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: THE HYDROPATHS- ‘Wailing Away’ (2014)

Yorkshire! Yorkshire! Yorkshire!

A beacon of good, old fashioned, no frills celtic-punk music.

The policy on 30492-London Celtic Punks blog is to only review music from the current year. We have broken this maybe once or twice tops over the years but I had no hesitation in doing it again when I heard this release from Leeds based celtic-punk band The Hydropaths. I must admit that until the band posted something on our Facebook page I had never heard of them but that soon changed very quickly!

The Hydropaths play their first gig in north London in six years on Wednesday 11th November at The Unicorn, 227 Camden Road, London NW1 9AA. Click on the gig flyer to go to the Event page.

‘Wailing Away’ is the first official release from the band though they also have a five track release called ‘Basement Demos’ which is also available for Pay What You Like so click on the record sleeve to go to the download page. The band rose out of the ashes of a great Leeds punk band The Dead Pets that I had the pleasure of seeing quite a few times. They were famous for great energetic live shows and raucous punk rock cabaret so it seems kind of natural, to me at any rate, that they should have morphed into a celtic-punk band. ‘Wailing Away’ was recorded in the summer of last year in Leeds and is a real gem.

click to be directed to the download page

Leeds is without a doubt the most Irish place in Yorkshire with emigrants drawn to the city from the time of the Great Hunger onwards. It was in the forties and fifties though that Irish emigration to Leeds, and England, hit its peak. By the early seventies the Irish community numbered well over 30,000 and in fact, in 1971 there were more Irish per square kilometre in inner-city Leeds than in Co. Mayo! Irish culture, sport and traditions are alive and well in the city and have been throughout the subsequent decades and are still flourishing now. The story of the Irish in England is often neglected and the children and grandchildren of those immigrant Irish who grew up in working class communities with the children of other immigrants do have a unique take on life. Dismissed as either English or ‘plastic’ many of us turned to punk and/or politics and its certainly not unusual to find multiple Irish backgrounds in punk bands (maybe its something to do with our Catholic education?!?!). The Hydropaths vocalist Joe explains how his Irish background influenced him as a lyricist

“Growing up listening to traditional songs like The Rising Of The Moon and Kelly, The Boy From Killane had a huge impact on me as a writer. It’s about story telling”

The band was formed way way back in 2006 when The Dead Pets broke up but only lasted for four years till the band split. They reformed last year for a four gig tour with fellow Leeds band Kleine Schweine and are now embarking on a tour from November 8th-15th. They play Sun 8th 0The Union Bar Hastings, Weds 11th Unicorn in Camden, Thurs 12th The Parish in Huddersfield, Fri 13th Corner House in Cambridge, Sat 14th McGuires in Liverpool and finally their home town for the Pie Race Festival on Sunday the 15th. Check their Facebook page for more details.

The Hydropaths

 The EP begins with the title track ‘Wailing Away’ and the mandolin begins the tune before the band join in and Joe’s distinctive voice starts up and its classic celtic-punk we’ve got here. The shitty state of the country for the working class is their concern and how nothing changes by just talking about it. A great song and superb all round production with the mando out loud and clear but all the multitude of instruments as clear as anything. ‘Where Have All The Good Men Gone?’ is again a fantastic tune with, again, Joe’s voice and words dominating proceedings. If I had to declare a band as a comparison I think The Tossers would be close but as for anyone here in Blighty their sound is their own. The song name checks Brendan Behan, Luke Kelly and Joe’s dad among others. ‘Long Gone Feeling’ is my favourite song here with the accordion giving it a Poguesy feel and once again the superb lyrics reminding me of MacGowan.

‘Another Night In Hell’ is about six stories in three verses including spending the night in a police cell or how the Bhoys put it

“a working class hotel”

Fast paced, as the whole EP has been so far, and no let up for ‘In Romance’ either. The song slows down a little but as you can imagine that aint saying much and finally ‘Wailing Away’ ends with I suspect with the song closest to The Hydropaths hearts. ‘To Sinners And Saints’ is the story of the lads ancestors leaving the green of home and coming to West Yorkshire to live and die and survive. The story is familiar to all of us who come from similar backgrounds. ‘To Sinners And Saints’ ends the record on a real pint (or fist) in the air/ arms round your mates moment that the The Pogues or The Tossers would be proud of.

So what you get here is over twenty minutes of absolutely brilliant Irish influenced folk-punk with plenty of rabble rousing with not much room for many ballads but a whole lot more than you’d imagine from this great band. The EP is available to download for whatever you want to pay so whether you think its worth £20 or 20p get it downloaded and be sure to make your way to Camden town for November 11th. Its my birthday so I may even let you buy me a drink and I can think of no better way to spend my 21st (ahem!) birthday than seeing The Hydropaths for the first time. I am positive it will be the first of many.

(you can listen to the whole of ‘Wailing Away’ by pressing play on the Bandcamp player below. To get the album follow the link below the player)

Buy The EP

FromTheBand

Contact The Band

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More On The Leeds Irish
B. McGowan, ‘Taking the Boat: The Irish in Leeds: 1931-81’, 2009.
M. Patterson, ‘The Ham Shank’, 1993.
C. Silva & B. McGowan, ‘Róisín Bán: The Irish Diaspora in Leeds’, 1996.