FREE DOWNLOAD OF JOE STRUMMER’S LAST CONCERT

Viva Joe Strummer!

A *Free Download* of the last ever concert performed by Joe Strummer before his sad death on this day in 2002.

I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard of Joe Strummer’s untimely death. It was Sunday 22nd December 2002 and myself and a mate had spent the whole night listening to Punk records and boozing and carousing at the home of a close friend. In the morning when we were saying goodbye at the door I thought I heard the radio say that Joe Strummer had died. “Bloody hell” (I exclaimed or something stronger) “I think the radio just said Joe Strummer had died”. We all instantly dismissed it as not possible and probably a result of my delirium tremens and all went on our separate ways. It was later that day recovering from an insane hangover the news was confirmed when I saw the news.

Joe died at home in Broomfield, Somerset suddenly due to an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, He had collapsed after returning from walking his dog and he could not be revived. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and a stepdaughter. Now almost twenty years after his death it’s fair to say his legacy still lives on through his music and the Joe Strummer Foundation charitable trust which continues to do good works in his name.

https://joestrummerfoundation.org

Joe’s last concert was performed at Liverpool University on November 22, 2002 just a month before he sadly passed away. The set was recorded and is of a very high standard and is available for you to download today on the 18th anniversary of that gig. Joe chose a cross selection of songs from his extensive career in the twenty song set but with the majority from his days in The Clash and his more recent project Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros, whose final album, Streetcore, was released posthumously the following year.

Joe once said

“When you meet people who say you had an effect on their life, you realise it was all worth it. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the music. Remember, The Future Is Unwritten”.

(You can stream the whole set lasting just over ninety minutes over on You Tube)

To download click on either of the following links

LINK ONE   LINK TWO

ALBUM REVIEW: THE TEMPLARS OF DOOM- ‘Hovels Of The Holy’ (2019)

What to do when a mate releases a new album? To stave off any allegations of nepotism ye rope in a guest reviewer to do it instead! With Ulster county Celtic-Punks The Templars Of Doom second album out our favourite South Carolinan Folk-Punk accordion playing multi-instrumentalist TC Costello rode into town with some pen and paper and he got the job! 

Hanging out with a fellow multi-instrumentalist friend once, we came to the conclusion that we both played one or two instruments well, and were sloppy on about ten instruments.  ‘Good enough to be in a (expletive deleted) punk band’, I believe he summarized.  But how would sloppy mandolin and tin whistle fit into such a punk band?  Most Celtic-Punk bands are full of ace musicians. Ulster, New York’s Templars of Doom have that precise answer, though the band is far from (expletive deleted.)

(hear the first Templars Of Doom album Bring Me The Head Of John The Baptist on the Bandcamp player below. Available to download at a knockdown price!)

The five-piece band features bagpipes, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bouzouki, banjo, mandolin, tin- whistle, bass and drums, often with members doubling up on instruments.  None of them show great virtuosity on their instruments, but therein lies the point, and with their powers combined, they form one of the most punkiest acts in all of Celtic punk.

The Templars Of Doom : Rory Quinn * Marty Shane * Josie Rose * Michael X. Rose * Eric Pomarico *

On ‘Hovels of the Holy’, the Templars approach Celtic-Punk in an non-obvious way, owing more to the sloppiness of The Clash and The Sex Pistols than the wall-of-sound distorted guitars of Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys.  

The opening instrumental, ‘Templars Rise From the Crypt’, works as a sort of overture and evokes background music in a pulpy adventure movie.   Indiana Jones, Perhaps?  Opening with a picked bass line that fits comfortably between Celtic and old-school punk, the song builds up with mandolin, bouzouki, tin whistle, electric guitar and, best-of-all, hellish screams.  It’s reminiscent of some of The Pogues’ early instrumental numbers like ‘Metropolis’ or ‘Wild Cats Of Kilkenny’.

The next track, ‘H-Block Escape’, sounds like the rebel song that The Clash never wrote, starting with the shout-along staccato chorus.  

’38 in ’83! H-block escapee! 38 IRA Free’!

and features some bagpipe work that’s oddly like of some the Clash’s unassuming lead guitar lines, backing up and strengthening the vocals. ‘H-Block Escape’ sets the tone for the album overall, establishing that the album is packed with strong choruses, brazen about its punk influences, and is full of lyrics that will send you to the history books. 

 Next comes ‘Black Friday On My Mind’, proudly continuing the the funny-but-sad aspect of Celtic-Folk, telling the story of a truly destitute individual looking forward to the US’s celebration of commercial decadence known as Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving.  It opens with the line:

Black Friday’s on my mind, waiting on the breadline

The rent money’s all been spent, and the children have no clothes.

In addition to sing-along Pogues-like chorus and bluesy lyrics, it has a jaunty 3-chord instrumental breakdown that I found hard not to mosh to.

The Templars’ rendition of ‘Leaving of Liverpool’, with it’s driving 4/4 rhythm and sloppy mandolin part is a good reminder that playing as fast as humanly possible isn’t the only way to make a traditional song punk, a reminder I myself probably need.  The Templars also include the rebel songs: ‘God Save Ireland’, ‘Wrap the Green Flag’, and the send-you-to-the-history-books ballad ‘Roddy McCorley’.  All three of these rebel songs involve the characters dying at the end.  

‘Beggar on the Road’, is one of the spookier songs on the album.  Starting with a tin-whistle and banjo intro, it tells the story of a drunk helping an impoverished and badly injured beggar.  The narrator gives him bread, clothes and whiskey (they are a Celtic-Punk band after all.)  ‘Jesus Christ!  what happened to you’? the shocked narrator asks the beggar.  The beggar responds, ‘How did you know my name’?  ‘You’re a bastard and a scoundrel, but this day you saved your soul’, concludes the final verse.

Also on the album a cover of Slade’s glam rock classic, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’, which works surprisingly well as an all-acoustic drinking song, and the bawdy-but-frightening ‘Tattoo Covered Hag’, whose three-chord, and three-word, chorus is one of the strongest on the album.  

The album finishes with a bagpipe-and-lead-guitar-heavy rendition of the Ramones’ ‘Chinese Rocks’, a song about addiction ruining a life, but also, in classic Ramones style, a joy to listen to.  It proves a fitting way to conclude the album that deals with some dark themes, is a pleasure to hear and a celebration of the band’s old-school punk influences. 

(you can hear the new Templars Of Doom album Hovels Of The Holy for free -before you buy it!- on the Bandcamp player below)

Buy Hovels Of the Holy

FromTheBand  CDbaby  iTunes  (cheapest way to order the CD for Europe is via CD Baby)

Contact The Templars Of Doom

Facebook   Bandcamp  YouTube  Spotify  Instagram

Tune in again in just a few days time when its TC Costello’s turn under the London Celtic Punks microscope. In a perfect world we ought to have got one of The Templars Of Doom to review TC’s new album but there you go. TC has just released his sixth album of his career and the self released Horizon Songs is certainly one of his best and judging by the crowd that night down The Lamb in Surbiton were selling like hot cakes! So come join us again for that….

ALBUM REVIEW: THE JOHNNY CLASH PROJECT- ‘The Johnny Clash Project’ (2018)

The most novel and interesting covers album you will ever hear! The debut album of The Clash re-imagined as The Man In Black. 1977 punk as boom-chuka-boom-chuka country’n’western with the roots of original rock’n’roll showing.

By some quirk of fate I came across the Italian band The Johnny Clash Project and purely on the name decided to check them out. Well to say I was impressed is an understatement. I was further intrigued to find they would soon be touring the UK so I dropped the lads a message on Facebook to find out if they were playing London but sadly the answer was no. Well a couple more emails and a bit of jiggery pokery and dates swapped round and we landed them to play at the London Celtic Punks show later this month in Leytonstone. More on that later but you may now be wondering what was so special as to warrant all this interest… well here you go.

Covers are not unknown in the Celtic-Punk scene and I dare say 95% of Celtic-Punk releases include at least one or two but The Johnny Clash Project’s album is all covers. Not only that but they are of the same band, The Clash. It is in fact a song-by-song tribute to their self-titled debut album from 1977. Now there’s two ways to record a cover (three if you include f*cking it up like Ed Sheeran’s recent version of ‘Fairytale Of New York’) you can either copy it closely or else breathe new life into it and try and record it in a new style. We are used to hearing both here and they both have value as long as they are recorded with love and respect. The Johnny Clash Project have taken the second route and recorded a whole album that is so God-damn memorable and catchy, its songs haven’t left my brain alone for over a week!!

What they have done is take the songs of The Clash and recorded them in the style of the great and legendary country outlaw Johnny Cash. Yes The Man In Black himself. There’s plenty of elements of blues, Americana, folk and rockabilly but essentially this is country of Johnny Cash of the Folsom Prison Blues era. Cash – Songwriter. Six-string strummer(!). Storyteller. Country boy. Rock star. Folk hero. Preacher. Poet. Drug addict. Rebel. Saint and sinner. Victim. Survivor. Home wrecker. Husband. Father. Son and more… Johnny Cash the ultimate music villain both widely loved and respected by all passed away in 2003  and so this is also a loving tribute to him as well.

The Johnny Clash Project formed in January 2013, in Bologna in northern Italy, and stars Lorenzo Mazzilli (voice and guitar), Paolo Cicconi (guitar and banjo) and Zimmy Martini (double bass). All three are active in other bands, The Giant Undertow, Lucky Strikes and Muddy Worries but here they are united in having only one purpose- to take the songs of the one band whose influence in Punk has never waned and re-imagine them in the style of that ultimate Country outlaw, Johnny Cash and to make them their own and this they have done. With several tours of home behind them and a two month tour last year that took in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and England they have been causing waves and their live show has been receiving plaudits from all and sundry.

Taking the boom-chuka-boom-chuka of Marshall Grant’s double bass and piling on top a voice that is so close to Johnny’s that it will make you do a double take this album is an absolute must have. It all kicks off with ‘Janie Jones’ and it’s one of a handful of songs here that the original tune stays intact but most of the album is done in the style of ‘Remote Control’ and ‘I’m So Bored With The USA’ where the tune is completely different and it’s not until the chorus that you start to recognise things. There are several high points but to be perfectly honest from start to finish this album is an absolute belter. ‘White Riot’, ‘London’s Burning’, ‘Career Opportunities’ keep the energy of the originals and the fast tempo while  ‘What’s My Name’ and ‘Cheat’ are played as emotional ballads and the curtain comes down with outstanding ‘Garageland’, accompanied by Marc Santò on fiddle and Anna, Carlotta and Giulia on backing vocals, from fellow Bologna band Le Birrette, it even manages to stand out more. Fourteen songs and just over forty-five minutes of musical heaven. There is something about knowing the words to a song that brings you closer to the music and here you often find yourself singing along before you know what the song is!

As said Johnny was the ultimate musical outlaw. Had he been born twenty later perhaps he might have embraced Punk himself. Ever faithful to both the spirit of The Clash and the sound of Johnny Cash this is pure unabashed Country-Folk but would they have got away with it if Lorenzo didn’t sound so much like Johnny Cash? Probably not but so what. Backed by Paolo Cicconi and Zimmy they are also joined here on drums by Matteo Dall’Aglio whose simple rhythms and changes of pace take you back to those halcyon days of the 1950’s. The album was released on St. Patrick’s Day eve this year and has been released on Milan label Rocketman Records. The sound is completely authentic sounding and the whole project reeks of care and attention to detail. Normally we come across albums we love with a sense of joy crossed with dejection. Joy at the discovery of music that will warm your soul but dejection at the realisation that you will never (probably) get to see the band in question perform. Well for some of you those feelings will remain while for Londoners the timing is perfect as we can catch The Johnny Clash Project in the flesh in just a couple of weeks time. Don’t miss this great band and while I do have a tendency to wax lyrical about records I love that the songs on this album are still swimming inside my head as I write this a week after I first heard it so that has to be the best recommendation hasn’t it?

(listen/ stream/ download the whole of The Johnny Clash Project at the link below)

Buy The Johnny Clash Project  FromTheBand

Contact The Johnny Clash Project  Facebook  Bandcamp  YouTube

The Johnny Clash Project will be joined on Friday 27th April by Dutch Celtic-Folk-Punkers Drunken Dolly, also playing in London for the first time, and London’s #1 Celtic-Punkers The Lagan. Live at one of East London’s most popular Irish pubs The Plough & Harrow, 419 High Road Leytonstone, London E11 4JU. Halfway along Leytonstone High Road the nearest tube is an easy 8 min walk from Leyton tube. For up to date information join the Facebook event here.

Full tour dates- Tuesday 24th April at The New Inn, Canterbury * Wednesday 25th April at The Liver Hotel, Liverpool * Thursday 26th April at the Craft Taproom, Liverpool * Friday 27th April at the Plough & Arrow, London and Saturday 28th at the Fez in Margate.

INTERVIEW WITH COMRADE X

Hitting home with the force of a police raid on a late night lock-in at the dodgiest South London boozer Comrade X emerges from the rubble of political failure, X Factor and wall to wall mediocrity to raise a pint of Guinness to the spirit of 1977!

Over the last couple of years it has been our pleasure to make the acquaintance of a good few people, who we are extremely proud to say, have become part of the extended London Celtic Punks family. If you have attended a London Celtic Punks gig over the last few years then I am sure you will have witnessed our auld mucker Comrade X starting off proceedings by kicking up a storm with his own unique brand of acoustic-punk. Best described as “one geezer, one guitar, three chords and the truth” and, my own favourite, “Woody Guthrie meets Oi!” he’s just an ordinary bloke with an acoustic guitar and the truth to tell. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about what he does, but what does he think on the important matters of the day? We asked yer man a few questions over a few pints of stout so read on and find out…

Now Comrade X has been around on the music scene a lot longer than any of us have been so we thought we’d give him a chance to fill us in (not literally!) and give us the benefit of his knowledge. Now there may be a small handful of people reading this who are not aware of your contribution to the world of alternative music so want to enlighten them? What started your interest in music and how long you been playing and what bands you been involved in up to now? I was 14 when the Pistols appeared on Bill Grundy and it just blew me away. Till that point I was wearing tank tops, Oxford Bags and DM’s and fancied myself as a boot boy with an aspiration to be a face on the Shed End at Chelsea. After Grundy I wanted to know more about these punks. I bought New Rose when it came out and that was that – but it was really the first Clash album that shifted everything for me. After that I bought a guitar out of a junk shop in Leatherhead and started rehearsing with my first band Discipline at the Cabin Club down on Longmead Estate in Epsom. That would have been some time in 1977. We had guitars that chopped your fingers off and 5 watt Woolworths’ practice amps – we were dire but a fire had been lit. 

Like most Londoners there’s more than just a drop of Celtic blood coursing through your veins. Do you think that has effected or contributed to how you play or why you play or your beliefs? Well, my grandad was from Kilkenny and arrived in Liverpool sometime in the 1890’s before heading to the East End. Of course I never knew him – he was dead by the time my dad was ten years old and he was orphaned and bought up by his older sister. The family name was changed by my grandad and I only know what my dad and his older brothers told me. Grandad sang rebel songs in pubs around Stepney and his favourite was Bold Robert Emmett so I was told. I think there’s a fair drop of that spirit in what I do. What? Singing rebel songs in a pub? I’d say so!!

Having been in bands and played solo yourself which figures or bands do you think have been the important links between the past and the present and folk/celtic/traditional music and punk/rock music? Biggest influence on me is Joe Strummer – his catalogue from the 101ers to the Mescaleros stands the test of time. The Mescaleros picked up some of Joe’s Celtic connections back to his own Scottish roots. He also introduced a lot of us to Woody Guthrie and through that Leadbelly and some of that deep roots Americana which of course all tracks back through the Celtic immigrant trail. I remember seeing the Pogues in their early days and for loads of us with an Irish/punk background lots of bits started dropping into place. Great to see new bands tipping their hat to that pioneering work by the Pogues and the Men They Couldn’t Hang. The Lagan are the tops for me, that might be a Surrey thing, but they are run close by outfits like Matilda’s Scoundrels and Black Water County. Steve Earle deserves a nod here as well – I was lucky enough to get to work with him a few years back. Top fella

 How you find the London Irish scene these days? Obviously the old community has shrunk and the new arrivals seem, to me anyway, not to be interested in Irish music. Maybe I’m reading it wrong. I certainly hope so. Is there still a community out there? So many pubs have closed or changed and communities are much more dissipated. I’m from Epsom where there used to be five big mental hospitals and they were staffed throughout by Irish immigrants working alongside colleagues from across the Commonwealth. My dad worked his way up to managing and inspecting the quality of those NHS services. Those hospitals have all closed but the social clubs in those places were something else. The sense of community was massive. The loss of those big centres of employment has had an inevitable impact.

As I say you’ve been performing for a hell of a long time in bands and now as a solo act but it has been said (and I am in agreement) that being a solo artist is the hardest thing to do. Just yourself on the stage and nowhere to hide. What does it take to be a solo performer. I would say big nuts and a big ego but obviously that’s not right for everyone! Yep, nowhere to hide! That is a bit of a downside but on the upside there’s no one to row with other than yourself and the odd sound man who thinks that every solo artist with a guitar should sound like Cat Stevens.

What bands are you listening to at the moment? Do you follow celtic-punk at all. Any bands out of the scene that you like? I’ve already bigged up The Lagan, Matilda’s Scoundrels and Black Water County but I can add to that Mick O’Toole and of course the old troopers Neck who I’ve know since time began. I pick up loads of stuff from your recommendations from around the globe and I think that the Irish influenced punk/folk scene is healthy as fuck – cant wait to see the Cundeez down in Brixton as well.

There’s always been a big debate about celtic-punk and whether or not it is cultural appropriation and politically correct for non-Irish bands singing about the Irish getting pissed and fighting and pubs and what have you. Personally I love it. The idea of the likes of Indonesian or Brazilian bands getting into The Dubliners and The Wolfe Tones after listening to the Dropkick Murphys. I mean its not like The Dubliners ever wrote a song about getting pissed is it? I think its just a case of snobbery but do you think it’s ok? I agree. I’m sick of being told what is and what isn’t acceptable and until everything is narrowed down to a tiny spec. I like covering Holy Spook by the Popes – “…I wrecked my life on whisky, bad wives, taking pills and cursing…”. That’s just the blues mate and it doesn’t belong to anyone. This “cultural appropriation” stuff is just more hand-wringing, liberal bollocks.

Now London Celtic Punks have always had the by-line of ‘Folk Punk Football’ and football is very dear to your heart as we know. Obviously the modern game is shite and the only real football fans are to be found in the lower divisions and non-league. That about right? ha ha – no, you are completely wrong and modern football, as invented by Sky TV, is brilliant! What’s the matter with you?

How long you been going to Sutton United? Do you think supporting a team that has never really won anything has made you a better person? Does learning the value of defeat and pride in losing but trying your hardest teach you something that is missing in the Premiership or even society? I’ve been going to Sutton since the early seventies. My old man took me down there to try and wean me off Chelsea and a career as a hooligan. He wasn’t totally successful but I always kept a link with the U’s. About ten years ago I jacked in the Chelsea season ticket and now it’s Sutton home and away. I love it. I meet loads of old punks who see the connection with those old values in the non league game. Never won anything? We won the bloody league last season! And did I ever tell you about the time we beat Coventry City in the FA Cup? 

As well as football you are heavily involved in promoting trade unionism. The decline of the unions is a terrible thing but what do you think can be done to reverse that trend. My own union is a waste of space and I may as well throw my money down a drain but as a good friend of mine (a Scouser of course!) once said joining a union is like having house insurance you don’t expect the house to burn down tomorrow but what do you do if it does. I got involved in NUPE in the early eighties when I lost my job as a sparky and took a job as hospital porter. Brilliant days and we were solid as a rock before everything was ripped apart and privatised. You’ve got to have that strength in the workplace or you’ve got nothing.

With so much music in your life. What are your happiest memories of playing. The best gig or best people… Tolpuddle main stage last week was one of my best ever gigs. Strummercamp and that night at the Water Rats with you lot, Anto Morra and Pogue Traders is up there as well. The rest is just a blur of fast living. 

Right you have hinted at this every now and then on stage so lets get the full unabridged story out of you now. How did you manage to get Neck’s anti-racist single ‘Every Bodies Welcome To The Hooley’ into the national charts? Ha, that really was the wide boys revenge mate. I pulled in favours with every journo I know and got the band on BBC prime time TV and radio and we had people targeting the record shops that used to file returns for the official chart. It was some proper old spivery and I am rightly proud of it.

What’s the immediate future hold for Comrade X. Any gigs/ festivals we should be looking out for you at? What about recordings. Ain’t it time you got something down on disc… or vinyl’s coming back you know? I’ve got a mate up in Luton who has built an analogue studio and I’ll be doing some recording up there in the autumn – some great shows coming up very shortly with you lot and the Veg Bar, The Lagan at the Fighting Cocks and Undercover Festival. And I will be helping my old mate Noel Martin from Menace with his bands 40th anniversary bash at the 100 Club. I’m enjoying myself and you can tune in through the Comrade X Facebook page.

 

Thanks Comrade for taking the time to answer a few questions. It’s a privilege to include you as a member of the London Celtic Punks crew and work with you over the last few years, so here’s to many many more!

You can catch Comrade X playing live at our next London Celtic Punks gig later this year on Saturday 3rd September on home territory in South London. He will be supporting Dundee based bagpipe punk band THE CUNDEEz on their London debut gig. All starts at 7-30pm sharp and costs just a fiver on the door. You can check out the Facebook event here to find out all the details of the venue and the other support bands or go to our What’s On- Upcoming Gigs & Events here.

Contact Comrade X

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ALBUM REVIEW: DANNY DIATRIBE- ‘Elevation Illustrations’ (2016)

Elevation Illustrations is the second album release from Danny Diatribe aka Irish rapper Danny Lynch originally from Derry City but based in Manchester.

Now first things first. What I know about hip-hop you could write on the back of a postage stamp to be honest but I do like music of the Irish diaspora and I do own the House Of Pain discography and that has made me the most qualified out of all the London Celtic Punks reviewers to take on the new Danny Diatribe album for you! Danny was born Danny Lynch in Derry city in the occupied north of Ireland but emigrated to Manchester as a young ‘un ten years back. Danny may not be the first celtic-rapper (see our article The Top Seven Celtic Hip-Hop Artists And Bands here) but he is one of only a small handful waving the tricolour in England!

Elevation Illustrations is Danny’s follow up album to 2013’s Information Age and though musically a hundred miles away from what I usually listen to I found myself getting proper into it… so i did! With a whole host of guest artists appearing Elevation Illustrations is like a who’s-who of the Manchester rap scene but is most definitely Danny’s work. Kicking off with ‘Towards Balance’ which was released as a single from the album.

Followed by ‘Encounter Philosophical’ and another great video goes with the song this time filmed in Reykjavik, Iceland. In fact one of the things most impressive things about Danny Diatribe is the quality videos that accompany pretty much all of Danny’s songs. ‘Magum Opus’ features Conor McGregor giving out on what is the Irish way while ‘Roses’ features Wile Man. The nightmare of alcoholism is the feature of ‘Ten Green Bottles’

“Emerge from buried history, i never speak in novel tones,
Never do I grovel thrones, I hobble down the cobble stones,
Sunken in the drunkin groans, my thoughts are dim lit alleyways,
Drown my screaming ego, I escape from my reality.Fall into the gutter on theses doom stilts,
Calls for help turns into a spludder as the room tilts,
This is the life for me, cos there is no life for me,
I drown the fuckin sight i see”

and more nightmarish visions follow in title song ‘Elevation Illustrations’ featuring Herrotics and Misc Jockey. ‘South Manchester’ is a gritty slowed down diatribe on an area of Manchester that goes from the footballer-belt right up to the inner-city. ‘Boneshakers’ features Dubbul O and ‘The Vagabond of Babylon’ features Danny in the video wandering round his native Derry.

‘Paddys Cure’ follows and begins with a blast of the Dubliners and is as good a song about Irish emigration as you’ll hear. The song is featuring fellow Manchester Irish rapper D’Lyfa Reilly and the pride and the sadness of leaving Ireland and being Irish is clear.

‘The Void’ features Tony Skank, ‘Bun The System’ features Bill Sykes, Black Josh & Cheech and we’re coming to the end of the album and the last two songs sum up the album perfectly. ‘The Fractal Mind Of Diatribe’ is an extended rant giving Danny’s main philosophies on life.

“I’m Danny Diatribe, chillin on a manny vibe,
The chillin Irish guy that keeps it lit just like a fire fly,
Got more juice than 5alive, but never on the flyer I
Think promoters sleep they’re counting sheep and rapid eye
movement, showing improvement, I’ve been rhyming for a decade,
from mind to pen to tongue my lungs expand under my chest plate,
the Derry native gets creative with his intake
breath controls the central role for meditating stressed states
rippin the microphone cos its the dopest thing i know
gathering up my thoughts and then express it in a flow
I’m academic when i said it and it shows
I kick enlightened poems if you don’t know well now ye know,
but some dont comprehend so they need to be told again
the universe extends every time i hold a pen
don’t follow trends but ye can catch me at the bar with cats
spittin raps till another celebrity star collapse
off the beaten track, only reaching those that’s seeking facts,
leave that heathen chat, your teeth’s in that and what you speak is wack,
no-one believes in your mc-ing get your reason back,
im a seasoned cat, your a cell inside a semen sack,
must be fuckin dreamin, black Irish and we’re up north
the catechism causes craniums to contort,
futuristic, my target market’s unborn,
I speak the celtic flow that makes you want more,

cause an uproar”

The song ends with the great line

“so thanks for listenin, grab a tin with me next of kin,
grippin them and sippin them up on a roof in Withington”

and finally ‘Elevation Illustrations’ comes to an end with ‘Astral Journey’ featuring Legion and the curtain comes down.

The album was produced by Pro P who has been tipped as one of the top 10 UK hip hop producers to look out for in 2016 by the highly influential web site UKHH.COM. Fourteen tracks that nicely bring up both The Clash and Public Enemy in describing Irish immigrant life while raging on the attacks on our civil liberties, Palestine, imperialism, the working class and the gritty side of Manchester life. All are in his cross-hairs and the execution is pure brilliant. Backed by a varied and excellent sets of beats from trip-hop to jungle, to electronica and back again Danny has delivered something that takes the idea of celtic-punk and brings it much much closer to modern culture than we could ever do. Sharp tongued and finely distilled Danny Diatribe is set for important things. Buy the album and tell your friends you got your finger on the pulse of underground Irish immigrant hip hop. You will sound cool as anything!

(you can listen to  by pressing play on the Bandcamp player below before you buy. Go on it’s only a fiver!)

Buy The Album

FromDanny

Contact Danny Diatribe

Facebook  Bandcamp  Soundcloud  YouTube  Google+  Twitter

Interesting story regards the old fashioned gent on the album cover. It is not as originally thought Danny pre-beard but his Great-Grandad James Lynch in 1890. He was a protestant that converted to Catholicism to marry and had to be sneaked into church on the quiet. Both him and his brother played football for Ireland and he was given an award by the Royal Humane Society for saving a drowning woman’s life by jumping in the water, punching her unconscious, swimming back to shore with her and resuscitating her on land!

PREPARE YOUR LIVERS FOR THE WORSE LONDON! COMING SOON…

Sorry if you don’t live in London but if you do you lucky souls are in for a cracking weekend from December 11th to the 13th!

FRIDAY 11th DECEMBER 2015

IRISH MUSIC FOR PALESTINE
BENEFIT CONCERT FOR ‘VOICE OF GAZA’
We are proud to announce a benefit gig in aid of the Palestinian charity ‘Voices For Gaza’
We have lined up some of the best Irish acts around for you with the marvellous BIBLE CODE SUNDAYS set to headline. They are simply the best band in the Irish scene in London.Best described as “The Clash on Irish steroids”. NECK are the original celtic-punk band. Taking The Pogues and The Clash and The Dubliners as a starting point they invented their own genre ‘Psycho-Ceilidh’ and have toured the world spreading the London Irish message to the masses and ANTO MORRA a singer-songwriter of great standing. Anto (real name Anthony Morrissey) was raised in London by Irish parents, and this background provides a theme that runs throughout his fantastic music. Three fantastic acts representing the London Irish community and Neck and The Bible Codes haven’t taken the stage together since the days of The Galtymore so you’rein for a rare treat.
Tickets are £10 in advance with no extra fees. All money going to ‘Voices For Gaza’. Get your ticket from here. Official Facebook event here.
The gig is being held at Hennesseys Bar, 399 Northolt Road, South Harrow, HA2 8JE. Nearest tube is South Harrow on the Picadilly line so come out of the train station and turn left and walk approx 500 metres.
Buses galore but 140, 487, 258 stop directly outside the bar. Live music is from 7-30pm till 11-15pm and last tube is around 11-45pm so people can get back to central London.
…but for those that stay our special guest DJ MR GREENFORD BHOY will be spinning the best in Irish rebel folk rock and more till the early hours.

Voice Of Gaza (VOG) project, is helping young Gazan female students to overcome trauma through writing about their experiences. They will participate in a 2 year programme learning all aspects of English, so their voices can reach out into the world. VOG has no tuition fees, to enable any student access to the project. Abedalrahman Elderawi has established an Educational Non-Profit Center in Gaza. This programme will give these young people:
The tools they need to become more effective writers and speakers
The platform to help their expressions reach the larger world
Build their character as future leaders able to speak eloquently for the Palestinian people
Enhancing their spiritual side through music and arts, while also helping them cope with the trauma of war and occupation.
Voice Of Gaza Facebook page here.
If you can’t make the gig feel free to still buy a ticket to support the great work ‘Voice Of Gaza’ are doing or go to the Go Fund Me page here and leave a donation.

SUNDAY 13TH DECEMBER 2015

THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS /URBANKELT CHRISTMAS PISSUP BASH

On October 4th back in 1982 something happened that would forever change peoples lives and perceptions. A band called THE POGUES took the stage in an iconic old venue in Kings Cross and the rest as they say is history!
with THE POGUES run of yearly Christmas shows seemingly ended we know you all miss a good auld Pogues yuletide pissup so hows about the UK’s Number One Pogues tribute band THE POGUE TRADERS live at the very venue that The Pogues actually had their first ever gig!
And its not just a marketing ploy to describe them as the UK’s best Pogues tribute band – that’s what The Pogues own drummer Andrew Ranken said about THE POGUE TRADERS ably supported by COMRADE X one man whirlwind of numerous influences and traditions best described as “Woody Guthrie meets Oi!”. One geezer, one guitar, three chords and the truth. ANTO MORRA is back again. A singer-songwriter of great standing. Anto (real name Anthony Morrissey) was raised in London by Irish parents, and this background provides a theme that runs throughout his music. In the best tradition Luke Kelly, Brendan Behan and Shane himself.
and all at the historic music venue The Water Rats at 328 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8BZ. Situated just a couple of minutes walk from Kings Cross station so perfect for loads of rail and tube links and with the music set to finish around 11-30pm you will be able to get back to anywhere in London or further afield.
The bar will stay open a little longer and we will have MR GREENFORD BHOY dj’ing all your favourite celtic-punk, Irish, Punk and rebel tunes until we are shown the door.
Admission is only a fiver so you’ll already be saving £30 on the real band! Tickets are available from here. Official Facebook event here.

So prepare your livers… and your wallets and see you there!

P.S we will have the new London Celtic Punks t-shirts (and Badges) available so bring plenty of cash wont you. They will make great Christmas presents.

EP REVIEW: DRUNKEN DOLLY- ‘Drunken Dolly And The Drunken Mans Curse’ (2015)

Happy rocking celtic folk punk party music from Rotterdam

Funny how things go and only a few days after reviewing the new album from Dutch band Pyrolysis another new release from a Dutch band lands on the London Celtic Punks doorstep. Although relatively new to us Drunken Dolly have been together for six years but ‘Drunken Dolly And The Dead Mans Curse’ is their very first release and we can safely add about bloody time too.

The EP begins with the title track ‘Drunken Man’s Curse’ and from the very start what grabs you is that Drunken Dolly have both mandolin and banjo players and superbly played they are too. It is becoming more common these days and the sound it produces makes for some excellent music. Along with the thrashing guitar and frantic drumming they kick up a right auld celtic punk storm with this tale of a drunken night on the lash.

“You’re drunk and you fell in love
But it’s probably the drunken man’s curse
your front-door key is not your friend you see
When you’re under the drunken man’s curse”

Next up is ‘Humongous Tattooed Arms’ and more of the same with the mando and banjo dualing away but what really grabbed me is the rather sweet and tender lyrics of the song. Telling of a sons love for his father I have to say I am rather jealous of songwriters who can capture life in such a powerful and meaningful way. Well done DD!

“A sleeve full of memories, each picture a story
I’m so proud to be a part of that arm.
Anchors, bottles, ships and a picture of me
as his lucky charm”

Drunken Dolly pay tribute to the biggest day in the celtic-punk diary next with ‘St. Patrick’s Day’. A perfect combination of the best bits of The Pogues and The Clash combining for a real proper catchy tune.

 ‘That Kiss’ brings the EP to an end and again there is no let up with the music coming at you fast and furious. Banjo kick starts it and before long you’re swept away with the highlight of the EP that would easily grace any of the celtic-punk scenes biggest hitters.

Drunken Dolly left to right: Scott: drums * Randy: electric guitar * Michael: mandolin * Kevin: bass guitar * Gydo: banjo * Lead vocals: Michael and Kevin * Backing vocals: everyone

It may not be very long at just over ten minutes but this is as good a EP as has been released this year. Four songs of fantastic celtic-punk that is firmly within the Dropkicks camp but will equally appeal to fans of the Mollys too. I may be new to them but will be following what they do very closely from now on and I suggest you do too.

(to listen to ‘Drunken Dolly And The Dead Mans Curse’ press play on the Bandcamp player below)

Buy The Album

FromTheBand

Contact The Band

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here’s a full concert from the Bhoys 

TRIBUTE TO WELSH PUNK ROCK LEGENDS ANHREFN

FREE DOWNLOADS OF THEIR ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY

ANHREFN

THE WELSH CLASH!

The Welsh Clash, apparently, although the Sex Pistols is an equally viable comparison. And very good they were, too. Not for them the mindless thrashings of hardcore, these guys wrote proper songs, with tunes. Playing fantastic melodic punk and only ever singing in Welsh they achieved a degree of stardom and popularity unthinkable now. Who knows how far they could have gone if they’d sung in a foreign language?

Anhrefn were one of the very few Welsh-language bands to find widespread success outside of their native country, Anhrefn (Welsh for ‘Disorder’, thereby avoiding confusion with the Bristol crusty punks name!) are often now cited as the band that put Wales on the guitar music map, preceding popular ’90s bands such as Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics and Super Furry Animals.

Formed in 1980, the Gwynedd-based outfit were founded by bass-player Rees Mwyn, who set up the record label Recordiau Anhrefn in ’83, later gaining distribution from The Cartel/Revolver. Their most solid line-up throughout the ’80s was completed by Sion Sebon (vocals/guitar), Hefin Huws (drums) and Dewi Gwyn (guitar).

They released their debut single, ‘Priodus Hapus’, in 1984, and included tracks on various compilation LP’s alongside other Welsh bands over the next couple of years. In ’86 they featured on the debut release for Newport-based punk label Words Of Warning (who would later become home to popular acts such as Blaggers ITA, Oi Polloi, Cowboy Killers and Terminus) – an EP entitled The First Cuts Are The Deepest – with the song ‘Action Man’.

The following year they became the first Welsh language band to sign an international recording deal when they were picked up by Alternative Tentacles subsidiary Workers Playtime. The label released the band’s debut LP, ‘Defaid, Skateboards A Wellies’ (‘Sheep, Skateboards & Wellies’), which was generally greeted with favourable reception – notably by DJ John Peel, for whom they would subsequently record a number of Radio One sessions.

With the record’s fresh-sounding brand of melodic punk, blending hints of hardcore, metal and goth, the band soon became underground favourites of the UK punk/hardcore scene, their name seemingly adorning every alternative music fanzine cover of the period. Around this time they began making a name for themselves overseas, playing gigs throughout Europe and the United States.

A follow-up LP, 1989’s Bwrw Cwrw, delved into the realms of dub reggae, while a split LP with Last Rough Cause the same year saw them treading more traditional old-school punk ground, including a cover of The Ruts classic ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’. It was the following year’s ‘Dragons Revenge’ set, however, which stands as their most impressive work, incorporating elements of traditional Welsh folk blended with solid, tuneful punk rock anthems.

The record was produced by one Dave Goodman, noted for his work with the Sex Pistols (it was released in Germany as ‘The Dave Goodman Sessions’), and, continuing the Pistols connection, the front cover art – a tongue-in-cheek concept depicting the Welsh dragon trampling over St. George – was designed by Jamie Reid, the man responsible for that now-classic pink and yellow Never Mind The Bollocks.. album sleeve. Sadly, this was to be the band’s last official recording, although they continued playing for the next two or three years.

In 1993, Rhys began working for Crai Records (the local label who had released the band’s third LP), and briefly stepped in as manager for Catatonia, who recorded a couple of EP’s for the label in the mid-‘90s before going on to bigger and better things. He later took over the running of Crai after Anhrefn officially split in ’94.

PASSWORD FOR ALL ALBUMS IS

freepunk77

Defaid Skateboards A Wellies (1987) https://mega.nz/#!GIBjFAbJ!yFor9_czO5AmZD9RKwyDfzhrY-GrUX0EFVus1yUsOGw

Bwrw Cwrw (1989) https://mega.nz/#!bJJU2YbC!k1Q-ayGj8pV41Yit8k6Zf5qmGQ2-JErejznfOAXPsXs

Rhedeg I Bohemia (1991) https://mega.nz/#!bc42RQKC!wtwHfHjeYgOutNp6yRuJj3lFpiS3Wsy-NOFGoyqsL0k

Dial Y Ddraig (1991) https://mega.nz/#!fNQjwTwD!mCa-VOvZubeOowfvncw9dHqJqYt63pJXjCzrB5Fe_-c

Last Rough Cause & Anhrefn – Soft Lights & Loud Guitars (Part Two) (1989) https://mega.nz/#!WZ5nwYCC!-OqXKx0OMvGW9Xf6VKScFiDPgCtRt8RweJMTi-HWYHM

Peel Session 4.8.1986 (1986) https://mega.nz/#!mYQEiJZK!Bmpi27K_xvB-jXIBYHC8T4j2NqubUNG0fIoi8snVucA

Further Information

Anhrefn Records here

great article here from Louder Than War ‘Futile Gestures…ex Anhrefn bassist Rhys Mwyn looks back at his efforts to influence Welsh culture’ here

Anhrefn Wikipedia here

Facebook Anhrefn-Fan Page here

absolutely brilliant biography of the band and an interview with Sion here

*links all working as of 7th March 2018*

NECK IN SEISUIN SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2013

Next month (20-22 September) is the annual North London Punx Picnic festival. Its basically a DIY punk festival in the spirit of the old picnic’s not what passes for them now as they’re more like wee mini Rebellions! its all done as non-profit with cheap gigs that are all benefits for decent causes with a picnic in the middle… beware though the picnic doesn’t involve much food!

This year the whole event is in Tottenham in North London within a few minutes walk from Seven Sisters tube station. For more info and times and transport details check out the official picnic facebook events page here

To bring down the curtain on the last day of the Picnic are London-Irish ‘psycho-ceilídh’ punks NECK led by a former member of Shane MacGowan’s The Popes, they’ve forged a (well-earned) reputation as a great, tried and tested, festival band – from Texas to Moscow! Released four albums, plus their Anti-racism single charted in the UK. Bring ‘The Hooley’!

At the very forefront of the international celtic folk-punk scene NECK’s music reflects the life experience of the emigrant and second-generation Irish. Their 19 years have seen them tour right across the globe spreading their message. The band takes their lead, both musically and ideologically, from two other great London rebel bands: The Clash and The Pogues, blending full-on punk rock with swirling traditional Irish music, and distilling it all to come-up with their own unique, intoxicating London-Irish brew known as ‘Psycho-Ceilídh’. For full details on the gig go to our events page-

Occasionally though the band play a completely stripped down acoustic seisiún like what our mammies and da’s met at! Such is their flair, energy and passion you may be forgiven for thinking you’re at a full on punk gig. It’s all free on the afternoon of Sunday 22nd September so pop down after mass. The beer is cheap the sun should be out  and the music is guaranteed!

slainte!

contact the band Web Site or Facebook