Tortilla Flat "The Great Escape" NSTOP30
Release date: 24 May 2013
Running time: 57:04, 17 tracks
Sometimes we tend to neglect some bands that are really worth hearing. One of these bands would be Tortilla Flat, from Switzerland. After having given several spins to “The Great Escape” I’m wondering why these guys have not got a stronger following. To put it in a nutshell, three guys met in the 90’s and began to play punk rock and some Celtic standards. Little by little some friends jumped in, adding pipes to the mix and nowadays they have a discography consisting of 6 albums and a couple of singles. “The Great Escape” would be their masterpiece, an album that can be described as a cross between Ramones and Battlefield Band.
Chris (guitars & lead vocals), Ritchie (bass, harmonica and mandolin) and Lexu (drums, acoustic guitars and backing vocals) are the core of the band. They are Tortilla Flat. Their bandmates are The Independent Pipers (Pesche, Röbu and Thömu, a.k.a. Lord Peter of Lochaber, Rob Highlander and Tom MacFly) , a bagpipes trio that backs them. This time the guests on “The Great Escape” are Spider MacEwan (Klaus Leuenberger, flute), Christine Sdiri (fiddle) and Mélanie Bircher (accordion). Tortilla Flat have their own way of working: five tracks are performed by the trio, six tracks are performed by the trio + the Independent Pipers, three tracks are performed by the trio + the fiddler, two tracks are performed by the trio + the accordionist and one track is performed by the trio + the flutist. The tracklist is a good balance between (punk)rocking and slower moments. Maybe it’s a little bit long, around 57 minutes, but, as a whole, it’s a brilliant album. Besides, the guys have covered some fantastic songs such as “The Dawning of the Day” (a song that shares the music with “Raglan Road”), “Billy Taylor”, “A Man’s a Man for a’that” and “Hector the Hero”.
Which tracks would I pick up? The single “The Great Escape”, a top-notch bagpipes punk song merging the Ramones and SMZB; “Today”, a song dedicated to the band’s sons and daughters, a bagpipes slow song with a DKM twist; “Billy Taylor” a fiddle-punk version of this traditional number; “Understand”, a Pipes and Pints sounding song without pipes but featuring harmonica; “A Man’s a Man for a’that”, the definitive bagpipes punk cover; “Operation Crossroads”, an acoustic number featuring mandolin and fiddle about the nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll, and “The Punk Rock Show”, a kick-ass Ramones/The Queers inspired song. By the way, there is a hidden track, a sort of a tribute to The Real McKenzies’ acoustic shows: “Loch Lomond”
The album package is a digipack with a piece of paper folded in eight pages. All the info (credits and liner notes) is printed on one of the sides and a picture of the trio driving is printed on the other side. Unfortunately, no lyrics are available.
If you love The Clash, Rancid and Riverdales, check those guys. Probably one of the best Ramones infused Celtic punk rock band out there.
Tracklist:
1) On the shores of Lochaber 1:41
2) The Great Escape 3:42
3) Dublin in the Rare Old Times 3:17
4) The Punk Rock Show 3:22
5) Today 4:43
6) Just Another Night on the Floor 2:20
7) The Dawning of the Day 2:16
8) Understand 3:05
9) Don't Ask, I'll tell 3:22
10) Billy Taylor 3:40
11) Down at the Pub 2:13
12) I'm a Rover 3:51
13) Operation Crossroads 2:41
14) Between the Lines 3:01
15) Get On Up & Go 5:17
16) A man's a man for a'that 3:17
17) Hector the Hero 3:49
http://www.tortillaflat.ch
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tortilla-Flat/262442220486868
https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentPipers
http://www.reverbnation.com/tortillaflat
http://www.mx3.ch/artist/tortilla_flat_2
https://myspace.com/tortillaflatch
Click to buy:
http://www.cede.ch/en/music-cd/frames/frameset.cfm?aobj=1006520
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Escape/dp/B00COBWWPY
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-great-escape/id645489487
Review by Kinksmarkham
Release date: 24 May 2013
Running time: 57:04, 17 tracks
Sometimes we tend to neglect some bands that are really worth hearing. One of these bands would be Tortilla Flat, from Switzerland. After having given several spins to “The Great Escape” I’m wondering why these guys have not got a stronger following. To put it in a nutshell, three guys met in the 90’s and began to play punk rock and some Celtic standards. Little by little some friends jumped in, adding pipes to the mix and nowadays they have a discography consisting of 6 albums and a couple of singles. “The Great Escape” would be their masterpiece, an album that can be described as a cross between Ramones and Battlefield Band.
Chris (guitars & lead vocals), Ritchie (bass, harmonica and mandolin) and Lexu (drums, acoustic guitars and backing vocals) are the core of the band. They are Tortilla Flat. Their bandmates are The Independent Pipers (Pesche, Röbu and Thömu, a.k.a. Lord Peter of Lochaber, Rob Highlander and Tom MacFly) , a bagpipes trio that backs them. This time the guests on “The Great Escape” are Spider MacEwan (Klaus Leuenberger, flute), Christine Sdiri (fiddle) and Mélanie Bircher (accordion). Tortilla Flat have their own way of working: five tracks are performed by the trio, six tracks are performed by the trio + the Independent Pipers, three tracks are performed by the trio + the fiddler, two tracks are performed by the trio + the accordionist and one track is performed by the trio + the flutist. The tracklist is a good balance between (punk)rocking and slower moments. Maybe it’s a little bit long, around 57 minutes, but, as a whole, it’s a brilliant album. Besides, the guys have covered some fantastic songs such as “The Dawning of the Day” (a song that shares the music with “Raglan Road”), “Billy Taylor”, “A Man’s a Man for a’that” and “Hector the Hero”.
Which tracks would I pick up? The single “The Great Escape”, a top-notch bagpipes punk song merging the Ramones and SMZB; “Today”, a song dedicated to the band’s sons and daughters, a bagpipes slow song with a DKM twist; “Billy Taylor” a fiddle-punk version of this traditional number; “Understand”, a Pipes and Pints sounding song without pipes but featuring harmonica; “A Man’s a Man for a’that”, the definitive bagpipes punk cover; “Operation Crossroads”, an acoustic number featuring mandolin and fiddle about the nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll, and “The Punk Rock Show”, a kick-ass Ramones/The Queers inspired song. By the way, there is a hidden track, a sort of a tribute to The Real McKenzies’ acoustic shows: “Loch Lomond”
The album package is a digipack with a piece of paper folded in eight pages. All the info (credits and liner notes) is printed on one of the sides and a picture of the trio driving is printed on the other side. Unfortunately, no lyrics are available.
If you love The Clash, Rancid and Riverdales, check those guys. Probably one of the best Ramones infused Celtic punk rock band out there.
Tracklist:
1) On the shores of Lochaber 1:41
2) The Great Escape 3:42
3) Dublin in the Rare Old Times 3:17
4) The Punk Rock Show 3:22
5) Today 4:43
6) Just Another Night on the Floor 2:20
7) The Dawning of the Day 2:16
8) Understand 3:05
9) Don't Ask, I'll tell 3:22
10) Billy Taylor 3:40
11) Down at the Pub 2:13
12) I'm a Rover 3:51
13) Operation Crossroads 2:41
14) Between the Lines 3:01
15) Get On Up & Go 5:17
16) A man's a man for a'that 3:17
17) Hector the Hero 3:49
http://www.tortillaflat.ch
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tortilla-Flat/262442220486868
https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentPipers
http://www.reverbnation.com/tortillaflat
http://www.mx3.ch/artist/tortilla_flat_2
https://myspace.com/tortillaflatch
Click to buy:
http://www.cede.ch/en/music-cd/frames/frameset.cfm?aobj=1006520
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Escape/dp/B00COBWWPY
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-great-escape/id645489487
Review by Kinksmarkham
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