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

Odds'n'Sods January 31, 2023 Leave a comment

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.

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2022!

Album Review, Best Of's, EP Review January 14, 2023 Comments: 11

It’s that time of year again for the London Celtic Punks annual Best Of list. Has it really been a year since The Peelers waltzed (or should that be jigged) off with album of the year? It’s been possibly the best year for Celtic-Punk since we started doing this site and this was easily the closest it has ever been in that time. Pretty much all the big hitters, with one or two one notable exception (The Tossers where were you!), released records and on top of that a bunch of debut albums that were top class too.

so without further ado…

CLICK ON THE GREEN LINK TO BE FORWARDED TO REVIEW

2022’s #1 was the amazing new album from THE MAHONES. That they are as prolific as they are and yet can still put out quality like this 30 + years on is incredible. Well done Finny & co. FLOGGING MOLLY won the battle of the big Celtic-Punk 2 with the DROPKICKS and were also the best gig of the year for me personally (August in Dublin with Ferocious Dog). THE LUCKY TROLLS followed on from their Best EP award from 2019 with the highest place for any ‘outsider’ this year while Scandinavian stalwarts SIR REG gave us possibly their best album yet. REINA ROJA from Spain were another highly placed new band and their were several others among the Top 30. Their were also a handful of albums that didn’t qualify for the chart but were worth noting including a couple of greatest hits albums THE REAL McKENZIES – Float Me Boat and UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS – The Story So Far that were both superb introductions to the bands, the second volume of the Black 47 covers compilation AFTER HOURS VOL. 2 and finally the HEADSTICKS 10th anniversary album of the best songs of their career to date re-recorded.

1. THE MAHONES – Jameson Street

2. FLOGGING MOLLY – Anthem

3. DROPKICK MURPHYS – This Machine Still Kills Fascists

4. THE LUCKY TROLLS – Raised Fist And Rebel Songs

5. SIR REG – Kings Of Sweet Feck All

6. REINA ROJA – Hooligan Folk

7. FINNEGAN’S HELL – One Finger Salute

8. REAL McKENZIES – Songs Of The Highlands, Songs Of The Sea

9. HOIST THE COLOURS – When Daylight Breaks

10. SHANGHAI TREASON – Shanghai Treason

11. PADDY’S PUNK – With Full Horse

12. THE TAN AND SOBER GENTLEMEN – Regressive Folk Music

13. ZECKYBOYS – Dirty Brands

14. THE MOORINGS – March On

15. THE MULLINS – Gold In Our Hands

16. PADDY AND THE RATS – From Wasteland To Wonderland

17. SYR – Sentinel

18. MAN THE LIFEBOATS – Soul Of Albion

19. THE GROGGY DOGS – Still Groggin’

20. WHISKEY’S WAKE – Wake Up Whiskey

21. JAMIE CLARKE’S PERFECT – Monkey See Monkey Do

22. O’HAMSTERS – From Green Hills To Raging Sea

23. SLAINTE – Up Down 95

24. THE ENDINGS – Completely Pickled

25. THE CUNDEEZ – Geez It

26. THE ROYAL SPUDS – Roots Of Life

27. THE DREADNOUGHTS – Roll And Go

28. THE SCARLET – Freedom Call

29. TEMPLARS OF DOOM – Rising Of The Doom!

30. DRUNKEN FIGHTERS – Someday

Bubbling over: THEIGNS AND THRALLS – Theigns And Thralls

As funny as it may seem the Best Debut Album award for 2022 was decided way back in January last year when the long awaited self titled debut album from Yorkshire banjo Punks SHANGHAI TREASON arrived in the post. Eleven original songs of high tempo energetic Celtic-Punk with some of the best banjo we heard all year long! On top of that later in the year they released a 3-track EP of songs that didn’t make the album that was also superb! That’s not to say it was a easy choice as by the end of the year REINA ROJA, THE LUCKY TROLLS and ZECKYBOYS all put out albums that challenged the Treason and in any other year could easily have won the award themselves.

A well deserved top two for THE RUMJACKS and their new singer Mikee. The split EP with FLATFOOT 56 in particular was absolutely flawless! Their were fantastic debut releases from THE DEAD IRISH, THE GALLOWGATE MURDERS and THE RAMSTAMPITS out of the Celtic nations of Ireland and Scotland that completely blew us away and were eagerly anticipated. A word here for BOG IRON from California who I found completely by accident and been playing ever since.

1. THE RUMJACKS / FLATFOOT 56 Split EP

2. THE RUMJACKS – Brass For Gold

3. THE DEAD IRISH – Four Corners Of Hell

4. THE GALLOWGATE MURDERS – ‘ Dead, Gone And Living On’

5. BRICK TOP BLAGGERS – Obey The Tyrant

6. BOG IRON – Star Of The County Down

7. DISTILLERY RATS – We Are Rats

8. THE KILLIGANS – Dread Naught

9. KRAKIN’ KELLYS – Old Ways New Days

10. THE RAMSTAMPITS – Light The Beacon

Bubbling Under: THE CLOVERHEARTS – Still Pissed / JAMESTOWN BROTHERS – Just Is

In what is usually the hardest category to choose from we actually had a very easy choice this year with the new album from Boston singer-songwriter BRYAN McPHERSON never off our play list all year long. The great news is that Bryan is heading to these shores in the Summer and we are very happy to be helping out. Dundalk’s THE MARY WALLOPERS were busy all year round and ended 2022 with a sell out London show and a debut album in December. The debut album from THE WINTER CODES saw a welcome return to the wider music scene for Barney the original vocalist for Blood Or Whiskey. Some may be surprised to find the first solo album from MARCUS MUMFORD listed but it really was a great album both musically but especially lyrically.

1. BRYAN McPHERSON – How To Draw Everything

2. THE MARY WALLOPERS – The Mary Wallopers

3. OYSTERBAND – Read The Sky

4. IAN PROWSE – One Hand On The Starry Plough

5. PRONGHORN – Welcome To Pronghorn Country

6. BODH’AKTAN – Valcourt Sessions

7. BURBRIDGE AND BOOTH – Icons

8. THE WINTER CODES – Set The Darkness Reeling

9. THE ALT – Day Is Come

10. MARCUS MUMFORD – (self-titled)

A new section this year and the first winner is THE OUTCAST CREW out of Laois in the Irish midlands. A new single and video directed, filmed and edited by Thomas Moyles that came out at the end of the Summer. Laois is famous for an abbey, some gardens, a castle and a couple of lakes and now a kickarse class Celtic-Celtic-Punk. They won the 2020 Celtic Punk debut album of the year and it’s about time we heard some more guys!

The competition for best Celtic-Punk video of the year was incredible so next year (which will be our 10th anniversary) we will make a bit more effort and maybe even include you in the decision!!

There were several people involved in the collation of these results and so it is that some of those people may not have heard every album listed or released through the year. If you’re album is not listed maybe you didn’t send it us or not all the folks here heard it so couldn’t give a opinion so really don’t feel too put out. We’re not perfect but we do try our best.

This is the ninth year we’ve been doing these Best Of lists. It seems incredible looking back at some of the previous winners and also-ran’s just how many bands are still with us from Year 1. Have a look for yourselves just click on the year below to redirect.

* 2013 * 2014 * 2015 * 2016 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2020 * 2021 *

THE LONDON CELTIC PUNKS SHOP

If you like what we do then why not visit our shop where you can buy all manner of Celtic-Punk tatt including t-shirts, badges, stickers, CD’s, fridge magnets, patches, Celtic nations flags and we just got in new for ’22 some bobble hats and polo shirts.

https://the30492shop.fwscart.com/

Alongside the Best Of polls we also run a special Readers Choice poll where you get to pick your favourite release of the year. This will be the fifth year it’s been running with Krakin’ Kellys, Mickey Rickshaw, The Go-Set and Ferocious Dog our previously champions! Last year we had well over 1500 votes (the most ever!) so remember the auld Irish adage ‘Vote Early – Vote Often’. There is only room on the form to list the Top Ten albums but there is an option for YOU to write in your favourite release (album or EP) of the year.

Poll will run until midnight on Tuesday 31st January 2023. You can vote twice. If the release you want to vote for is not listed then you can write it in.

Keep up to date with London Celtic Punks web-zine for all the latest news, record reviews, features and plenty more. Find all our social media here

https://linktr.ee/londoncelticpunks

to subscribe to the web-zine email londoncelticpunk@hotmail.co.uk

The poll will close at midnight on Tuesday 31st January 2023 with the result to be announced soon afterwards.

Dedicated to our good friend Scott Chrystal

Slainte, The London Celtic Punks Bhoys – January 2023

ODDS’N’SODS. A CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP APRIL 2022

Odds'n'Sods April 1, 2022 Leave a comment

March is over and I hope we all made up for two years of frustration by having a bloody good time but now it’s another Odds’n’Sods. A place for all the news on Celtic-Punk scene’s bands big and small, established or just starting out.

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.

In case you missed it Ukrainian ‘Stout Rock’ band ShamRocks from Kyiv have just put out a new single based on an auld Irish rebel song some of you may recognise! We support all countries right to self-determination, free from aggression. ShamRocks have featured here several times in the past so check out their last album, FCP Live, from 2020 and maybe chuck the lads a quid or two if you can manage it. You can show support via https://www.defendukraine.org/donate

The Nebraska based Celtic-Punk band THE KILLIGANS seem to be calling themselves a Ska-Punk band these days but they are still one helluva band and they are back after a wee hiatus with a new 4-track EP, Dread Naught, including their new single about a sausage or something!

THE SCRATTERS are fine country folk made up of various members of The Skimmity Hitchers, The Dreadnoughts, The Surfin Turnips and The Mighty Shinkickers. Expect multiple Folk-Punk-Folk songs about Scrumpy and Western Cider.

THE FEELGOOD McLOUDS had a new single out last month. ‘Head Up’ was originally planned as an encouraging anthem during the pandemic but present events have unfortunately made the track even more appropriate.

Celtic / Folk metal is not a scene we know a great deal about. It’s more a case if we like it and hear it but the new track from THEIGNS & THRALLS is utterly brilliant. The brainchild of Skyclad singer-songwriter Kevin Ridley the video features guests from across the Folk-Metal and wider scene. Their self-titled debut album is out in April on Rockshot Records and we will definitly be listening out for it.

CALIFORNIA CELTS sound really interesting with their new single a sorta Ska-Folk-Sea Shanty hybrid it comes with a really outstanding video which if their to be believed was done by someone who has won two Emmys !!

We could start including a whole section here for THE CLOVERHEARTS each month such is their prolific output. Just in the last month they have put out two fantastic tracks. Kicking off with a brilliant cover of the Johnny Cash penned ‘Ring Of Fire’ and ‘You’ve Got A Friend’. Both available for $1 from the bands Bandcamp page.

Hungarian band PADDY AND THE RATS are certainly one of Europe’s best Celtic-Punk bands and they just announced the release of their album From Wasteland To Wonderland at the end of April. The band have released one song so far and the album is available to order below.

A new band I just found are Celtic-Rockers BOG IRON from California and I’ve had their recently released live album, recorded at the Midsummer’s Fairytale Celtic Ren Faire playing non stop at London Celtic Punks towers over the last month. Very nice recording too. A notch above most live albums I have heard. If you click on the link be sure to take a listen to the brilliant ‘The Night Pat Murphy Died’ brilliant!!!!

Scottish-born Texas-based singer/songwriter HUGH MORRISON from Murder The Stout has another solo album out this month. Lift Your Head is 14 fresh new songs with the help of New Orleans legend Beth Patterson and percussion guru Pete Sosa. The album comes out on April 8 and is available for pre-release.

BRIGADE 77 – Rebellion (review on its way)

THE GARLIC KINGS – Громко, Крепко, Честно

GREGOR BARNETT – Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave

THE BRIDGE CITY SINNERS – Unholy Hymns

MOONSHINE WAGON – Self-Destruction

THE KILLIGANS – Dread Naught EP (review also on its way!)

SIR REG – Kings Of Sweet Feck All (reviewed yesterday!!)

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

Blast from The Past is dedicated to bands, many of whom are no more, who put out great music but were never featured on these pages at the time. Usually they come with a free download link. This months band is still alive and kicking up a storm in the Manchester area. PARCEL O’ROGUES doing their best to keep Irish music relevant blending the traditional sounds of the Dubliners with the band’s many influences. They released Hope The Rain Keeps Up back in 2012 and the CD has long sold out but can be downloaded as a ‘Name Your Price’ download. They did some absolutely craic-ing live streams during the pandemic and have shown what a great live band they are.

THE TAN AND SOBER GENTLEMEN are one of the more inventive Celtic-Punk bands out there. From the Piedmont of North Carolina traditional music is in their blood.

All of us grew up playing the traditional music of our beloved state. “Our kind of music,” as the old-timers call it, is descended in part from the music brought over by the settlers from Scotland and Ireland. Irish music and North Carolinian music are long-lost relatives, and we aim to bring them back together. Furthermore, we believe in playing this music the way it used to be played. Not as performance art, or to put the musicians on a pedestal, but as a way to bring folks together in joy, merriment and community. Not to mention having as much fun as we possibly can.

One of the beautiful things in the scene is that many bands attempt to release records themselves far away from corporate control. To this the ‘sober gentlemen’ need your help so they’ve begun a Kickstarter appeal. if you want to hear our kind of music exist in recorded form, and to keep the Bhoys and Ghirls on the road, then this is is how to do it.

We love Aussie Celtic-Punk and we love the debut single ‘Mutiny!’ from CAPTAIN O’BRIEN’S CRAIC from Launceston, Tasmania. Catchy as feck and great fiddle! A 7 piece Pop/Punk band drawing influence from traditional Irish and Celtic sounds. Try and support all new bands as best you can. All their links available through Linktree.

Can’t wait for the MR. IRISH BASTARD tour. We’ll be supporting it throughout and hopefully making a trip outside London too. Seems THE SAW DOCTORS are back on the road with a tour announced for the end of the year. News on the London Celtic Punks front is we are pleased to announce our first gig in a couple of years with Italian band DIRTY ARTICHOKES – the tidiest Celtic-Punk band in the Celtic-Punk scene – returning to London at the beginning of August and will be playing with THE LAGAN and ANTO MORRA, two artists popular on the London Irish music scene that sadly haven’t been able to play much of late. The gig will be at the Bird’s Nest in Deptford and all details are on the Facebook event.

DROPKICK MURPHYS announced their only 2022 dates for the UK. They will play the Slam Dunk festival, headlining the Dickies stage, taking part in Leeds and Hatfield over the weekend of June 3/4. Tickets are almost £100 (nearly a tenner booking fee) so good luck with that folks!

What about this for a bloody good video !! MR. IRISH BASTARD St. Patrick’s Day single dedicated to auld Marmite man Conor McGregor. Utterly superb but bejaysus Conor could do with a dacent PR man.

THE GROGGY BOYS first single from upcoming second album Still Groggin’ is another great slab of Pirate themed Celtic-Punk’n’Ska. The album out on Vampire Productions is like their debut album eight tracks loaded with Punk, Metal, Ska, Traditional Celtic Melodies and Ancient Sea Songs.

Facebook is shit. Proper shit. It’s telling that it only has 2/5 in the play app store! It’s stranglehold on all forms of expression is not good and people are leaving in droves. Don’t despair though you can still keep up with London Celtic Punks posts via our group on the new phone app Telegram. Very similar in style (but better and easier to use) than What’s App but the best thing of all is that it is 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/

Even though we hate it Facebook does supply the 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!

If you like what we do then you can support us by checking out the London Celtic Punks online store. The Harp’n’Bones design is back in all sizes and on either black or white shirts. We have recently in polo shirts, in all sizes, and some nifty woolly hats as well as the last few remaining 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/

We’re far more use to giving out these sort of thing than receiving them but it really did make our day to receive this from the original and best Celtic-Punk web site out there – SHITE ‘n’ ONIONS. ‘Best Celtic-Punk Zine’ for 2021. For this and also the very kind words means a lot as we would certainly not be here if not for the inspiration and support from other Celtic-Punk media. #OneBigCelticPunkFamily. They finally got around to putting out their Best Of 2021 list and unsurprisingly, like on ours, The Peelers ran away with the #1 spot. You can check out their list here.

And finally here’s another great *FREE DOWNLOAD* for you this month. Now we’re neither hippies nor are we warmongers but realists. War is sometimes a necessary evil but only after all avenues have been explored and always we must beware of politicians ready to send young men and women from our class not theirs off to fight and die. With that in mind here’s the 3-track single from CHUMBAWAMBA (remember them?) ‘Jacob’s Ladder (Not in My Name)’ that was first released in response to the illegal Iraqi war. https://www.mediafire.com/file/xjkiayngyiwc4sa/jacladde.rar/file

ODDS’N’SODS. A CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP FEBRUARY 2022

Odds'n'Sods January 30, 2022 Leave a comment

A new year and the first Odds’n’Sods of 2022 and the biggest and best one yet.

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.

We start off with hearty congratulations, tipping of hats and raising of beers to Rémi Geffroy accordion player of TARA’S FOLK and THE BOOZE BROTHERS who has just been made world champion for diatonic accordion with 3 button rank. An amazing achievement and literal proof that Celtic-Punk does have some of the best musicians in the world!

We like to champion new music. After all you can’t just sit at home listening to Rum, Sodomy And The Lash for the rest of your days so delighted to hear the debut single from SALTY SPITOONS all the way from that Celtic-Punk paradise Indonesia.

Just like buses along came another amazing Indonesian band PANGLIMA KUMBANG and their new single. I hate Spotify but if you would like to hear more from this fantastic scene check out the Indonesia Celtic Punk/ Irish Connection playlist.

French band THE MOORINGS have a new album out on St. Patrick’s Day and have released one song ‘Cheers’ and put the album up for pre-release sale on Bandcamp.

Irish label ROTATOR VINYL RECORDS are set to officially release the debut album from Dublin based Punk band THE DUBTONES in April but it’s already up on Bandcamp.

Ace American band THE KILLIGANS release a new EP on March 1st featuring a collection of darker songs written during the pandemic. Highlighting three different songwriters and a Killigans rendition of a Eastern European sausage ballad.

Premier league Aussie Celtic-Punk band THE GO-SET are working on a new EP. 4-5 songs that will hopefully be released around April and they will ne touring very soon.

American-Irish Folk band THE ALT release Day Is Come this week. The Alt are John Doyle, Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O’ Leary and each are at the top of their game when it comes to Folk and Roots music. Seven years on from their superb debut album they are back!

One of the first bands we featured on this site was IRISH MOUTARDE from Quebec. At the time they had amassed quite the following but things have been a little quiet over the last few years so we were delighted to hear their new single ‘Vive Le Vent’. Sadly it came too late for our 2021 Christmas songs round-up so apologies but “we can’t review it if we don’t hear it”.

Basque band McONAK are a band we have been aware of but never got the chance to review so here’s their recent single ‘Kontrolatzen’ featuring Fermin Muguruza.

The song is taken from their 10th anniversary album Bitakora from December last year available from Bandcamp.

Irish Folk-Rock pioneers Tír na nÓg have a new album out, Live 1970-71, featuring live tracks from their earliest days. Some of which have lay hidden away in the vaults since they were first recorded.

THE ALT – Day Is Come

JAMIE CLARKE’S PERFECT – Monkey See, Monkey Do

TIR NA nOG – Live 1970-71

SYR – Sentinel

THE CLOVERHEARTS – The Sick And The Sacred Acoustic

remember we can’t review it if we don’t hear it

Over two decades, Michael Croland has been a Celtic punk superfan and wondered whether he was Irish in another life. He has just published a new book, CELTIC PUNK SUPERFAN! and it’s available from Amazon in paperback ($4.99) and eBook ($2.99). This anthology celebrates the full glory of the Celtic punk rainbow, from the progenitor Pogues to Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys to second-tier old faithful’s and obscure Latin American artists.

Today we present a band from God’s Own country! FOXES FAUX a seven piece acoustic country / folk / punk rock band from Keighley in West Yorkshire. The band have a couple of studio albums behind them but today’s offering Lost Fox is a collection of stand alone recordings, B-sides, EP tracks and four unreleased songs and is available as a ‘name your price’ download. Not a band I know much about except i do recall them playing London at least once and I was delighted to see on their Facebook page that they are still treading the boards round their local town. Upbeat, Folk-Rock of the Lev’s variety and no doubt brilliant fun to watch live.

THE MYSTERIOUS WHEELS have been playing tight, authentic Blues and R&B for over 40 years but for thirty-five of them lead singer Andrew Ranken was a bit busy playing drums for another band (!). Same Shoes New Blues is only their second album in all that time and showcases the band on top form, featuring all original material. The band look forward to playing live again and as we have had several failed attempts at booking them well you never know!

We start with the sad news that THE RUMJACKS extensive UK tour with ‘banjo punx’ SHANGHAI TREASON has now been postponed. No details as yet of re-arranged dates. A couple of gigs to pre-book now. THE WOLFE TONES postponed dates are back on at the London Irish Centre on Feb 23/24. GLENN HODGE BANNED and DYLAN WALSHE are both favourites of the site so even better their both together on the same bill at The Green Note in Camden on April 5th. This will sell out so be sure to get your tickets soon as possible. MR. IRISH BASTARD had their original tour cancelled right back at the beginning of the first lockdown but they are back and set to tour again hitting London at the New Cross Inn on 21st May. BELLOWHEAD are on tour in November. Relevant future dates are all included over on the LCP events page on FB for Social Distortion, The Dreadnoughts, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys and more.

RUSS RANKIN was also the lead singer in Punk bands GOOD RIDDANCE and ONLY CRIME and has only just followed up his 2012 debut solo album with it’s follow up Come Together Fall Apart of which ‘Statutes Of Kilkenny’ is featured.

Canadians SUMMER OF ’92 have just released a cover of the Bruce song ‘Lucky Town’ and made it available for ‘name your price’ download. Their excellent 2012 album Long Kesh is still available too.

If you like what we do then you can support us by checking out our online store. Just in this month are Polo shirts, in all sizes, and some nifty wooly hats as well as the Green’n’White ‘Skully Cap’ ringer shirts. Sizes for some of the older designs are limited so check carefully. 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/

A plug for 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!

Be sure to check back this Thursday for quite the feather in the site’s cap. We are unbelievably proud / chuffed to bits to have been able to preview the new album from the legendary IAN PROWSE. Not only that but next Sunday we have a exclusive LCP interview with TheCelticPunkAuthor and Ian. Raised on protest songs and influenced by the Celtic sounds that make Liverpool so unique, Ian has cemented his cult following over twenty five years with indie bands Pele, a five piece alternative rock ‘n’ pop band with an infusion of Celtic sounds, and Amsterdam and now as a solo artist renowned for his incendiary live shows. NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!

ODDS’N’SODS. A CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP NOVEMBER 2021

Australia, Odds'n'Sods November 1, 2021 Leave a comment

Summer is over. Was it ever really here? Anyway it’s hard to get seriously Rock’n’Roll in the sunlight so time for dark nights and mischief and also for this months London Celtic Punks round-up of all the band news, record releases and videos from bands big and small from across the Celtic-Punk scene.

They only just missed last months Odds’n’Sods so pride of place to French Celtic-Punk band TOXIC FROGS. Officially the Celtic-Punk-Rock Chicks band!! The new video for ‘Bestie Life’ taken from My Lucky Own EP released earlier this year.

THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS celebrate their tenth anniversary with In Strange Waters and reaching the highly impressive target of 100,000 subscribers on You Tube. A greatest hits album with their favourite songs adapted into Pop, Metal, Ska and even Barbershop! In case you missed we were lucky to have Anto Morra review it on its release.

Nebraskan band THE KILLIGANS recently announced on their Facebook page a grand album give away!! All you need to do to receive a free download code for their album Dance On Your Grave is to send them a personal message on their Facebook page. The album made the 2018 Celtic-Punk Top Twenty and our review of the album can be found here. The Bhoys are busy working on a new album, with 3 songs already recorded. Expect a video for the first single sometime around Christmas.

A new mix, courtesy of ChuckRD, of the superb Christmas track ‘It’s In These Times’ from the sadly missed now defunct Irish/ Danish Celtic-Punkers ROVERS AHEAD. They really were one hell of a band and very high up my list of bands I wish would reform. To be honest I can’t tell any difference. I don’t have an ear for this sort of thing.

PALAZOR is a solo music project who describes himself as a “mediocre musician”. I quite liked it!

THE WILD COLONIAL BHOYS – Remote Ruaille Buaille

GREEN GUARD – Devil’s Lung

FEROCIOUS DOG – The Hope

HOLD FAST – Last Of The Rebels

JOLLY ROGER – Ship Or Bust

remember we can’t review it if we don’t hear it

This section is for Celtic-Punk bands that have (on the large) left us but their music is still deserving to be heard and heard for free courtesy of a free download. We tried to book the Welsh band KILNABOY several times to play in London but it never came off for several reasons. At the time they were quite the name on the Punk scene but I was pretty sure they had split up but it seems not so keep a eye out for them. Sharing their name with a tiny village on the West Coast of Ireland they played energetic catchy Irish Folk-Punk and Prison Bars And Battle Scars dates from 2014. If you like it check out the rest of their back catalogue on Bandcamp as it is all available for ‘name your price’.

Live footage from one of the trailblazers of the Celtic-Punk scene. THE CROPDUSTERS were contempories of The Pogues and The Men They Couldn’t Hang and played their brand of ‘Cow-Punk’ / Folk-Punk back in the day. I went to their rather under whelming final gig at The 100 Club a good few years back after they had an almighty falling out but things must be sorted now as they recently played the Barnstormer festival at the Cerne Abbas Brewery in Devon. Watch this space for news of other gigs. Also playing the same festival was another blast from the past with Brit band PRONGHORN announcing a new album next year.

Now it’s been a looooong time since I was a fan of Grunge pioneers THE MELVINS and there was a time this news would have really got me excited but that was then. They have just announced a 4-disc reimaging of all their favourites songs done acoustically. Five Legged Dog is out now.

Moscow based ‘Punk And Bagpipes’ band ZUNAME announced a new album, Vertigo, to be released on Christmas Day and the first single to follow shortly!

Man can’t live on Celtic-Punk alone and personally I’m rather partial to the sound of Psychobilly and one of the scenes leading lights Philip ‘Doyley’ Doyle has just written a book detailing his time growing up in Ireland and moving to London. Starting the infamous Klingonz and the wild stories of a life spent in the Psychobilly scene. A crazy but lovable journey packed with funny and interesting stories/ You can pre-order the book with optional CD’s from the Diablo Records Bandcamp site.

In case you haven’t noticed our big rival out there is the American Celtic-Punk site SHITE’N’ONIONS. I think they were the first and are still going strong now. I much prefer the site now it’s moved over to WordPress and of course we only mean a friendly rivalry as its all #onebigcelticpunkfamily as you all know. They recently had an interesting interview with Nashville based Dubliner singer-songwriter Dylan Walshe well worth checking out.

Cornish Pirates JOLLY ROGER UK have a new EP out in the next few days. Ship Or Bust is available now on a pre-save link. As we’ve said before theres barely a fag paper between Celtic-Punk and ‘Pirate’ music at times and Jolly Roger are one of the best I’ve heard in a good while. They’ve just ran a successful Kickstarter appeal to buy a new van so hopefully we might see them away from the South-West coast soon. They’ve recorded a bunch of short promos on their You Tube channel besides this one.

One of my favourite bands the American Celtic-Rock/Punkers SEVEN NATIONS have just put out a rather amazing animated video for a track from their last album Tales From The Eighth Nation.

TROLL BENDS FIR are based in Saint Petersburg, Russia and have just released a new single. ‘В плену грибов’ (or in English ‘Taken Captive By Mushrooms’) from the upcoming new album Troll Gnet Yel. Russian beer folk they call it and it has some cool bagpipes and fiddle. I also have a soft spot for dual vocals too which they pull off here very well and even fit in a bit of Metal style riffs and vocals too.

The more I see of Facebook the more and more I dislike it. It has a stranglehold on all forms of expression and any wrongdoing in it’s eyes is punishable by excommunication. This isn’t good and anything that breaks their monopoly is a great thing (except Twitter!) so if you feel the same you can now subscribe to London Celtic Punks posts via our group on the new phone app Telegram. Very similar in style (but better and easier to use) than What’s App but the best thing is that it is completely free from Facebook control. Join us on Telegram and don’t miss a single post! https://t.me/londoncelticpunks/

Some live music news for all you Londoners. Luton Irish band MISSING THE FERRY play The Cock Tavern, Phoenix Road, NW1 1HB and MATT McMANAMON and THE BIBLECODE SUNDAYS play the Castle, Commercial Road, E1 1LN sadly both on Saturday November 13th. Bit of a dilemma that! DAOIRI FARRELL plays Nell’s, 3 North End Crescent, W14 8TG the following day on the Sunday. The legendary WOLFE TONES (now 50+ years strong!) play Camden IC on November 17th and 18th; and the Hare & Hounds, 325 Purley Way, Croydon CR0 4NU on November 19th. We can’t promise to print all live news but please send in anything for consideration.

Some London Celtic Punks news now and we still have a handful of Green’n’White ‘Skully Cap’ ringer t-shirts available. They come in all sizes from Small right up to XXX-L and are available from our online store. Also available are 2 other shirt designs so click the link below for our full range of other tatt. Shirts, badges, stickers, flags, CD’s and fridge magnets all the discerning Celtic-Punk fan could ever need! https://the30492shop.fwscart.com/

Also now a wee plug for London Irish Rugby Club. After years in the wilderness out in Reading and some would say a watering down of the club’s Irish ethos they arrived back in London at the tail end of last season and a joy to behold it was too, except for the last minute defeat after being miles ahead at half time!! The club is back in the heart of the Irish community so check out the clubs merchandise and show your roots and get some mates together and get down there. Eight train and tube stations within a 20 minute walk and no shortage of decent pubs too means their is literally no excuse.

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2018!

Album Review, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bagpipes, Belguim, Best Of's, Canada, Cornwall, England, Folk, Folk-Punk, Galicia, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, London, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Sweden, Traditional January 21, 2019 Comments: 6

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

ALBUM REVIEW: THE KILLIGANS- ‘Dance on Your Grave’ (2018)

Album Review, Americana, Folk-Punk, Irish-American, USA July 26, 2018 1 Comment

The Killigans are a Celtic-Punk band from Lincoln, Nebraska. Now over a decade young, they are honed and steeled for action. Glass-raising anthems for tenacious underdogs, lonely vagabonds and anyone who’s just trying to make it in this world.

Born in a filthy garage in 2004 The Killigans have gone through various personel changes in their time together but have kept at their core a set of foot-stomping beer-loving raucous anthemic numbers drawing from traditional Celtic music along with streetpunk, gritty rock’n’roll and working class country music. Having become one of the most popular bands in the Nebraskan music scene they have gained a rapidly growing army of fans across the States and overseas as well. One of the highlights of their early career came in 2010 when their song ‘Lessons from the Empty Glass’ was used on the soundtrack to the big budget Universal Studios hit move Robin Hood. Dance On Your Grave is The Killigans fifth album and their development over the years is plain for all to see. From the rough and ready Irish folk-punk of 2006’s Brown Bottle Hymnal to 2010’s Honor which saw them shift towards a more stripped down punk sound and then to their last album Another Round For The Strong Of Heart from October 2012 which saw them raise the bar with their best release to date with a collection of songs that took the catchy Irish Celtic-Punk of their early days and the anthemic punk of Honor and combined the two for something particularly special that will go down as one of the best album’s that the Celtic-Punk genre has ever produced. Not bad for a bunch of working-class blokes from flyover country!

Dance On Your Grave was five years in the making with some of these songs three or four years old. The Bhoys admit to having lost motivation and to having run of steam. After all their lives had changed from young raggamuffins to being middle aged family guys

“We never meant for the music to stop, and it has shaped us and our families along the way. Its just been a lot more difficult for us to make new music happen. I like to think we have a lot more to offer in the way of songwriting than a couple 22 year old punks who have been on their own for a couple years.”

The Killigans have endured a lot of life and one thing that has always shone through with their releases is their utter honesty. A straight up band that has always played a straight deal. Dance On Your Grave carries on from where Another Round for the Strong of Heart left off. Hardly surprising as that era is from when many of the songs here were written or first imagined with old drummer Ben Swift starting the writing process that new drummer Mikey Elfers would help finish by coaxing the band into actually finishing the album!

The Killigans left to right: Trevor- Bass * Brad- Vocals, Accoustic Guitar * Mikey- Drums * Pat- Accordion, Mandolin, Trumpet, Organ * Greg- Guitar * Chris- Guitar, Vocals, Mandolin, Harmonica, Trombone *

The album saw the light of day on April 28th this year and kicks off with ‘Throw It Away’ and shows a maturity that comes with middle age but the Bhoys still play with a wild abandon that brings to mind early Flogging Molly. The era when they combined folk and punk perfectly and had their audiences both slam dancing and jigging away. It’s fast and furious and with lyrics that show The Killigans may not have stayed still but know what we love in the Celtic-Punk scene and are more than willing to give it us! Second song ‘Peducah’ was the first release of the album and begins with an accordion gypsy flourish before trumpet and trombone come in adding a somewhat ska’ish sound while the pace never slows. Even more surprising is that they are not guest musicians but brothers Chris and Pat who play a multitude of instruments for the band including mandolin and accordion. Third brother Trevor plays bass in the band. Its trad Celtic-Punk and it don’t get any better!

The songs are short and snappy and played at breakneck speed like ‘One Angry Voice’ which could easily fit in any punk rock play list. The words decry the way has become a fashion and the values and spirit of why it exists are fading. When punks would rather spend £30 to go to a gig or £100 to go to a festival rather than a local pub down the road then I’m afraid punk has a terminal disease. Putting on gigs here in London it is something I noticed get worse over the years as promoters and bands struggle to get people to come a gig for £3 or a fiver when everyone is up the road watching some reformed old fogie punks at £30+ a ticket.

“Fact is I’m getting older but if the honest truth be told

There’s something changed about punk rock

What does it stand for?

Is it a t-shirt and a drug scene? A hairdo and a piercing?

We think it’s more!

It’s the kid awake at midnight, living life how it feels right

Though his parents are concerned and think him strange

And at school the students shun him, and the teachers make fun of him

But he knows in the end he’s gonna make a change!”

The album takes a folky turn with ‘Burn It Down’ and I’m a bit of an old fogie myself as these days its the folkier songs that i like more than the punky ones. Not to say it don’t have a punk edge and it speeds up nicely mid-way. The accordion and brass instruments make for a great combination and Brad’s vocals fit perfectly beside the music. The Dropkicks rear their ugly heads for ‘Fight Today (Knock Them Down)’ with a killer chorus the Bostonians would die for. Over far too quickly its a beaut of a song loud and proud and aggressive. We back in Molly territory for the next bunch of songs with ‘The Best Words’ played like FM on speed and with ‘Bartender’ you get another song that plays like fast FM but are in fact two quite different songs. I don’t like to compare a band too much to others and you would be wrong to take away from this review that The Killigans are just a Flogging Molly band as their sound is completely their own and if you go back and trace their trajectory from their early days its easy to see where they have come to. For ‘Particle Board’ the band put their heads down and plough through a fast punk number and on ‘All Good Men’ they play to their strengths with fast paced Celtic influenced punk with Brads voice strong and clear. ‘Cracked Rear View’ is one of the songs they began after last album way back in 2012 and begins with a thundering bass before the band join in and we soon end up with my album favourite. Elements of pop-punk and it sure is catchy enough to call it that. A cracking song and the Celtic takes a back seat for a couple of minutes. We are nearing the end of the album and ‘Realty Bites’ is a right proper anthem for the American working class.

“This gentrification is necessary good

A complete revitalization of your neighbourhood

A lonely puddle in a cracked brickmavenue

Throw up a LED street light it’s as good as new”

and ends with

“This district

You’re no longer part of it”

At a time when the American left have turned their backs on the working classes by adopting the poison of identity politics its a timely reminder that they are still here and still fighting. Its another speedy song and leads into ‘Artificial Hip’ where we get thirty-six seconds of punk rock oompf before we arrive at the final and title track ‘Dance on Your Grave’. This is the bands big sound with accordion and brass coming together to wrap things up wonderfully for a sure fire dance floor filler about everyone who wronged Brad including school bullies and ex-girlfriends getting their just deserts!

So The Killigans are back with a bang and maybe not one for the more folk inclined it certainly rocks along and if you miss the early days of Flogging Molly then this is the album for you. Sometimes maturity doesn’t make you a better band but here The Killigans have soaked in influences from all over and come up with something that will have you wearing out your shoe leather while also giving your heart and (Celtic) soul a workout too.