LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS THE BEST OF 2020!

Well here we go again. It seems an awful long time since we were compiling all the votes into 2019’s Best Of. Last year saw The Walker Roaders triumph but with this year being a lot quieter on the Celtic-Punk front thanks to the lockdowns around the world bands have found themselves unable to tour and promote new releases so have held onto them till things got better. Still that’s not to say it was a complete wash out and as you can see from below their have been some absolute knock-outs during the year.

Remember this is only our opinion so feel free to comment, slag off or dissect our lists. The Readers Poll is back again this year so you can even vote on your favourite release of 2020 yourself. We don’t pretend to be the final word as that my friends is for you…

(for more information click on the release title in green)

Was very close between the top three this year but Ogras seem to have been not only our favourites but also most of the Celtic-Punk medias too. A lot less albums may have come out during the year but still plenty more that didn’t make the cut. Don’t be down hearted if you are one of them it could just be that one of the judges hadn’t heard that album. Again if we don’t hear your album we can’t review it so the massive majority here are ones that were sent in to us. We only need a download link (NO Spotify!) and we’re happy. Out of the 30 albums 18 countries were represented including 2 from the Celtic nations Scotland #4 and Brittany #13 and our first from Hawaii!

1. OGRAS – No Love In The City

2. UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS – The Men Behind The Glass

3. FINNEGANS HELL – Work Is The Curse Of The Drinking Class

4. THECUNDEEZ – Teckle And Hide

5. KRAKIN’ KELLYS – Burn Your Flag

6. THE GO-SET – Of Bright Futures And Broken Pasts

7. BLACK WATER COUNTY – Comedies And Tragedies

8. McSCALLYWAG – Songs For The Wicked

9. BATALLON DE SAN PATRICIO- Hermanos De Guerra

10. THE O’REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS – Off The Leash

11. THE REAL McKENZIES – Beer And Loathing

12. THE MUCKERS – Irish Goodbye

13. CELT & PIPER – No Mercy

14. THE FEELGOOD MacLOUDS – Life On A Ferris Wheel

15. FEROCIOUS DOG – You

16. THE KONA ROGUES – Batten Down The Hatches

17. PADDY WAGGIN- Race To The Bottom

18. BLACK ANEMONE – Chasing The Sun

19. PADDY MURPHY – Rams Rebels Goats And Girls

20. THE STUBBY SHILLEAGHS – Glass To Mouth

21. CELKILT – The Next One Down

22. THE DEAD MAGGIES – More Than Just Ghosts

23. KELTIKON – The Black Boar

24. THE CELTIC SOCIAL CLUB – From Babylon To Avalon

25. BARBAR O’RHUM – Journal de B’O’R

26. JAMESTOWN BROTHERS – Rebels, Rogues And Regrets

27. SMZB – Once Upon A Time In The East

28. THE NEW RUFFIANS – Shenanigans

29. GRASS MUD HORSE – Beijing Bikini

30. NEVER SAY DIE – Punk Rock Pirates

Several bands have taken the chance during the lockdown to release compilations of sorts. While it would be a little unfair to include them in the main ‘Best Of’ section they still deserve a mention. Among these were two 30 year celebrations from two of Celtic-Punks most successful and popular bands in THE MAHONES – This Is All We Got To Show For It and FIDDLER’S GREEN – 3 Cheers For 30 Years. Both fully deserve a round of applause, a raise of the pint and a tip o’ the hat! Band compilations included ANTO MORRA – Twenty, THE DEAD RABBITS – The Dead Rabbits, LEXINGTON FIELD – Here’s To You Ten Years Of Fiddle Rock and LQR – Barrel-Aged. A couple of live albums THE STANFIELDS – Welcome To The Ball and ShamROCKS – FCP Live were both well received, you may have heard that a little known band THE POGUES put out a new album of previously unreleased material BBC Sessions 1984-86 and Quintessential Quarantunes was a 6-band compilation released in the Summer featuring the Bible Code Sundays and The Reels. MacSlons Irish Pub Radio also released volume 5 of Raise Your Pints the best Celtic-Punk sampler around of 19 of the Celtic-Punk scenes best bands.

You have to go back to the beginning of January for 1916’s release and though many more would challenge it stayed top of the pile all year long. Some great debut releases here from bands that will I am sure go on to bigger things. This time last year I was crowing about Shanghai Treason and how much I was looking forward to seeing them play… well I still am!

1. 1916 – Meant To Be

2. SHANGHAI TREASON – It’s Treason

3. BEAVER SECRET HANDSHAKE – Beaver Secret Handshake

4. KILMAINE SAINTS – Off The Wagon Acoustic Sessions

5. LEXINGTON FIELD – Win The Day

6. 7 STOUT CLAN – 7 Stout Clan

7. THE CLOVES AND THE TOBACCO – Jalan Pulang

8. LUCKY LAD GREEN – Get There Somehow

9. BRAVE THE SEA – The Murders Three

10. THE PLACKS – My Dearest Friend

BATALLON DE SAN PATRICIO- Hermanos De Guerra

This year’s winner of Best Debut Album comes from a continent where Celtic-Punk appears to be booming! The South American scene has been dominated in the past by bands from Brazil and Argentina (last years winners in this category were Aires Bastardos from Argentina) but with Batallón de San Patricio from Guadalajara in Mexico things are changing with several bands popping up over the last couple of years. The last twelve months have seen Batallón de San Patricio garner favourable reviews from various singles and live streams. Hermanos De Guerra/ Brothers Of War is delivered entirely in Spanish and spans the length of Celtic-Punk from trad Irish up to Celtic-PUNK making it fully deserving of the award.

Always the hardest list to compile as it covers so much ground. Some of these bands play Trad Folk with a Punk Rock heart like Clover’s Revenge while others didn’t quite fit as Celtic-Punk releases but the winners are the Rose family from NY state otherwise known as The Wild Irish Roses. An album that took us by surprise and managed to please everyone.

1. THE WILD IRISH ROSES – Full Bloom

2. CLOVERS REVENGE – Truants And Absolution

3. 6’10 – Carried In Retrospect

4. RUNA – The Tide Of Winter

5. MAGGIES FLOCK – Party At The Cemetery

6. PYROLYSIS – Alotsie

7. PATRICKS – Rocky Road To Ireland

8. HUGH MORRISON – The Other Side

9. TC COSTELLO – The Bluebird

10. PEAT & DIESEL – Light My Byre

Now this section is tinged with sadness. There is no question which site has the biggest impact on the Celtic-Punk scene over the last year and while not strictly a web-site the CELTIC PUNK, FOLK AND ROCK FANS group on Facebook fully deserved this years award. Sadness because the group founder Mike Kilroe very sadly passed away at the beginning of the month. Created back in February 2019 it was around the time of last years ill fated St. Patrick’s day and the subsequent Dropkick Murphys live stream show that membership of the group exploded and has now passed over 8000 members. If on Facebook they should be your first port of call, alongside us of course! We had a great interview with the founder of the group Mike back in May that you can find here and of course our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

We are not alone in doing these Best Of 2020 lists in fact all the major players in Celtic-Punk do them so click below to check out what they thought.

THE CELTIC PUNKCAST  *  FOLK’N’ROCK  *  PADDYROCK

So there you go. Remember we have never pretended to be the final word on things in fact have a look at the other Celtic-Punk media’s Best Of’s and I’m sure they are all pretty different. Our Best Of’s, as usual, cajoled and bullied out of the admins from the London Celtic Punks Facebook page and then tallied up over a few pints in Mannions in north London. One important thing to note is that not all of us heard the same albums so like all the various Best Of’s ours is also subjective.

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Nine years we’ve been doing these lists now. It seems incredible looking back at some of the previous winners and also-rans how so many bands are still with us from Year 1. If you would like to check for yourself then just click on the link below the relevant year.

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Alongside the Best Of polls we also run a special Readers Poll where you get to pick your favourite release of the year. This will be The Readers Poll’s third year with Krakin’ Kellys and Mickey Rickshaw previously champions! There is only room to list the Top Ten albums but there is an option to write in your favourite release of 2020. You are allowed to vote for up to two releases but not for the same artist.

The Poll will close at midnight on Sunday 31st January with the result announced soon after.

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- January, 2021

ODDS’N’SODS. CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP MAY 2020

There has been a huge gap in the Celtic-Punk scene since the sad demise of the Celtic Folk Punk And More web-zine so in an attempt to make ourselves useful and fill it we’re starting a new regular monthly feature here. All news items that we otherwise miss will get a mention but I need YOU to be the eyes and ears if it’s going to work so send over to us any band news, record releases, videos, tours (not individual gigs though yet), live streams, crowd funders etc., to us at londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or through the Contact Us page and it will go in here!

 

The best Celtic-Punk album I have heard yet in 2020 has been the debut long player from Norway’s OGRAS and they have a new video out featuring Children Of Dust a standout track from their recently reviewed album No Love In The City.

The video to the debut single from new highly rated Edinburgh band THE GALLOWGATE MURDERS Wreck Head Wedding came out to a big fanfare. Filmed and directed by the main geez himself Frankie McLaughlin in Govan and Edinburgh. One of a few new bands in the scene we are expecting to here an awful lot more from once the lockdown ends!

Rose family Irish-American supergroup THE WILD IRISH ROSES album ‘Full Bloom‘ which was reviewed during St. Patrick’s Week is now out on vinyl.

After the hugely positive response to THE PLACKS debut single, My Dearest Friend the band are releasing a second single in May. Official release date will be announced soon but it will again be available for download and this time also on 7″ vinyl.

March was a mental time for releases and far too many came out for us to get round to but we did our best and hopefully we’ll get round to them all but these are the most recent releases we are aware of.

FEROCIOUS DOG – ‘You’

LEXINGTON FIELD – ‘Here’s To You: Ten Years Of Fiddle Rock’

NORTH ALONE -Punk Is Dad’

BLACK WATER COUNTY – ‘Comedies And Tragedies’

THE DEAD RABBITS – ‘The Dead Rabbits’

PADDY MURPHY – ‘Rams Rebels Goats and Girls

PEAT & DIESEL – ‘Light My Byre’

HUGH MORRISON – ‘The Other Side’

Been a good few years since the series of Shite’n’Onions compilation albums came out but luckily MacSLONS IRISH PUB RADIO have taken on the job and Volume 5 of Raise Your Pints is all set for release in early May. The Cloverhearts, The Placks, The Rumpled, Krakin ‘Kellys, The Gallowgate Murders, Ferocious Dog plus loads more. Find out more direct from MacSlons.

New York Irish rockers 1916 have a new album out later in the year and released the first single / video. After a successful St Patrick’s Week where they live streamed several entertaining shows including both full and acoustic band gigs and some solo shows from frontman Billy this is the Celtic-Punk scenes most anticipated album of 2020.

The crowd-funder for the second full-length 6’10 album, ‘Carried in Retrospect’ has ended and so the album is set for release sometime in the next few weeks.

THE DROPKICK MURPHYS after their Paddys Day show on Facebook are now even more bloody popular and celebrated with the release of a new single. The rather laboured ‘Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding’ is backed by the brilliant cover of Black 47’s ‘James Connolly’ and is available everywhere.

German band THE FEELGOOD McLOUDS may not be a band on every bodies lips but they are a bloody good band and have their new album ‘Life On A Ferris Wheel’ out very soon and having heard it can guarantee it will be one to watch for the end of year Best Albums Of 2020.

Swedes BLACK ANEMONE are very active in promoting the Celtic-Punk scene and have made a lot of friends because of that but they are also a cracking band and they have a new album due out any day. Here’s the title track and even with the current condition they still manage to bring out a decent video.

There’s a new Celtic-Punk band on the scene and thanks to SCORDISCI from Serbia for alerting us to the release of their cracking new song and video, a cover of The Pogues ‘I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’. Watch out for these guys!!!!

Having suffered the lock down longer than the rest of us Chinese band GRASS MUD HORSE have a had a busy couple of months with a fantastic new logo c/o Laurence Crow Illustrations and a massive range of merchandise for you to spend your hard earned on. They also put out the 6-track Quarantine Sessions of Irish covers and also featured on the Beijing Underground music compilation (both available for free) and also have an EP of original material out soon.

The Italian Celtic-Punk scene is on fire so far in 2020 and I’ve had a sneak peak at the new album from UNCLE BARD AND THE DIRTY BASTARDS ‘The Men Beyond The Glass’ and can confirm it is another brilliant release. They put out ‘Back on Your Feet’ as the first single from the album.

To wrap up our first edition of Odds’n’Sods we have two local bands to us the first being the excellent CALICO STREET RIOTS who were just getting into their stride with a whole pile of gigs lined up before lockdown came along. Their new single was written by bassist Nick about his son Harley and shows the Riots more reflective side.

London Irish alternative trad folk rockers and one of my favourite bands CROCK OF BONES released the video for the beautiful ‘Ferry’ and as all the videos here is well worth a look.

Finally (tomorrow May 1st) streaming site Bandcamp are doing away with revenue fees for the day so all money will go direct to the bands so check out your favourite bands BC sites and send rest assured that for one day at least these vultures won’t be pocketing a decent sized share of your money for doing absolutely nothing.

So you get the idea so all we need to do now is fill it with news and remember if you are new to the London Celtic Punks blog it is easy to subscribe / follow and never miss a post. Also if anyone is interested in helping out on the reviews front then let us know via the Contact Us page.

ALBUM REVIEW: THE WILD IRISH ROSES- ‘Full Bloom’ (2020)

The Wild Irish Roses are a true family band.
Mom, Dad and 8 kids. They live in New Paltz, NY
Josie Rose (21) sings, plays banjo, mandolin, penny whistle, viola. Michael X. (dad) plays guitar. Kristi (mom) sings, plays bass. Hanna (23) plays bodhran. Evelyn(18) sings, plays concertina, accordion,viola. Penelope (16) sings,plays Guitar, and tambourine. Aenghus (13) drums. Lazarus (11) harmonica.

Now this is some band and also the perfect time to review them with St. Patrick’s Day just a few days off. Full Bloom is the fourth album release from The Wild Irish Roses an Irish-American family from New Paltz which is a small town in aptly named Ulster County located in the state of New York, about eighty  miles north of New York City. It’s a small place but with plenty of places to get a cold Guinness and even to learn Irish at the local school it’s a place where the Irish-American community have never forgotten their roots.

The base of the band is a group well known to readers here and that is The Templars Of Doom for it is the Templars singer /songwriter /bassist Mike whose five eldest (of eight!) children make up The Wild Irish Roses. His fellow Templar Scott Benson assists on bagpipes, tin-whistles and flute. Mam (Kristina) and Dad cut their teeth in Brooklyn based post-punk band The Astro-Zombies in the 90’s while during the 2000’s they were in The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment who released 8 albums up to 2010 so music is the blood of this prolific family. On the last Roses album, Fill Yer Boots, Man!, it featured an incredible twenty one songs while here they manage only a paltry seventeen but they continue in much the same vein with songs flying past you as faster than you can keep up with them. The album was recorded in the family’s home studio, their renovated barn, and released on Poe Records.

Full Bloom begins with ‘Garry Owen’ a famous Irish drinking song dating back to Limerick in the late 1700’s. It was adopted by the  7th Cavalry and is said to have been the favourite of General George Armstrong Custer who heard the song among the Irish troops and liked the beat so it was used as a marching song. Mike takes on vocals here giving it a Templars feel while the family supply backing vocals. The album sees three sisters take turns at singing lead and on ‘An Incident At Sea’ it is Josie, who also plays pipes in the Templars Of The Doom, who sings her own composition.

Her voice reminds me of Jacqui McShee from Pentangle while the song also has that 1970’s British folk feel to it. This is followed by a brief tin whistle and flute interlude before we are treated to the song that I feel has given Pentangle a place in music history. ‘Will O’Winsbury’, a traditional Scots ballad dating from 1775, is sung by Evelyn-Marie and while much different to the Pentangle version in fact I think it even improves on it. In conversation with Mike though he says they came to the song through Anne Briggs who in turn got it from Johnny Moynihan of the legendary Sweeneys Men. With three bagpipers in the family it’s no surprise to find the pipes featuring heavily here and the first of three bagpipe reels ‘The Atholl Highlanders’ is next and no wonder it use to put the fear of God into people! Evelyn-Marie returns to sing a beautiful acapella version of ‘Let No Man Steal Your Thyme’, a a traditional folk ballad used to warn young people of the dangers in taking false lovers. First documented in 1689 it’s another link to the wonderful Pentangle’s appearing on their debut album in 1968. ‘The Adventures Of A Young Rose’ is an interesting track sounding in part like an Aussie western song as wellas a Celtic foot stomper. Now their previous albums have been significant (as have the Templars Of Doom) for their use of covers that you just wouldn’t expect and here they throw in Sweet’s ‘Fox On The Run’ sung brilliantly by Penelope Ann (only 15!). I LOVE Sweet and this versions sure does them justice.

Another instrumental ‘The Gael’ follows. The song written by Dougie Maclean featured in the 1992 blockbuster film ‘Last of the Mohicans’ and is adapted from fiddle to bagpipes and again stirs the blood like no other instrument on earth can. ‘Rumple- Pye The Troll’ sees Mike taking vocals over a silly song about an imaginary (?) friend. ‘Jenny Nettles’ is another pipes instrumental and has a punky feel to it despite is being purely acoustic (the true mark for a LOUD band if you ask me!). ‘A Rogues March’ like most here has an interesting back story being the song played in camp when  dishonoured soldiers were drummed out of camp on their way to punishment. Here the entire Rose family of ten combine to sing accompanied only by the beat of the bodhran. We are back in Celtic-Punk territory next with ‘ICC Home (Hudson Valley Irish Cultural Center)’. The battle to build an Irish centre was a long one but in the end a successful one and here the Roses pay tribute to a place that will provide a warm and welcoming place for all who want to share in the great Irish-American experience. ‘Polly Vaughn’ is an old Irish folk song about a boy out hunting who accidentally kills his true love. We are rounding the bend now and ‘Armstrong’s Last Goodbye’ is better known these days as ‘The Parting Glass’ and contrary to popular opinion is in fact a Scots song. Sung at the end of a gathering of friends and more recently at funerals it’s been recorded by just about every decent Irish artist.

The album (sort of) ends with a cover of the Velvet Undergrounds ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’. Bagpipe heavy and with Josie and Evelyn on vocals it doesn’t disappoint. Well that should be it except for a bonus track which is basically the family Rose three bagpipe players going to town on ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ which also turns out to be one of the album’s highlights.

Well what to say. Besides the obvious achievement of it being so special thanks to it being such a family endeavour it does also stand on its own two feet as well. The music sometimes has the feel of Prog-Rock at times alongside the utter abashed Celtic/ Irishness of the music. Always interesting The Wild Irish Roses have a very unique take on Irish music and on an album full of maudlin sad ballads sat next to full on Irish foot stompers they carry it off with ease. I have revisited this album several times since i first sat down and listened to it and each time I hear something different and I have no doubt that if I was to write this review again in a year it would be completely different.

(you can stream Full Bloom on the Bandcamp player below)

Buy Full Bloom  FromTheBand  (CD or Download)

Contact The Wild Irish Roses  Bandcamp  Facebook  YouTube

Contact The Templars Of Doom  Facebook   Bandcamp  YouTube  Spotify  Instagram

2017 REVIEWS ROUND-UP’S PART ONE: THE AMERICA’S- THE DREADNOUGHTS, CRIKWATER, PLASTIC PADDY, THE WILD IRISH ROSES, LA FIESTA DEL DIABLO, COCKSWAIN

Every single year that we have been doing this has got better and better for celtic-punk releases. As happy as we are that this is so it also means that we just simply cannot keep up with everything that get’s released. We haven’t had the chance to review everything we received or heard so here is Part 1 of our 2017 Round Up where we catch up with some of the releases that we missed first time round. Here at 30492- LONDON CELTIC PUNKS blog we much prefer to do really detailed reviews but it has been impossible to keep up so here’s a few quick ones just to catch up and get 2017 out of the way. Each and every one are worthy of your time so go ahead and check them out and apologies to the band’s concerned that we had to squeeze them in. This week we visit not just North America as originally planned but further afield as well. Read on and find out where and shortly we’ll head to Europe so join us in a few days.

THE DREADNOUGHTS- ‘Foreign Skies’  (Buy)

This year gave us the ambitious ‘concept’ album, Foreign Skies, from Canada’s own Dreadnoughts. It was released to mark the 100th anniversary of the first world war (yeah, I know, the Great War ran from 1914-1918, so that includes 1917!), and features 12 original tracks all based on events, people and places that were part of that war. There are a few standout tracks, notably; ‘Daughters of the Sun’, ‘Anna Maria’, ‘Jericho’ and ‘Black Letters’. The rest is all good with the usual fantastic musicianship we’ve come to expect from the Dreadnoughts. The subject matter does make it a rather sombre listening experience, and while the feeling/belief behind the album is admirable, there is no getting away from the subject matter. An interesting work, but it won’t get too many airings at parties over the festive season.

WebSite  Facebook  Bandcamp

CRIKWATER- ‘Crikwater’  (Buy)

Now on first listen to this album from Crikwater you may wonder why they are appearing on a celtic-punk site and you may be right. They are here for the sole reason I love them! Formed in 2010 round the rust-belt in the Irish-American neighbourhood of South Buffalo, NY in 2010, Crikwater play beautiful but rowdy, country tinged Irish American traditional folk. No hint of an electric guitar on this their second album instead the band offer up 74 minutes and fourteen songs of classic Irish ballads that we all know and love like ‘Dicey Riley’ and ‘Long Black Veil’ and a few lesser known as well as some lively as hell polka’s, jigs and reels accompanied by some fantastic red-hot fiddle from Charlie Coughlin. The highlight for me was ‘Bruach Na Carraige Baine’ and words can’t explain the beauty of hearing the Irish language sung by someone born outside Ireland. Outstanding and you hear it below on the Soundcloud player. Recorded live in the studio in Orchard Park, NY. their long awaited follow up to 2012’s Don’t Stop ‘Til The Ship Goes Down showcases the bands amazing musicianship and their sound which encapsulates the modern Irish American experience laden with Americana, folk and country influences while all the time being steered by their Irish roots. Having grown from a humble quartet to a versatile sextet their mix of elegant ballads and rowdy pub songs is certainly among the best I have heard in recent years and they are almost certainly ready to give the big hitters of the Irish folk scene in America a run for their money. This is music for the pub to be heard with the drink flowing and the good times occurring and a tear in your eye for the auld place you left behind.

WebSite  Facebook  ReverbNation

PLASTIC PADDY- ‘Lucky Enough’  (Buy)

“A person who retains a strong sense of Irish identity despite not been born in Ireland or being of only partial Irish descent; used in reference to Irish-English or Irish-Americans. Perceived as irritating by Irish nationals”

Arriving in the same week as Crikwater this is as similar a album as you could find though separated by 1000’s of miles away from NY on the east coast of the US in sunny California. Though all born many miles away from Ireland this bunch of Irish-Americans have taken a similar, though much less trad, route as Crikwater distilling their own version of Irish music through country, Americana and folk and yet it still lives and breathes the atmosphere of yer old fashioned Irish boozer. Formed out of Pladdohg who disbanded in 2014 the music here again we would be hard pressed to describe as celtic-punk but I like it, a lot, so here it is! Their debut album Lucky Enough is 12 songs and 42 minutes long and consists of mostly original Plastic Paddy songs but with a small smattering of well loved standard Irish tunes including ‘Whisky You’re The Devil’ and ‘Dicey Riley’ popping up again. Highlights include an amazing version of Greg Trooper’s ‘Ireland’, a song with truly amazing words and I was saddened to read that Greg Trooper passed away in January this year just after his 61st birthday. R.I.P.

“With your mandolins, fill up the hall
not a dry eye left, you killed them all
Its just like you
just like you, Ireland”

Drawing on influences of Californian rock and country with Erin Bloom’s wonderful voice it also evokes late 60’s and 70’s British folk-rock and not many album’s featured here have slide guitar that much is true. Still it’s a polished album without being over produced album that captures their catchy sound and while they are home in the local pub I get the feeling that they could slide into the arena side of things as well with their music having appeal to anyone interested in Irish music.

WebSite  Facebook  ReverbNation

THE WILD IRISH ROSES- ‘Fill Yer Boots, Man!’  (Buy)

Now The Wild Irish Roses are your absolute true family band with Mom, Dad and all eight kids involved it doesn’t get more family than this! Again in common with the two previous bands Irish blood courses through the music and The Wild Irish Roses have a bright future ahead of them. Josie (15) sings and plays banjo, mandolin, penny whistle, viola while sisters Hanna (17) plays bodhran, Evelyn (13) plays concertina and viola, Penelope (10) sings and plays tambourine while the two youngest of the clan brothers Aengus (8) plays drums and Lazarus (5) plays harmonica. Father and guitarist of The Wild Irish Roses is Michael X. who also stars in recent London Celtic Punks featured band TheTemplars Of Doom while the Mammy Kristi plays bass. They cut their teeth in Brooklyn post-punk band The Astro-Zombies in the 90’s while during the 2000’s they were in The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment who released 8 albums up to 2010. Fill Yer Boots, Man! is an incredible 21 songs lasting 42 minutes and their is no let up throughout with the songs over as swiftly as they arrive. Kicking off with ‘Margaret Thatcher’s Death Song’ one of many self-penned numbers from the band including Evelyn’s ballads ‘Dancing Widowed Fool’ and ‘Blind Marianne’ and Josie’s contribution ‘Haunting Highland Laddie’, a tale of a piper who drunkenly fell from a castle tower and will haunt you to your grave- unless you pay him in pints of beer! Their is though a London connection here and that is from ex-Neck piping maestro Stephen Gara. Now happily settled in the States he made a special four foot bodhran called a Bodhran Mohr (Great Drum)which led to the song of the same title. It can be heard booming out throughout the album. The album closes with what for me was the absolute album highlight ‘Christmas in Kingston’, a sordid tale of lost love and redemption set in the former state capital of NY. Its rousing chorus of

“It’s Christmas in Kingston You Basterds, Every Junkie and Whore will be saved”

is up there with “You scumbag, you maggot, You cheap lousy faggot” and is sure to make it a surefire holiday favorite. It’s a bit of a mish-mash of an album but there is NO denying it’s originality and it’s an album that you’ll find yourself singing along to after a couple of plays. An incredible feat and a perfect example of ‘The family that plays together stays together’.

Facebook  Bandcamp

LA FIESTA DEL DIABLO- ‘Mis Colegas, La Barra y Satán’ (Buy)

Proof that we are now a truly international scene comes in the shape of La Fiesta del Diablo. They are the very first band from Chile to appear on these pages and though celtic-punk is alive and kicking in Brazil we had never heard of it existing elsewhere. This is the bands second album having formed in November, 2015 in the capital of Chile, Santiago. They play what they call what they call themselves ‘multicultural noise’. On this album they take us on a journey through folk music with Celtic, Irish, gypsy, klezmer, tangos, rancheras and Russian, among others although with its roots firmly in punk rock. Whatever it is, one thing I feel that it’s got in common with celtic-punk is that La Fiesta del Diablo would be fantastic in a live setting.

(Video filmed in Bar Badalu in Santiago’s Italia neighborhood)

Twelve songs of which all but a small handful are written by the band. Kicking off with the brilliant energetic ‘Manifesto’ and its bouncy Russian trad folk sure to make your feet dance and get your head nodding away. Fast paced throughout and here the accordion is king with it’s sound dominating and nowt wrong with that. The songs are in Spanish and the vocals are nice’n’easy on the ear. A real mixed bag of an album and quite an eye opener as maybe it’s not celtic-punk but so much in common it deserves its spot here. Available for only $4 so take a punt and put it on on New Years Eve to get the party flowing. Brilliant.

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COCKSWAIN- ‘For the Whiskey’  (Buy)

Was only going to do five album’s per Round-Up but just had to give this one a quick mention. From Phoenix, Arizona this bunch of Irish-American’s must suffer in that local heat maybe that’s why they spend so much time in the pub! Rounded up in 2012 this is the bands second album after ‘Seamus’ in 2015. For The Whiskey is a fantastic release that I loved from the very first play. Their are hints of many of the scene’s big hitters from Blood Or Whiskey to DKM’s or the Molly’s but all played with plenty of individualism too. Ten songs that veer from full on Irish folk punk, ‘For The Whiskey’ (free song download here), to sober maudlin ballad ‘When I Die’ and all in between. All played with a fiery temperament and a real love of trad Irish folk music.

If you think you’ve heard just about everything a band can do it with ‘Dirty Old Town’ then Cockswain have a shock for you. An very interesting and surprising version. ‘Johnny Be Fair’ mixes in some female vocals and the curtain comes down with ‘Whiskey, Love and War’ utterly brilliant and a fine example of the celtic-punk genre. this came out around St.Patrick’s day and I can’t believe it took us so long to catch up with it.

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…and so ends Part 1 of our Round-Up’s and apologies to all the bands as each and every release deserved that full epic London Celtic Punks review treatment. We have still probably missed some fantastic music so all the more reason to send in your stuff to us to review. For details how use the Contact Us section. We are always looking for people to join the reviews team so don’t be shy if you fancy giving it a go. If you don’t want to miss any of our posts then you can follow us by simply filling in your e-mail address in the box that is either below or to the left depending how you are viewing and you will receive every post to your in-box.