REVIEW - THE WHISKY PRIESTS "Full Circle" EP (2012)

The Whisky Priests "Full Circle" WPTCD23
Release date: 14 December 2012
Running time: 20:26 5 tracks

If there is an olympus for Folk punk, The Whisky Priests will be there together with The Pogues and The Men They Couldn’t Hang. The new generations of Celtic/folk punk fans have grown up with the likes of Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, The Tossers or The Real McKenzies. Yes, they love The Pogues too. They are legends, aren’t they? Today Celtic/Folk punk has gone global, there are bands all over the world and their fan base increases every day. Everywhere one can go to a Celtic/Folk punk gig, bands are touring regularly and there are several e-zines and radio stations supporting this kind of music.

But there was a time when Celtic/Folk punk was not so popular. And a bunch of bands based in the UK worked really hard to offer something new blending punk and traditional sounds. The Pogues were the first band to do it, but not the only ones. Bands such as The Whisky Priests and Pressgang, among others,  toured Germany, Austria and The Netherlands and together with The Pogues influenced a lot of German and some Dutch bands. This first wave of Celtic/folk punk bands has an impact, at least in Europe. Celtic/Folk punk band didn’t go global, but at least it broke through the mainland.

I’m a Pogues fan. Unfortunately I didn’t see them live before their reunion. However, I was lucky enough to see The Whisky Priests live three times before they broke up. I won’t say that “they changed my life”, but at least they changed a big part of my life. I love The Whisky Priests, their music, their lyrics, their hard work, their commitment, their independency and their fantastic shows.  So I was really happy when I knew that the band was coming back.

A “Best of The Whisky Priests” album is intended for 2013. In the meanwhile, in order to whet appetites, founding member and frontman Gary Miller decided to give a new lease of life to a couple of rarities that have been put together with three tracks that were recorded at an acoustic radio session in Germany.

“Full Circle” was the last song that The Whisky Priests recorded. It was released on the various artists compilation album “A Full Head of Steam” in 2.000. It shows the band at its peak. The Miller twins (Gary-guitars and Glenn-accordion) backed by multi-instrumentalist Hugh Bradley, bassist Andy Tong and drummer Cozy Dixon.

“Alice in Wonderland” was one of the main songs on the band’s last studio album, their masterpiece “Think Positive”. The version on this EP is a remix that was released on another compilation “Seka (Sister)”. Gary’s motto can be heard on this song: “Think positive! Think confident! Think I am on command!”. Chuck Fleming from the seminal Scottish folk rock outfit The JSD Band and “part-time Priest” made a special guest appearance on fiddle.

The three acoustic tracks are from the same era, and were recorded at Radio 7 in Ravensburg (Germany) on 31 October 1998. The Miller twins performed together with Hugh Bradley (mandolin, penny whistle and backing vocals). The first track from this session is one of the catchiest songs from “Think Positive”: “Car Boot Sale”. The song features the tunes of several old North-East classics: “Billy Boy”, “The Sandgate Lass’s Lament” and the XiX century music hall favourite “Blaydon Races”. A great live rendition with a fantastic whistling by Hugh.

“Alice in Wonderland” gets an acoustic treatment by the trio, with great backing vocals.

Finally, a number  from “Life’s Tapestry”, the excellent “Farewell Jobbling”, a tale about an innocent man that was hung.

If you are a Whisky Priests diehard fan, this is an absolute must have for you. And if you have never listened to this essential band, this is a good starting point. Then, go to the band’s bandcamp site and grab all the albums that you can afford. And try to get the jewel cased CDs. Artwork, lyrics, credits and liner notes are a real labour of love.


Tracklist:

1 - Full Circle (previously released on the Various Artists compilation album "A Full Head of Steam",2000) 5:25
2 - Alice in Wonderland - Remix (previously released on the Various artists compilation album "Seka", 1998) 3:35
3 - Car Boot Sale-Acoustic (previuosly unreleased) 3:39
4 - Alice in Wonderland - Acoustic  (previuosly unreleased) 3:10
5 - Farewell Jobbling! - Acoustic  (previuosly unreleased) 4:27

http://www.garymillersongs.com/whisky.php
http://www.facebook.com/whiskypriests?ref=ts&fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/groups/318641371588808/

Click to buy:

http://whiskypriests.bandcamp.com

Review by Kinksmarkham