GUESS WHOSE BACK? THE SOUTH SHORE RAMBLERS ARE BACK!

It must be pretty hard being the sole Celtic-Punk representatiove for a whole continent but The South Shore Ramblers represented Africa superbly till they called it a day a few years back. Well the good news is their back at the wheel and with some free downloads to give away too!

Formed out of the ashes of another superb Celtic-Punk band, The Sunday Punchers (check out the video for one of Celtic-Punk’s greatest ever songs here) , in late 2014 and after recruiting Martin Bezuidenhout as lead vocalist and frontman The South Shore Ramblers released a flurry of EP’s and videos during their short existence. Based in Johannesburg the South Shore Ramblers were always on the punkier side of things but always entertaining and their releases were always well received. In fact they achieved a pretty good double in our end of year Best of lists with Bare Knuckle Blackout  reaching #5 in the Best Of 2015 and Open Room Sessions #6 in the Best Of 2015.

Debut release Bare Knuckle Blackout’ was all tales of hard lifes and hard lives, drinking to forget and drinking for the sake of it and the occasional happy time when all the bad times are forgotten. It began with the brilliant ‘Thirstday’ and from the very beginning you understood what the band is about.

The following year saw the release of Open Room Session and captured the guys in a raw live form. Rough and ready, but in a good way! Only three songs and just over ten minutes but it saw the release of the outstanding ‘Own Wicked Device’ accomapnied by a equally outstanding video. More music followed like a couple of covers from the Dropkick Murphys and even talk of a European tour before they dropped off the radar.

At the time all their releases were available for free download but the links are long gone now sadly BUT the guys have just released a couple of songs from back in the day. Two never-heard-before practice recordings of NoFx’s ‘The Greatest Country”‘and ‘Miami’ by Against Me!.

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so with gigs returning and new music in their arsenal The South Shore Ramblers are back so get on their social media and keep a finely tuned ear out for them when they take the Celtic-Punk scene by storm.

Contact The South Shore Ramblers Facebook  Soundcloud  YouTube

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS OUR BEST OF 2015!

One of the best things about doing this here blog-zine is the end of year ‘Best Of’s’. This is our chance to reward, for what it’s worth, and recommend those releases that tickled our collective fancies over the last twelve months. Where as in 2013 the Best Of’s were dominated by local bands and releases and in 2014 it was international bands that stole the show this years is more of a mix of the two. No shocks at the top I’m afraid. It was always going to be a slug out between the big hitters of celtic-punk with The Rumjacks just shading it from the The Mahones by the slightest of margins. One of the team commented that the only difference was that ‘The Hunger And The Fight Part 1’ was slightly better than Part 2. In third place came 1916 out of New York who only just sneaked in with the December release of ‘Last Call For Heroes’. The album came out so late we didn’t even get a chance to mention it let alone review it nevertheless it blew us all away with their brilliant combination of rockabilly and celtic-punk. Another one to file in the ‘shamrockabilly’ category. Overall no major surprises and all four admins lists pretty much tallied up with each other but it’s especially great to see some non-English speaking bands in there as well as some bands that were new to us in the last twelve months. I was particularly happy to see Skontra and The Cundeez make the grade representing celtic-punk as played in the celtic nations. 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. If your album is not here do not be downhearted. These twenty album’s are the tip of the iceberg of what was released last year in what was an outstanding year for celtic-punk. Feel free to comment, slag off or dissect our lists. We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

TOP 20 CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS

1. THE RUMJACKS- ‘Sober And Godless’  (here)

2. THE MAHONES- ‘The Hunger And The Fight Part 2’

3. 1916- ‘Last Call For The Heroes’ (here)

4. FEROCIOUS DOG- ‘From Without’

5. THE GREENLAND WHALEFISHERS- ‘The Thirsty Mile’  (here)

6. MR.IRISH BASTARD- ‘The World, The Flesh & The Devil’  (here)

7.  THE DEAD MAGGIES- ‘Well Hanged’  (here)

8. THE GO SET- ‘Rolling Sound’  (here)

9. MICKEY RICKSHAW- ‘No Heaven For Heroes’  (here)

10. HAPPY Ol’ McWEASEL- ‘Heard Ya Say’  (here)

 11. JASPER COAL- ‘Just The One…’  (here)

12. THE CUNDEEZ- Sehturday Night Weaver  (here)

13. THE FATTY FARMERS- ‘Escape From The Dirty Pigs’  (here)

14. THE SHILLELAGHS- ‘Bury Me At Sea’  (here)

15. JOLLY JACKERS- ‘Sobriety’  (here)

16. MALASANERS- Spanish Eyes’  (here)

17. SKONTRA- ‘Foguera’  (here)

18. THE WAXIES’ ‘Down With The Ship’  (here)

19. KITCHEN IMPLOSION- ‘Selfish’

20. THE TOSSPINTS- The Privateer  (here)

TOP TEN CELTIC PUNK EP’S

Now onto the EP’s. These are classed as shorter usually four to six songs long and around anything right up to 15-20 minutes long. No shock here at number one as a unanimous vote saw this years new band of the year Mick O’Toole walk away with the title. They have been a solid fixture during the year building up quite a reputation and following. At number two it’s long been a well known secret that Indonesia is a hotbed of celtic-punk and Dirty Glass are one of the best bands in their flourishing scene and ‘Drunken Summer Nights’ ran O’Toole very close while another English band came in third. Matilda’s Scoundrels really hit the heights in 2015 and just like Mick O’Toole bigger and better things await them in 2016. The rest of the list is made up from bands from across the globe with Slovenia, South Africa, Hungary, Catalonia, Russia, Holland, France and Yorkshire all making the list.

1. MICK O’TOOLE- ‘1665 Pitchfork Rebellion’  (here)

2. DIRTY GLASS- ‘Drunken Summer Night’  (here)

3. MATILDA’S SCOUNDRELS- ‘Split w/ The Barracks’  (here)

4. ZUNAME- ‘Pipes Not Dead’  (here)

5. THE HYDROPATHS- ‘Wailing Away’  (here)

6. SOUTH SHORE RAMBLERS- ‘Open Room Sessions’  (here)

7. O’HAMSTERS- ‘Kiss My Irish Ass’  (here)

8. LOCH NESZ- ‘Leave The Captain Behind’  (here)

9. CIRCLE J- ‘Year Of The Goat’  (here)

10. SIGELPA- ‘Ens Van Diagnosticar Un Transtorn’  (here)

11. THE MOORINGS- ‘Nicky’s Detox’  (here)

TOP TEN FOLK/TRADITIONAL RELEASES

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 each of them all to bits. If you like celtic-punk then you should not be afraid to give traditional folk a listen. Most of it is more punk than punk these days you know. It’s a direct link to the music that inspired celtic punk music and their are some amazing bands and performers out there. Hard to decide which order they should go in especially as O’Hanlons Horsebox could have just as easily won this years Best Celtic Punk Album as well! This is how the Top Ten ended up.

1. O’HANLONS HORSEBOX- ‘Songs And Stories From The Border’  (here)

2. BARRULE- Mannannans Cloak’  (here)

3. LE VENT DU NORD- ‘Têtu’  (here)

4. BRYAN McPHERSON- ‘Wedgewood’  (here)

5. THE RATHMINES- ‘Ramblin With The Rats. Stolen Songs of Struggle’  (here)

6. ANTO MORRA- ‘Boudicca’s Country’

7. JACK OF ALL- ‘Bindle Punk’  (here)

8. JOHNNY CAMPBELL- ‘Hook, Line And Sinker’  (here)

9. FFR CELTIC FIESTA- ‘Fresh Blood’

10. THE PROCLAIMERS- ‘Let’s Hear It For The Dogs’  (here)

11. SKWARDYA- ‘Domhwelyans/ Revolution’

TOP CELTIC PUNK WEB-SITE

Again Waldo over at Celtic Folk Punk And More walks away with this award. There is simply no better site on the internet. Everything you would possibly need to know is here with a HUGE range of bands covered and there is no doubt in my mind that the site you are reading here now would not exist without the inspiration of Celtic Folk Punk And More. Sadly Waldo published a post on January 3rd titled ‘New Year, New Life’ (here) announcing the suspension of the site for a while. We wish Waldo well and look forward to his, and his fantastic web site’s, return.

* The lists were compiled from the scraps of crumpled paper, and one beermat, handed to me by the other three admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page and tallied up over several pints of beer in a seedy working man’s Irish boozer in north London.

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- 2015

all the major players in celtic-punk do Best Of lists so click below to check out what they thought

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

CELTIC-ROCK

PADDYROCK

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

remember any views or comments we would love to hear them…

EP REVIEW: SOUTH SHORE RAMBLERS- ‘Open Room Sessions’ (2015)

FREE DOWNLOAD

The South Shore Ramblers blend traditional forms of folk music with rock and punk, with lyrics about hard times, friendships, mistakes we make, tragedy, love and loss, as well as trying to survive in South Africa in this current day and age.

The follow up EP to last years Bare Knuckle Blackout hits the streets running and again its a blooming brilliant slice of full on celtic-punk rock. South Africa’s South Shore Ramblers have again come up with a quality record that demands being heard well outside Africa. We’ve said before how lonely it must be being the only celtic-punk band in their entire continent but their are well established Irish and Scots communities and these days that doesn’t seem to matter anyway as the appeal of celtic-punk spreads.

(great live vid featuring ‘Own Wicked Device’ and ‘A Novel Fate’)

Based in Johannesburg, South Shore Ramblers inhabit the punkier side of the celtic-punk world but without losing their folk roots at all, their early beginnings were in The Sunday Punchers, who released a whole host of excellent records, before they split and The South Shore Ramblers were born last year. Their debut EP landed them at a very healthy fifth in the London Celtic Punks EP Of The Year poll (here) and if they can keep up the momentum of this EP then they will be troubling the top of the chart come next year too!

‘Open Room Sessions’ was recorded at Open Room Studios in Johannesburg, live and mixed a long the way by Darryl Torr. While Bare Knuckle Blackout was as smooth and as perfect as you could get this EP is a lot more rough and ready, but in a good way, and shows the band as close to a live gig as would be possible. They have captured that live sound exactly and from this I am now gagging to catch them one day live. Only three songs and just over ten minutes but the quality of their songs is what rises this about the crowd. Kicking off with ‘Own Wicked Device’ possibly their best song to date and all the elements that make celtic-punk so great are there.  A folky start before Martin’s great vocals come in. Just this side of shouty/raspy without being over the top they fit the music perfect and the band play with a wild abandon that few can match.

‘A Novel Fate’ follows and is the only new track on the EP and keeps up the good work. What sounds like dual vocals works really well and excellently played accordion leads the track along nicely. Plays like two different songs with the two vocal styles. Not quite as punky but still great. The EP ends with ‘Bare Knuckle Blackout’ and a slowish track that perhaps has a Dropkick Murphys sound to it. Again the accordion leads with the mandolin keeping well up.

(left to right) Martin Bezuidenhout – Vocals, Kenneth Dennis – Accordion, Shaun Hillary – Mandolin & Banjos, Pete Kellerman – Bass, Les Bainbridge – Acoustic Guitar, Sean Barron – Electric Guitar, Darryn Small – Drums

All in a fantastic EP and all the better for not being so polished. Three superb tracks of as good a celtic-punk you will find anywhere and available to you lucky bleeders for nothing (or a couple of quid if you’re feeling generous…no pressure sales here) from the link at the bottom of the page. As I say only the lucky few will have a chance to get to see The South Shore Ramblers in the flesh (the bhoys are looking at getting over to Europe at some point and we are REALLY hoping they manage it) so this EP captures that sound exactly. I defy anyone to not to love this band so get downloading and feast your lugholes on the best celtic-punk band in Africa!

(you can listen to the whole EP by pressing play on the Bandcamp box below)

Contact The Band

Facebook  Soundcloud  Bandcamp  YouTube

Download The EP

FromTheBand (available for free or pay however much you want!)

to read our review from earlier this year of the South Shore Ramblers debut record ‘Bare Knuckle Blackout’ click here. its also available for FREE you lucky people!

EP REVIEW: SOUTH SHORE RAMBLERS- ‘Bare Knuckle Blackout’ (2014)

FREE DOWNLOAD

though a donation would be welcome!

It can’t be an easy thing being the only celtic-punk band on your continent but for South Africa’s South Shore Ramblers that’s the reality. Formed out of the ashes of the sadly now deceased The Sunday Punchers only last year I was well suprised to hear such a quality recording so short into their lifespan. Based in Johannesburg South Shore Ramblers inhabit the punkier side of the things but without losing their folk roots at all. Quite similar but not the same as The Sunday Punchers imagine a much more folk Dropkick Murphys perhaps. Very hard to pigeonhole maybe being the continents only celtic-punk band has given them that bit of individuality that sometimes is lacking a wee bit in the scene.

‘Bare Knuckle Blackout’ clocks in at a very nice twenty minutes and flows seamlessly with all six tracks showing the band at the very top of their game. It all begins with ‘Thirstday’ and from the very beginning you get a taste of what this band is about. Tales of hard lifes and hard lives, drinking to forget and drinking for the sake of it and the occasional happy time when all the bad times are forgotten. Banjo begins the song and it bursts into life before slowing down again with accordion and a bit of a ska beat with shouty but clear vocals. A wee classic to start with! Next up is title track ‘Bare Knuckle Blackout’ and a slow (for them anyaway!) track that carrys along with a much more hardcore punk sound. References to the Dropkicks cant help but come up due to the South Shore Ramblers shouty vocals and hardcor-ish sound but they stand on their own feet and ‘Own Wicked Device’ begins real folky and is possibly the most ‘traditional’ sounding celtic-punk song on the EP. ‘Hoodlums On Heat’ is a timely reminder that what was promised for South Africa’s future has not only not been delivered but that the ideals have been betrayed by the present ANC government who would traet any dissent with violence for instance turning their guns on striking miners killing scores…

“you speak of change but you choke on the truth
the hoodlums on heat are all fucking you
another toll paid – pockets filled
make a stand. question your government
set in motion that change
before it is too late”

The song is slowed down I suspect so the heartfelt lyrics can be easily understood. The South Shore Ramblers are angry and pissed off and quite rightly so.

“all the people suffer
the president builds another mansion
on tax payers money and stolen pensions”

‘Chugg’ returns the band to drinking and has a real catchy tune and fantastic banjo playing. Easily the best song on the EP its been spinning round my head all day at work and will do the same to you no doubt! ‘It’s Alright’ brings it all to an end with a great wee ditty with accordion to the fore with sad lyrics. In Shaun’s words

“We sadly lost some friends over the years very dear to some members… We wrote the song in spirit of them. Each verse is about them. One was to suicide in the second verse. The other was an unfortunate accident.”

The folk influences are not neccessarily all celtic as there is all sorts washing up together here. Catchy as hell and with a superb production ‘Bare Knuckle Blackout’ is one of those records which would make yer most hardcore punk happy as well as keeping yer traditional folky in clover too.

The EP is available to download for free but would be nice if you did leave them something. Its a fantastic EP and only the start of their journey I reckon. The band have got big plans and if things come off we may see them over on these shores soon so good luck to them for that. The South Shore Ramblers have achieved that rare thing…their own sound and believe me it’s a good one.

(to hear the entire EP click play below)

Contact The Band

Facebook

Download The EP

Bandcamp

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…