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

2022 is nearly over and hasn’t it gone quickly blah, blah, blah. But it has hasn’t it? November already and almost time to raise a beer to the freedom fighter Guy Fawkes. The only person to enter parliament with good intentions!

A brand new Odds’n’Sods round-up of all this months Celtic-Punk entertainment from the scene’s bands big and small, established or just starting out.

Irish sensation (that’s the only word possible!) THE MARY WALLOPERS released their debut album a couple of days ago. The self titled album is eleven songs and forty minutes and is a collection of both unusual and rare and a some pretty well worn covers but brought to life in the unique Wallopers way.  Looking forward to them visiting London in December as they head off on a major tour of the UK and Ireland.

We often repeat the mantra that Celtic-Punk man cannot live by Dropkick Murphys alone but we are as guilty as anyone with being obsessed with them! With their new album out a month now here’s the guys with a short eleven minute set recorded live at The Boch Center Wang Theatre by the The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame.

During the recording Ken mentions the new video they filmed of ‘The Last One’ that features Evan Felker of TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS who will be supporting the Murphys in Boston on March 16.

In case you missed them we recently had the pleasure of interviewing a couple of Dropkick Murphys with ex-member Marc Orrell and drummer Matt Kelly gracing these pages.

We featured MADIGAN’S WAKE and their debut single last month and here is their follow up a song written after the night terrors and they can be added to the list of great Aussie Celtic-Punk bands in my head! Available on Spotify or to pre-order.

Ukrainian band O’HAMSTERS have a 13-track album out soon and available for download as a pre-order from Bandcamp for $7. A band we have followed for a few years always great music and we look forward to more. All money raised from this album pre-order will go to HMV.UA – the team of volunteers headed by our friend Alex Sedov helping the army of Ukraine.

Another band we have been huge fans of over the years is ZUNAME Punk-Rock with bagpipes from Moscow. They just released a new album as well called Vertigo. Their fifth album and is on all streaming platforms  https://band.link/vertigo. Recording of Vertigo began four years ago and events since then no one could have ever foreseen so they decided to stop postponing the release again and again and hope it will give folk the strength to get through these hard times and the best way for the band to support you.

The Black Tartan Clan were onew of the best and most popular Celtic-Punk bands in Europe with their McKenzies-ish bagpipe heavy Scots Celtic Rock’n’Roll so we were all saddened to hear they were non more but they re-surfaced and began life again as THE BLACK TARTANS and have been recording and playing live. They have a new song called ‘F’Corona’.

Even as this is ready to publish I’m still adding to it and THE MULLINS from the South of France have a new album, Gold In Our Hands, that I am writing the review to at the moment. It’s a cracking 40+ minutes of uptempo Celtic Punk’n’Roll I can’t wait to share with you. In the meantime here’s the latest single from the album.

This is an incredible live performance from French Celtic-Punk band CelKILT recorded live at this years Hellfest Open Air Festival in Clisson, France. Fifty glorious minutes!!

Great video from the Horslips influenced THE POXMEN. Formed in the bogs of Donegal thousands of years ago and recently ventured out into the cold modern air, with a bag of songs and a wheelbarrow full of instruments. Fuelled by Poitín, mushrooms and spuds, roaring and shouting and singing and playin, about the horses, the wee folk, the witches, the turf, the thunder and lightnin’, and the silver tractors of ancient times.

Not quite a new video from SWAINN but I only just rediscovered it so here it is again. It is from their awesome Under A Willow Tree album which we did review last year.

Brilliant Argentinian Celtic-Punk band RAISE MY KILT were on the telly last week. It’s all in Spanish of course but there’s a wee interview and the music starts about a minute in. They have 2 (two!) pipers!!!

Kings of Cow-Punk PRONGHORN still out there entertaining the masses in the South-West of England. This is them with an old traditional Ukrainian Folk song just a few days ago as I’m writing this.

THE REAL McKENZIES – Songs Of The Highlands, Songs Of The Sea

THE MAHONES – Jameson Street

MARCUS MUMFORD – (self-titled)

ZUNAME – Vertigo

MAN THE LIFEBOATS – Soul Of Albion

ZECKYBOYS – Dirty Brands (reviewed last week)

THE MULLINS – Gold In Our Hands (review coming!)

THE MARY WALLOPERS – The Mary Wallopers

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

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. DOOZER McDOOZE is a singer songwriter from Essex with a passion to play everywhere and anywhere! This is his debut album from 2014 but look a little closer and all his music is available for ‘name your price’ download from Bandcamp. In a download world of media solitude, Doozer likes to give music back to the people. He has a new single out now ‘Pirate Captain‘ and as usual if you can afford to leave him enough for a Guinness or two as a tip please do so.

The BIBLECODE SUNDAYS are at the Powerhaus in Camden (formerly Dingwalls) on Saturday November 5th. NEW MODEL ARMY play 3 Christmas dates ending at the Roundhouse starting on the 10th. SHEELANAGIG play groove heady traditional folk and have quite the following and play November 18 at their regular haunt in Brixton, the Hootananny. An interesting night in store on Decem,ber 15 with both THE SCRATCH and THE MARY WALLOPERS playing in Camden (mad I know!) so if you’re stuck check out our preview, One Night In Camden,  to help you make your mind up which way to jump on the day itself! DROPKICK MURPHYS have announced THE RUMJACKS, PENNYWISE and JESSE AHEARNE as support for their Euro tour starting in Jan. One for the diary now and DAMIEN DEMPSEY is back at the Electric Ballroom in Camden the day after St. Patrick’s day which means he’ll probably be at the St. Patrick’s Parade in the afternoon though that is now shite and I promised myself I would never go again after last years abomination!

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/

It’s been great watching MAN THE LIFEBOATS career and we played ever such a tiny tiny part in it having put them on a couple of times but they truly are a great band. Funny, fast and raucous Folk-Punk with a few Celtic style flourishes. We’d call them Celtic-Punk though I doubt they would themselves still whatever they are their new album is tremendous. 11 songs but check out the first couple of songs here for an idea of the scope of their songs.

London Celtic Punks north-American writer Ray has a new EP out with his band RAVENSWALK out for Halloween. All-Hallows is 5 songs of his typical eclectic taste with spirited versions of  Echo And The Bunnymen, The Rocky Horor Picture Show among 2!

RADARNA were founded by Rikard Falk after joining forces with José Miguel Martinez to write their debut album. With all the artists living in different countries live shows are unlikely to happen but they continue to record and just released a 3-track EP of FINNTROLL inspired Folk-Metal.

Accomplished multi-instrumentalist DAMIEN O’NEILL of legendary bands The Undertones and That Petrol Emotion has a solo project and has just released his third album, a collection of largely instrumental tracks, mixed by veteran producer Paul Tipler. The title ‘an crann’ is Irish for ‘The Tree’, a symbol of growth and inspiration.

I don’t know much about TIM LOUD except some people whose musical taste I respect are huge fans of his. He describes his new release as “These are some tunes I wrote for what was going to be an album but now it won’t be”. It’s available as a ‘name your price’ download via Bandcamp.

The re-released and re-mixed second album from DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS (now just to be called DEXY’S) Too-Rye-Aye from 1982 is out now on vinyl, CD, download and a beautiful 3 disc box set packed with extras. I have compared it to the original and yes it is much improved. It’s down with the treble and strip back the echo and give Kevin Rowland’s vocals room to breathe. As my mate said “it’s like they have taken off the polish and added wood stain”.

Finnish Celtic flavoured Punk band THE LORETTA PROBLEM have a new single Green ‘n Gray out in a couple of weeks. Expect a feature here of this fantastic innovative band.

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/

Well we have been blown away by the response to the new London Celtic Punk badge. Not surprising really as they are so bloomin’ gorgeous. Just about the nicest bit of merchandise in Celtic-Punk if you ask me! Comes with butterfly clip and made in Ireland (Guaranteed Irish!) It’s 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!

Finally a message to bands. Its Christmas soon (yes I know!) and if you are planning on doing a Christmas release then be sure to get the details to us by the beginning of December. Last year we could hardly keep up so give us a chance folks!

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.

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

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.

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 and join in the fun!

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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.

ODDS’N’SODS. CELTIC-PUNK ROUND UP JULY 2021

Summer’s here. You can tell from the rain!

This time of year is normally pretty quiet in the Celtic-Punk world as bands concentrate on the upcoming Festival season but we still hunted down all the band news, record releases, videos from bands big and small across the Celtic-Punk scene. 

We start off this month with the new single/ video from FEROCIOUS DOG. ‘Pentrich Rising’ is right up the Dog’s street. A tale of England’s fight for trade union rights in the 1800’s. A brilliant professional looking video it deserves to be splashed all over the TV. The new album The Hope is out in October and is available for pre-order here https://thehope.ferociousdog.co.uk/

20,000 views in just three days shows why FIDDLER’S GREEN are one of the most popular Celtic-Punk bands around. They are also one of the busiest and even the Covid lockdown didn’t slow them down too much!

“One and half years of forced isolation later and we’re back in the studio working on the new album. The numbers are down and falling every day. The tour calender is filling up again. Back in the studio someone goes: „Na, da ist doch Land in Sicht. (See! Land in sight!)” That’s it—the moment grabs us by the balls! That same evening we start fleshing out ideas for a song. Inspired by the moment, the lyrics start to flow. In German. For the first time ever. A glimmer of hope for us all, born of the moment—Land Ahoy, lads! Enjoy!”

All round talented musician and nice guy KANE O’ROURKE has a new single ‘Farewell To Erin’ out now on Celtic Bulldog Records. The track is taken from Kane’s forthcoming album Dance In The Fourth and the video was filmed in New York, London, Hill of Ward, Rathmore Abbey and Trim Castle.

Time to get your wallets out for French band THE MOORINGS. They have just launched a Ulele campaign for their new record called ‘March On ?’. It will be coming out in digital, CD vinyl. The  promotion/pre-order campaign can be contacted here.

At one point the Celtic-Punk scene in Hungary was to be admired the world over. Loads of bands and it seemed there was a new release every couple of weeks (we even ran a feature called Hungarian Celtic-Punk week!!). Well with the lockdown over there the bands are returning. FIRKIN got a new singer and single out and now THE CRAZY ROGUES have released the first track, a semi live version of ‘Empire Of sand’, from their forthcoming new album expected later this year.

One of many great bands out there in the Celtic-Punk scene that deserve a wider audience is the Russian band ZUNAME. I’ve followed them since the early days and always really enjoyed their music so delighted to hear they are half way through the recording of a new album. Punk-Rock with bagpipes from Moscow ‘Señor Diego’ was their last release and is available for just a dollar!

Boston band MICKEY RICKSHAW have a new song out, their first since their last album I think. ‘Athens To The North’ is available on all streaming sites.

South America may not be blessed with many Celtic-Punkk bands but the ones they do are utterly brilliant. Here’s the single from a forthcoming EP from LA FIESTA DEL DIABLO called ‘A Flote’ all the way from Chile. Dedicated to all the people who have lost family members and have suffered as a result of the pandemic and have had to be separated from their loved ones. This link from linktree takes you to all their social media to find out more and download the song.

THE RUMPLED – The Perfect Match

THE BLACK CLOVER –

PUNKREAS – Funny Goes Acoustic

LES NAUFRAGES – Les Naufrages

remember we can’t review what we haven’t heard!

West Midlands based SONS OF CLOGGER would normally around this time preparing to spend every weekend for the next five months playing festivals up and down the country. I’m sure they’ve a few in the bag but they have also just released a new album The Neolithic, available from their web-site.

RAMBLERS PARADE formed in Lisbon in late 2020, mixing Folk music from around the world with the energy and spirit of Punk-Rock, adapting traditions with Balkan, Latin American and European Folk. They have a new 5-track EP out available via Bandcamp.

Load of free Punk-Rock courtesy of Canadian one mand band WilkSHAKE. Brendan Wilkie plays all the instruments here and is also a accomplished writer and poet in true Irish ‘seanchai’ style! The music touches on several themes of interest to Celtic-Punks so give it a look.

Pirate speedfolk band LILY OF THE VALLEY from Berlin have a new song out this week. They play fast and evil music with lots of songs about whaling and trouserlessness. Anyone refusing to dance at their gigs is made to walk the plank! 

LES NAUFRAGES are not a band I know much about but they play a very interesting mix of Rock, Punk, Ska and trad. Folk. Formed in 1986 in Montpellier, France they have released over a dozen albums and have just started to re-release each one re-mastered and re-packaged.

This month we re-visit a free download from six years ago from New York’s THE NARROWBACKS. A official bootleg of five songs from their show playing at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey supporting Flogging Molly. The Narrowbacks have over the years become an integral part of the new York Irish community and continue to go from strength to strength.

A sort of ‘folkier’ offshoot from French Celtic-Punk band THE BOOZE BROTHERS the debut EP from TARA’S FOLK has just come out.

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 check out our full range of other tatt. Shirts, badges, stickers, flags, CD’s and fridge magnets all the diserning Celtic-Punk fan needs!

https://the30492shop.fwscart.com/

The more I see of Facebook the more and more I am disliking it. 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 and completely free from Facebook control. Join us on Telegram and don’t miss a single post! https://t.me/londoncelticpunks/  

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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 and join in the fun!

If you are new to the London Celtic Punks blog it is easy to subscribe / follow and never miss a post. We post a couple of times a weeks so we won’t fill up your in-box. Bands, promoters, record labels, venues send in any news to londoncelticpunks@hotmail.co.uk or via the Contact Us page.

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS PRESENTS OUR BEST OF 2015!

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

TOP 20 CELTIC PUNK ALBUMS

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

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

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

4. FEROCIOUS DOG- ‘From Without’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. THE CUNDEEZ- Sehturday Night Weaver  (here)

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

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

15. JOLLY JACKERS- ‘Sobriety’  (here)

16. MALASANERS- Spanish Eyes’  (here)

17. SKONTRA- ‘Foguera’  (here)

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

19. KITCHEN IMPLOSION- ‘Selfish’

20. THE TOSSPINTS- The Privateer  (here)

TOP TEN CELTIC PUNK EP’S

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

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

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

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

4. ZUNAME- ‘Pipes Not Dead’  (here)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TOP TEN FOLK/TRADITIONAL RELEASES

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

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

2. BARRULE- Mannannans Cloak’  (here)

3. LE VENT DU NORD- ‘Têtu’  (here)

4. BRYAN McPHERSON- ‘Wedgewood’  (here)

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

6. ANTO MORRA- ‘Boudicca’s Country’

7. JACK OF ALL- ‘Bindle Punk’  (here)

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

9. FFR CELTIC FIESTA- ‘Fresh Blood’

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

11. SKWARDYA- ‘Domhwelyans/ Revolution’

TOP CELTIC PUNK WEB-SITE

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

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

 Sláinte, The London Celtic Punks Crew- 2015

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

CELTIC FOLK PUNK AND MORE

CELTIC-ROCK

PADDYROCK

MacSLONS IRISH RADIO

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

EP REVIEW: ZUNAME- ‘Pipes Not Dead’ (2015)

Furious fast paced punk rock with bagpipes from Moscow.

The recent years have seen celtic-punk music pop up in very odd places that you wouldn’t imagine and it’s also true that it’s in some of these places that the celtic-punk scene is at its strongest. Russia may not spring to mind when you mention celtic-punk and this time last year I would have been in total agreement. Then I heard the fantastic Middle Class Bastards from St.Petersburg who romped away with the Best EP Of 2014 here and the absolutely brilliant compilation ‘Ex-USSR Tribute To The Dropkick Murphys’ which we reviewed here and also featured the band we are covering today Zuname from Moscow.

Поезд На Юму (2013)

Este Tempo (2012)

Волна Цунами (2008)

This is the fifth release from Zuname, three full albums and an EP have come before this their latest EP, ‘Pipes Not Dead’ and for anyone new to them they are in for a real treat. One of the earliest bands in Russia playing celtic music Zuname have pretty much influenced everyone that has come since and you can certainly see why on this recording.

Zuname left to right: Vadim – guitar, voxAndy – bagpipes, vox, Yarosh – guitar, vox, Santey – bass, vox, Simon – drums

Right from the off you get thrashy guitars, expertly played bagpipes and throaty rasping vocals. ‘Moscow’ begins this class EP and lets you know exactly where you’re standing. Band theme tune ‘Zuname’ is up next and is all over in just 90 seconds and is more of the same. Fast and furious and not unlike Middle Class Bastards in their approach to celtic-punk. The emphasis is on the punkier side of things but plenty here, if you got an open mind that is!, for your more folkier fans too. If most celtic-punk  bands aspire to be a combination of The Clash and The Dubliners then Zuname are more like a cross between The Exploited and Silly Wizard!!

‘Freedom’ is for me the standout track on the EP and shows that there is a lot more to Zuname than just just thrashing out. A real catchy tune with great piping and some fantastic vocals. With celtic-punk it’s sometimes those pint in the air moments that catch your attention and ‘Pipes Not Dead’ comes with plenty. ‘Music From The Heart’ is another classic and finally ‘Pirate Song’ brings the EP to a close with a modern day sea shanty that sails close to metal in places but we’ll not hold that against them! Over sixteen minutes long ‘Pipes Not Dead’ is also that rare creature in that it is a celtic-punk record that is not sung in English. We are anything but imperialist here at London Celtic Punks so it matters nothing to us what language bands sing in. Obviously for most bands to make any impact outside their home countries it’s understandable why bands would choose to sing in English but speaking for myself I would prefer it that bands sang in their native tongue BUT I also know that a lot of celtic-punk fans are fickle and sadly won’t give bands like Zuname a chance because of that.

The EP was recorded thanks to three Russian DIY labels,including the bands own, Gigant Records, Distemper Records and Zuname Records and was produced by Denis Ivanov. Overall this album will greatly appeal to all fans of bagpipes in music and if you’re a fan of the popular Czech band Pipes And Pints then you will absolutely love this. Often the music in celtic-punk does struggle to get over the punk line in the sand but Zuname have no trouble and if it’s fast as hell, tuneful but hard punk rock with bagpipes that you like then you are going to love being a fan of these. The majority of their previous records are available for only a measly $1 or $2 only and even this their latest can be bought for just a single dollar… yes a single dollar it’s true! Bands like this deserve the fame and acclaim that normally gets heaped onto north American bands when all they have to do is pick up a mandolin let alone play it. I often find myself telling you to take a chance and step out of your comfort zone and try something new so let this month you check out the Russian band Zuname and I am even prepared to give them the London Celtic Punks seal of approval!

(you can listen to ‘Pipes Not Dead’ by simply clicking play on the Bandcamp player below)

Buy The EP

FromTheBand  iTunes

Contact The Band

Facebook  Bandcamp Twitter  VK.Com  YouTube

ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS- ‘Ex-USSR Tribute To The Dropkick Murphys’ (2014)

Tribute album to the worlds most famous and popular Celtic-Punk band The Dropkick Murphys. Recorded by the best Celtic, Punk, Hardcore and Oi! bands from Russia and Ukraine!

Hot on the heels of our recent review of the Russian band Middle Class Bastards new EP we return to the former Soviet Union for this compilation album from bands from Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir began work on the album back in the autumn of 2012 with over forty bands scheduled to appear. Well fast forward a couple of years and the list has been whittled down to eighteen bands with all but one from Russia and one band from Ukraine- our old favourites O’Hamsters from Ukraine. Unfortunately  Бостонское Чаепитие (in English Boston Tea Party) the only celtic/pirate punk band in Belarus had to drop out of the project.

As you would expect the album is dominated by celtic punk bands and several of these deserve to be internationally famous but other musical styles are represented too giving the album a real feel of what’s currently going on in the Russian/Eastern music scene.

The whole album is 18 tracks that runs for over fifty minutes and moves along at a rare old pace. The opening track is ‘Walk Away’ by Zuname one of the best and original celtic punk bands out of Moscow. The starting point is that these are brilliant songs to cover and most celtic-punk bands will have included one or two DKM’s songs in their live sets at some point so the songs are all pretty well recorded and played.  Zuname do a great job but is a shame that for a band with a piper they didn’t choose a song with pipes. Nevertheless a great opening. Assholes Syndicate next with ‘The Boys Are Back’. They hail from the same town in northern Russia as Middle Class Bastards and run through the song in a straight forward punk rock style. Not just yer standard cover the Assholes add plenty in and make the song their own. Great guitar work. Думай Сам up next with ‘Sunshine Highway’ and though its not one of the DKM’s strongest songs they give it a good shot. Next up is one of our favourites O’Hamsters from Kiev in the Ukraine. The lads have appeared on these pages before and if there was an award for the best record sleeves then these lot would be a whole lot bigger than The Dropkick Murphys! They pick ‘The Dirty Glass’ and top marks for singing in their native language and as expected they knock it right out of the park. Featuring guest vocals from Maria Naumenko. Only six of the bands on the album sing in their own languages which is a shame but completely understandable really. Just wish it didn’t have to be and people were a bit more adventurous. FatalYear play ‘Noble’ and also sing in Russian and do a great job of one of my own DKM favourites. Following is one my current scene favourites Middle Class Bastards playing ‘Your Spirit’s Alive’ and as I thought they play the bejaysus out of it. Mandolin and pipes kick the arse out of the song turning into a ska song halfway through with the brilliant inclusion of a trumpet before returning to celtic punk again. A classic! Track seven is from Kids Of The Street with ‘Road Of The Righteous’ with the early DKM Oi!/streetpunk classic. The vocals are a bit muffled otherwise a pretty decent job though the song inexplicably fades away far too early. Drunken Fairy Tales play ‘Boys On The Dock’ and they are one of the better known celtic punk bands outside Russia. From Moscow they deserve that recognition and plough through their song with gusto. Riot Radio play a melodic hardcore version of ‘The Thick Skin Of Defiance’. The accordion is well to the fore in St Petersburgs  The Beerocephals version of ‘The Hardest Mile’. No matter how hard they try thrashing guitars can’t play louder than a well played accordion! One of the albums standouts is the Citramons ‘Never Alone’. Great guitar work and shouty dual vocals mark this  band from Kalingrad out. Another band who were pioneers of the scene in Russia are another St Petersburg band The Пауки (in english The Spiders) who run through ‘The Gauntlet’ without missing a beat though one quibble is the celtic instruments needed to be turned up a bit in the mix. Patronage get through ‘Barroom Hero’ and play it as if The Toy Dolls were covering it. Great stuff. TWIF up next and sail through ‘Boston Asphalt’ in a straightforward fast as hell punk rock style. Another band from Novribosibirsk is  Беz Фанатиzма (in english Without Fanaticism) with a speeded up version of ‘Pipebomb on Lansdowne’ the DKM’s would love to be able to play this fast if they could keep up. Real Shamrocks have a fiddle led version of  ‘Hang Em High’ and again the celtic instruments are a bit low in the mix at times but that doesn’t detract from the song that much as its another album standout track. City Stones do ‘World Full Of Hate’ as its original except in Russian. Квэкс get the pleasure of doing the Dropkicks most famous song ‘I’m Shipping Up to Boston’. Played to death throughout the world at sporting events it never loses its appeal and the boys do it great justice with what sounds like two pipes bring this album to a close in great style.

Middle Class Bastards

O’Hamsters

Assholes Syndicate

Well there you have it. A must have for any Dropkick Murphys fans. Its available for ‘Pay What You Want’ on Bandcamp but first you can grab a listen to it below anyway. We have tried to link to all the bands but its been hard so click on the red band name and hopefully it will take you to somewhere you can find out more information. As with all compilation albums its gonna be a hit and miss affair for most people with not all the tracks bound to move you but theres enough corkers here for you to give a go. Vladimir deserves a real pat on the back for this labour of love and it deserves to be heard. The scene in the ex-Soviet Union is small but growing and there’s some amazing bands so as usual I end with a plea to leave your comfort zone and check out some of these great bands.

Buy The Album  Name Your Price at Bandcamp

Previous Blog Reviews

Middle Class Bastards  O’Hamsters 

The Пауки

Квэкс

Citramons

EP REVIEW: MIDDLE CLASS BASTARDS- ‘Rebel To The Core’ (2014)

Russian nuclear cooked mixture of Scotch whiskey, Irish temperament, celtic, folk and old school punk rock! 

AND FREE DOWNLOAD

Middle Class Bastards are for certain one of the most original bands in the celtic-punk scene at the moment and it will also not suprise me one bit that you’ll have never heard of them either. Tucked away in northern Russian in a city, Arkhangelsk, that streteches for over 25 miles along the northern Dvina river in an area that is most famous for its story telling and its folklore. The internet claims thats its a ‘dead art’ but we’ve heard that too many times to start believing it. Maybe this old art form is actually as dead as the thriving celtic languages of Cornish or Manx!

Middle Class Bastards were formed way back in 2006 by a group of mates who wanted to start playing good old fashioned punk rock. Many have passed through the band for them to end up where they are now. For most of the current line up the band was their first band but since then some of them have also side-projects mostly punk but Alexander and Dmitry play in a Russian traditional folk-punk band (I want to hear them as well please!) and MacGregor the bands piper also plays in a medieval metal folk band. So the band are doing their bit you could say to not only spread the celtic but also to keep alive their local traditions.

Middle Class Bastards
Left to right: Roman – mandolin, Denis – bass, Alexander – guitar, McGregor – bagpipe, Vitaliy – drums, Dmitry – trumpet, Andrew – vocal, Kirill – naked balls!

Now onto the music. Way back at the start of this review I called Middle Class Bastards “one of the most original bands in the celtic-punk scene” so heres to explain why. Recently we have covered a lot of purely folk music. Not been intended its just what I been listening to. Then I came across this and fecking hell its blows any folk cob-webs away. Most celtic-punk bands sound like any combination of The Clash,The Dubliners and The Pogues but these guys take after a much better era of punk and play what use to be called UK82 style punk rock, most famously played by Scots rockers The Exploited. The music started as a working class subculture right across the estates of Britain. Punk before this was the preserve of the public schoolboy and its pretensions were obvious to all. UK82 shook the music scene. Its not easy listening but I grew up on this stuff so I love it to bits. Middle Class Bastards take UK82 and the anger and angression and infuse it with the spirit of the celtic nations. MacGregor the piper is proud to be actually descended from a Scottish regiment’s warrior who arrived in Arkhangelsk in the years of the Russian Civil War 1918-1920. I guess that makes them a celtic celtic-punk band dont you think?

first album from 2013
‘Russian By Birth, Celtic By Heart’

Anyroad 0n with the music and the five track EP starts with ‘Putin In The Charts Again’ and the classic UK82 guitar sound kicks it off but then the mandolin and pipes join and when Andrew starts his tirade against Putin you’re certainly in celtic-punk territory but not sure how many of you will be able to hack it here with me! The Rancid style vocals fit perfectly and even though they sing in English its delivered immaculately and its easily understood despite the speed they’re playing at. A trumpet only adds to the enjoyment and ‘Rebel To The Core’ that follows is a bit more of a traditional punk rock song sounding a bit more American than the rest of the EP. Starting with a snippet from One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest the mandolin dominates the sound though and i have to say that the EP is mixed perfectly with all the instruments as clear as a bell. ‘Cop Land’ is yer classic anti-cop song and as we know the Russian police take no prisoners so we can’t blame the boys for taking this opportunity to get one back on them. The EP’s standout track it really showcases all the strands of the band coming together perfectly from the great vocals and catchy lyrics to superb mando and piping and the trumpet adding that extra bit of originality too but the rest of the band contribute greatly. The other great enemy in Russia is swiftly up next and ‘Politicunts (Deserve The Boot)’ is yet another beauty with McGregor’s piping out front while Andrew puts the boot in! ‘Boston Hospitality’ is more of the same and is an ode to Boston and its Irish roots. Catchy as hell and a great singalong chorus bring this fecking brilliant EP to a close.

There are a few other notable bands in Russia flying the celtic-punk flag, most famous are Zuname and Drunken Fairytales from Moscow and The Pauki and Garlic Kings from St.Petersburg. Middle Class Bastards live too far away to have played with them so having grown up on their own they have developed sound all of their own so unusually for me in one of my reviews I haven’t been able to compare them to anyone. Its great fun and boy I bet their something else to catch live. This band deserves your support so help them out any way you can. You can start by downloading for free this EP. Link is at the bottom of the page. I just got their debut album from last year with the great title ‘Russian By Nature, Celtic By Heart’ and after a couple of plays its already grown on me! A superb band that maybe wont appeal to any one of a folk nature but take a chance on them anyway and why not. Celtic-punk is all about taking those traditional tunes and instruments and attitudes and taking them to new places and these bhoys from the cold north of Russia have certainly done that.

Contact The Band on the Russian version of facebook VK.com or their brand new (as of yesterday!) facebook page here

Download The EP Bandcamp