like Black Water County, Mad Dog McCrea and Sinful Maggie have all reached headliner status across England playing a variation of Celtic-Rock/ Punk that is particularly popular down where the cider flows freely. The reasons for this I cannot really put my finger on. The Irish in England are numerous but outside urban areas they may still be found but they never settled in the countryside in any sort of numbers so I think we can discount Irish heritage so maybe its just the unabashed reckless abandon and fun of Celtic music that does it for them. After all in Folk music everywhere is sort of connected and these are also the areas where old English customs are not just maintained but flourishing too. Might not be connected but they also have had a reputation for many years of being a bit lawless with smuggling and the like years ago and even in the present day where unjust or unpopular laws are not fought and campaigned against just totally ignored!

So this is the part of England that the 9 (yes nine) piece band The Jamestown Brothers hail from, in particular Somerset. The area is these days best known for farming and agriculture, tourism and the manufacture (and drinking) of cider with several of the best known producers originating from here. The locals though much prefer ‘scrumpy’ a type of rough cider made from non-premium apples and significantly stronger in alcohol content. They were formed by lead singer and main songwriter Colin Batchelor in 2017 but it took them almost two years for their first release the EP Singing For Our Supper to come out. This EP gained them a large local following and saw them appearing on the plentiful local festival circuit of which their are many in the area the band come from, including the world famous Glastonbury festival.

The Jamestown Brothers from left to right: Simon Reilly – Bass * Del Walker – Drums * John Trimble – Fiddle/ Mandolin * Ian Burton – Guitar/ Vocals * Colin Batchelor – Guitar/ Vocals * Phil Price – Keyboards * Sharon Eastwood – Recorder/ Vocals * Andy Williams – Trumpet/ Flugelhorn * Charlie Fisher – Trombone *

Rebels, Rogues And Regrets is the bands debut album and was released just a couple of days ago and kicks up a right (un)royal storm from the first notes of the recorder till the last. ‘Cut ‘Em Down’ is a great start telling the stories of local rebellion as well as of the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester on 16th August 1819. Cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000 demanding parliamentary representation causing 18 deaths and severe injuries to 100’s. Though acoustic you just know these guys could go louder than most Punk band’s. Catchy and tunesome and great vocals from Colin on the whole it reminds me of the folkier side of The Men They Couldn’t Hang.

“cut ’em down, the rebels are arising we’ll have no talk of reform or liberty

 cut ’em down, the cavalry came riding into the crowd of peace and harmony”

‘Rebel Rousing Few’ follows and TMTCH comparison continues with a song that starts as a ballad before becoming a jaunty Country influenced number based again on the local history of rebellion and transportation to Australia of men and woman from this beautiful part of England. Fiddle and recorder are the main stand out instruments but that’s not a disservice to the other seven members as the sound is deep and multi-varied and the production is immaculate.

Two songs in and they finally get around to a drinking song and ‘If You Can’t Have A Drink’ opens with brass and a humorous take on heaven hoping their favourite bar is open up there. Mind you with the death of so many boozers in the last few years I’m hoping Luke Nolan’s up there pulling pints in a heavenly Acton Arms. Piano gives the song a olde timey music hall feel with great lyrics set to give the stoniest face a smile. ‘Salvation Alley’ has a darker edge to it then previous songs with trombone giving it a sinister feel. ‘Please Let Me Go’ straddles the fence nicely between Folk and Country and sees Colin accompanied by Sharon on backing vocals. ‘Whitley Girl’ sees The Jamestown Brothers take on a love song to the local girls of South Somerset and the joys of alcohol.

(just released the promo video for the album featuring excerpts from each song)

‘Bring Your Moma Down’ has a Kinks thing going on and is a nice change of pace too with the brass instruments playing their part here. We steering up towards port now and another change of pace with the beautiful and personal ‘The One’. The curtain comes down on Rebels, Rogues And Regrets with ‘Long Walk Home’ with another jaunty Celtic number that sees them go out with a fight. Hard to pick a favourite but I’d say this or the equally as good ‘Salvation Alley’.

The album came out just a couple of days ago on the 31st August 2020 and will definitely gather them some new fans and plenty of attention. In fact with 2020 officially cancelled they have already been booked to play festival’s in Godney, Watchet, Exmouth, Wimborne, Sheppy, alongside Seth Lakeman, and a Saturday night headline slot at Home Farm where their reputation for high-energy live performances, equally at home in the pub or the festival stage, will steal the show from a lot more well known bands. So plenty of chances to catch them play, especially if you’re a fan of camping like me. Guitars, drums, mandolin, fiddle we are use to here but recorder, piano and a brass section we are not and it comes together brilliantly.  Throw in what the band actually has to say and their willingness to tell the stories of the past to us today and we have a band that is hopefully bound for bigger things. Definitely worth checking out especially if you like your acoustic music to dance to as well as ever-so-fecking-loud!

Buy Rebels, Rogues And Regrets  CD- FromTheBand  Download- Apple  Spotify

Contact The Jamestown Brothers  WebSite  Facebook  YouTube  Instagram

EP REVIEW: SINFUL MAGGIE- ‘Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll’ (2019)

Sinful Maggie are back with a new release. A 3-track EP of top quality accordion punk rock’n’roll out of Dorset…yarr!

Sinful Maggie disclaimer: It’s not our fault if you’re too much of a moron to see the irony and humour in this song. It’s not designed to be offensive or derogatory to anyone but the members of the band. That said, feel free to take offence, it’s your right as a human…moron or not.

I thought i better start with that just in case anyone has come to this web site by mistake and gets offended by something in this review. Of course our usual readers are made of much firmer stock and are, I am certain, all blessed with a decent sense of humour. Formed in 2014 Sinful Maggie have, especially within the last eighteen months or so, blazed a path through the English punk scene and for once it is truly deserved. Being based right down in the south-west could easily hamper a band with no ambition but instead they have risen to the challenge and can be found on most weekends rolling up and down the motorways of England to play gigs in every corner of the country.

Sinful Maggie left to right: Charlie Draper– Guitar, Lead Vocals * Briony Ireland– Accordion * Ollie Beaton– Drums * Russ Draper– Bass, Vocals.

One of the things that we must also add at this point is that despite having an accordion player in Briony (who also played in the now defunct Dorset band The Devil’s Rejects who raised the flag for celtic-punk in Dorset) they do not see themselves as a Celtic or Folk-Punk band

“we try and avoid the Celtic punk ‘banner’ if you like. Really we see ourselves more as a punk band that opted for an accordion instead of another guitar. We’re not really influenced by folk or anything like that so we try and avoid it so people aren’t misled”

though that’s not to say we wouldn’t accept them to the Celtic-Punk team!!!

The EP starts with the title song and ‘Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll’ and its full throttle from the start and if you have never heard punk accordion then now is your chance. Charlie’s tuneful though punky vocals keep the music flowing with nods to Rancid and even more ancient ’77 style punk bands.

Now here’s where the disclaimer comes in and I got to admit when I first heard this I couldn’t contain myself and nearly spat me kidneys out laughing! Ask any folky band and they will always tell you that they are labelled ‘Irish’ by people (look at Mumford And Sons for heavens sake!) and and called it in adverts despite being as Irish as Tony Cascarino! ‘We’re Not Fuckin’ Irish’ is the perfect riposte to this and will I hope have you laughing along with them. A great song with some hilarious lyrics and again heads down punk’n’roll that flies past in a fury getting faster and faster. Great stuff. I love this song so much I got the words off them so you can sing along to the video.

I was sitting in a bar
Drinking just after a show
When a guy comes up to me and says
“you kids are far from home
See, I used to live in Dublin
And I’d see bands like yours each night
With tin whistles and accordions
Singing The Rare Auld Times”
Now I sit and listen to him
As polite as I can be
But my anger starts to grow
Somewhat irrationally
My grip grows tighter on my glass
’til I smash it on the floor and scream
We’ re not fuckin’ Irish!
Sling that bastard out the door!

Russ he’s bass player and he’s stubborn as a mule
He’s had many nights out on the town with Guinness as his fuel
I’ve seen him with a broken heart and suffering from shock
When a girl came up after a show and said “I love your Celtic rock”
Briony plays accordion an Irish instrument you’d say
Well actually it’s German from the 19th Century
And yeah she’s got a temper (fuck off)
See? That’s what I mean
So don’t tell her we sound Irish she’ll rip out your fucking spleen

Ollie is our drummer and he’s loves an Irish jig
He wants to wear a scally cap but his heads too fucking big
He loves an Irish whiskey or shamrock in his beer
He was in the British Navy but he swears that he’s not queer
Charlie’s got guitars it’s the talent that he lacks
I can play like Gary Moore if Gary Moore was high on smack
He’s too fat to be Thin Lizzy, too old for teenage kicks
He’s not as bad a Bono but I still think he’s prick

Call us what you want
We’re not fuckin’ Irish
Call us what you will
We’ll tell you what’s true
I ain’t shippin’ up to Boston
Who the hell is Ronnie Drew
We’re still drunken lazy bastards
But we’re English through and through

Now you might think that we’re racist
I assure you that not true
We love those Irish bastards
Honestly we do
They haven’t had it easy
And to their resilience we will toast
But we’re from fuckin’ Bournemouth
That’s in England on the coast

The EP ends with ‘Lazy Is As Lazy Does’ a reggae infused number again with some funny and insightful lyrics and one thing this band is not in need of is a funny bone. A little over halfway through Sinful Maggie decide to kick out the jams as it were and bring the curtain down with what they are best at. Fast 110mph punk rock. Their may only three songs here but at almost fifteen minutes long it shows a band that’s not afraid to stick to two or three minute blazers but experiment with longer songs giving them much more depth both live and on disc.

Released on 2nd august Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll is now available on Amazon, Spotify, i-tunes, Deezer etc pretty much all of them but if anyone would like a physical copy then you should message the band directly through their Facebook page. All the money from the EP is going into a pot to help them record their next album later in the year so lets see some action folks!

Buy Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll  CD– FromTheBand  Download- Amazon 

Contact The Band  Facebook  Soundcloud  Twitter  YouTube

EP REVIEW: THE TWO MAN TRAVELLING MEDICINE SHOW- ‘They Say I Don’t Write Love Songs’ (2019)

Back again it’s the band with the longest name in Folk-Punk (and possibly the most members) with another release of original music. Dorset’s finest Folky-Americana-Country-Punk band The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show’s new EP is out now on Musical Bear Records.

The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show are back again with their brand new EP and four all new tracks recorded entirely in a barn in North Dorset! Now this being the Summer it’s a wonder they have found the time as this is most definitely their time and one look at their list of gigs past and present the last few weeks shows a band that has crisscrossed the South of England playing just about every festival imaginable! Formed in Dorset in 2016 The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show have steadily grown in stature and popularity over the following years due in no small part to their hectic touring(no mean feat for a band that sometimes has up to ten members!) and they have added to their great reputation as a live band with a well received album and several EP’s of their own original compositions. Their debut album, Weeding Out The Wicked, came out in 2017 and has been followed by three quality EP’s in the following couple of years, Float Your Boat, A Snake’s A Snake and Oh Me Oh Mi. Releases that all capture The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show sound perfectly. American bluegrass and Americana butting heads with quaint auld English folk. A quintessential English folk group that could have been born at the heyday of Folk-Rock in the mid-1970’s and takes in influences from those halcyon days before redefining them and bringing them bang up to date.

The first of the EP’s quintet of songs is the title track ‘They Say I Don’t Write Love Songs’ and follows on in what I now think of as the traditional The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show way. A catchy thigh slapping driving beat accompanied by the sounds of more instruments then you could possibly take in all at once though the duelling banjo and fiddle shine through. The vocals from Mark are as usual strong and powerful and the words talk about how love changes us. Theirs a a nice slow break in the middle which gives the song a chance to build up and come back strong and yeah I really love it!!! They follow this swiftly with the glorious ‘Raise My Glass’ and a hoedown country stomper that is guaranteed to get audiences up and doing that famous dance scene from Seven Brides For Several Brothers! A typical drinking anthem that sees the band really go for it and if I have ever had any criticism of The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show it is that they sometimes are too restrained and ought to just to bloody well go for it like on ‘Raise My Glass’. A heartfelt cry from the heart in praise of all that’s good in a difficult world. They move away from their usual Summery/bouncy style with ‘Hanging The Bells’ which has a much tougher bite to it and comparisons to New Model Army leap out at you with the acoustic guitar and fiddle pushed to the fore over a song about getting away from the drudgery of life, or as singer Mark says 

“a song about the impossible, wonderful dream of awakening from the nightmare of history; to a dog’s life away from the grinding forces of politics”.

The EP comes to an delicate end as fiddle player Alison Jay takes over on vocal duties for ‘Teenage Dreams’ for this slow paced number on the danger of surrounding yourselves in nostalgia. The song drifts along beautifully before speeding up ever so slightly towards the end and again the amazing banjo playing and a-plucking shines a light on all the band do.

The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show left to right: Seb Hartley- Harmonica, Mandolin * Martin Giles- Guitar * Steve Wareham- Slapbox * Alison Jay- Violin * Chris Pearce- Keys (back of photo) * Rob Volves- Bass (back of photo) * Olly Hopper Pay- Guitar, Cello (back of photo) * Mark Lyons- Singer, Guitar * Jamie Lynch- Lyrics * Brad Watt- Banjo *

As already stated this band can sometimes reach up to double figures so getting them down on record so vibrantly is no mean feat I can assure you and here on They Say I Don’t Write Love Songs they have the talent of fellow Dorset musician Charlie Draper to thank. Having already featured here on the London Celtic Punks site as vocalist/guitarist of Sinful Maggie (we will be reviewing their new release in the next week or so) Charlie has done a utterly brilliant job of capturing the energy and passion of the band whilst losing none of their trademark knock out Folk-Punk choruses. Though they don’t make it particularly easy to hear them play outside the South-East it might be worth your while YOU seeking them out!

Buy They Say I Don’t Write Love Songs mark1lyons@icloud.com 

The EP is released on Friday 16th August and sadly there is no pre-order or links but as soon as they become available on release I will add them here.

Contact The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show  Facebook

Musical Bear Records  WebSite  YouTube  Facebook  

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

EP REVIEW: SINFUL MAGGIE- ‘Demo EP’ (2016)

FREE DOWNLOAD

Four piece accordion punk rock’n’roll out of Dorset…yarr!

Here we go again. I say that as we have been down this road many a time over the last few years I can tell you! I refer of course to that hot-bed of celtic-punk the South coast around Devon, Dorset and Cornwall throwing up yet another marvellous young band for us to slap our thighs and tap our toes to here at London Celtic Punks. Not sure what they are putting in the water down there but give me a pint of it! You would think that such a small scene such as ours would mean that any new bands would come to our attention straight away but still they occasionally slip us by and if not for fellow Dorseter’s Black Water County then Sinful Maggie they may still have sailed past unbeknown as well.

First things first though the band see themselves as a punk band and nothing else as Deano, Sinful Maggie drummer, said in conversation to me

“we try and avoid the Celtic punk ‘banner’ if you like. Really we see ourselves more as a punk band that opted for an accordion instead of another guitar. We’re not really influenced by folk or anything like that so we try and avoid it so people aren’t misled”

Still what ever label they want to attach themselves, or none, they are welcome into our little world any time they fancy it… just let us know!

Formed back in 2014 and based in the lovely seaside town of Bournemouth (the nicest beach I’ve ever been to!) in Dorset, Sinful Maggie come from a tradition of music as well as an attitude unique to those part’s of England and Cornwall. In Georgian times, the entire Dorset coast was a smuggling hot-spot and virtually completely lawless and those times and that attitude is still be celebrated as ever in song.

(most of Sinful Maggies set at Chaplin’s Cellar Bar, Boscombe July 2016)
1. Take Out The Sun 2. Rock ‘n’ Roll Prowess 3. Old Dog, New Tricks 4. Mr Know It All 5. Long Walk Home 6. St Mary (Rancid) 7. Shitfaced 8. Everyone I Need 9. Rebel Without A Cause 10. Did You Have A Nice Life Without Me? (Cock Sparrer)

Coming at you definitely on the more punkier side of the fence the EP begins with ‘Lost and Long Forgotten’ and sure enough from the very start its fast and furious punk rock but with the superb addition of the accordion. More than ably played by the wonderfully named Briony Ireland who also played in the now defunct Dorset band The Devil’s Rejects who raised the flag for celtic-punk in Dorset and though they gigged relentlessly around the South-coast never did get a fair crack of the whip around the country. This is something that Sinful Maggie are hoping to change and they are already looking for gig’s in London and further afield. Next up is ‘Nature of Man’ and the highlight of the EP for me. Still got the same punky attitude of the opener and slower without being slow. Great vocals from Charlie that are both clear and shouty and fit a song that bursts between pop-punk, ska and Rancid’ish’ punk but all the time with that great accordion out front. The EP ends with ‘Shitfaced’ and as you’d expect from the title its the most raucous of the three and an ode to our favourite subject here and they certainly don’t let us down. This is the one at gig’s that gets people onto their feet I’d bet. Absolutely superb. Again all the elements are there and Sinful Maggie manage to do it all without aping anyone else or harking back to the past.

Three songs and just over ten minutes of solid as feck hardcore folk-punk! The EP is a wee bit rough’n’ready and was recorded to give away to fans clambering for something to listen to. All the songs will be re-recorded and are set to feature on the bands forthcoming album later in the year. Sinful Maggie are a extremely welcome addition to the scene whatever it’s called! The EP is free to download so there is no reason at all not to take a chance and get it and then keep an eye on Sinful Maggie they may be popping up in a town near you very very soon.

Download The Single (for **FREE** remember)

FromHere or Here

Contact The Band

Facebook  Soundcloud  Twitter

• learn a bit more about the fascinating subject of smuggling over at Dorset Smugglers here.