Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards "Get the Folk Out!"
Release date: March 10,2014
Running time: 57:49, 15 tracks
When a new Celtic punk band is established, one can trace their musical lineage to The Dubliners-The Pogues, The Dubliners-Flogging Molly or to The Clancy Brothers-Dropkick Murphys. But from time to time bands with different musical lineages arise. For instance, the Italian band Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards, whose musical lineage could be The Chieftains-Four Men and a Dog-The Tossers. Most of the bands out there play tribute to the balladeers and to the biggest Celtic Punk heroes. But Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards are different. Lots of Italians migrated to Ireland during the last two decades, because of the good career opportunities in the Emerald Isle. The band members saved their money to visit their friends in Ireland and they got in contact with Irish music. They fell in love with the tunes and the culture behind them. Then, they began to play in Italy and the band was born. Later, in 2012, some of the band members did a busking tour around Ireland, England and Wales. They met a lot of musicians and they played a lot of pub sessions. Taking into account this background, their Celtic punk/rock music should be different.
After their “Up the Bastards!” EP, the six guys from Busto Arsizio have recorded a 15 track album based mainly on their self-penned songs. The approach has not changed. The sound is based on Luca Crespi’s tin whistle, Irish flute or Uileann pipes, Lorenzo Testa’s banjo and Guido Domingo’s lead vocals, who are perfectly backed by Silvano Ancellotti on electric guitar, Rob Orlando on bass and Francesco Fabris on drums and percussions. The songs always include an Irish traditional tune or a tune written by Luca and the lyrics to their songs are mainly auto-biographical or about experiences that the band members have lived. The main songwriter is Lorenzo (6 songs), but most of the members have written some stuff too: Silvano (2 songs), Guido (1 song), Rob (1 song) and Luca (the instrumental “Blue Velvet Glove" and several tunes for different songs).
It’s not easy to pick up only some songs, since there is a bunch of amazing compositions. The catchiest song might be “I Only Got One Pint”, the booze number on the disc, a sort of an Italian answer to The Mahones "Down the Boozer". A couple of songs with a Tossers twist would be “Skedaddle” and “Black Sheep”. The powerful ballads are “The Rambling Bhoys of Pleasure” and the cover of “When the Boys Come Rolling Home”, which has been improved with the addition of “The Rambling Pitchfork” tune. There are two top-notch autobiographical songs about their busking tour, “The Road”, and Rob’s difficult days in Ireland when the crisis arrived, “Green Shamrock Shore”.
Regarding the tunes, Luca’s “Blue Velvet Glove” featuring Uileann pipes and keyboards has a slight Davy Spillane twist. On the other hand, the traditional set of tunes “1.21 Jig-O-Reel Set” is perfect: the march “Stananivy” has an Alias Ron Kavana sound; the next tune, the jig “The Girl of the House” is an electric Chieftains number; and, finally, the reel “The Guns of the Magnificent Seven” is a Wolfstone meets The Bothy Band number.
Uncle Bard and Dirty Bastards have chosen a couple of well-known songs, “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” and Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire”. The former has got the band’s treatment. Instead of playing “Tabhair dom do laimh” (the “Give Me Your Hand” tune) like Planxty, they have added “Tarbolton”, the tune that opens The Chieftains “7” album. The latter is also rounded by adding “The Galway Rambler” tune.
Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to the lyrics to “Off in the Jacks”, about the dangers of the social networks: “Ring-diddle-daddle-oh / Ring-diddle-daddle-oh / When did we unlearn to listen / When did we unlearn to talk? / I guess the time it happened / I was off in the jacks”. It was already said by Dropkick Murphys back in 1999: “Get off your computer and get a life!”. Now it’s a little bit different: “Get off your smart phone and your tablet and get a life!”
To finish up, some words about the packaging. Fantastic digipak with a 16 page booklet: all the lyrics to the songs, pics of every band member and the full band and the best credits and liner notes that I’ve seen in a while. A small introduction to every single song and all the titles of the tunes that are featured on them are clearly mentioned. Hats-off!
Release date: March 10,2014
Running time: 57:49, 15 tracks
When a new Celtic punk band is established, one can trace their musical lineage to The Dubliners-The Pogues, The Dubliners-Flogging Molly or to The Clancy Brothers-Dropkick Murphys. But from time to time bands with different musical lineages arise. For instance, the Italian band Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards, whose musical lineage could be The Chieftains-Four Men and a Dog-The Tossers. Most of the bands out there play tribute to the balladeers and to the biggest Celtic Punk heroes. But Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards are different. Lots of Italians migrated to Ireland during the last two decades, because of the good career opportunities in the Emerald Isle. The band members saved their money to visit their friends in Ireland and they got in contact with Irish music. They fell in love with the tunes and the culture behind them. Then, they began to play in Italy and the band was born. Later, in 2012, some of the band members did a busking tour around Ireland, England and Wales. They met a lot of musicians and they played a lot of pub sessions. Taking into account this background, their Celtic punk/rock music should be different.
After their “Up the Bastards!” EP, the six guys from Busto Arsizio have recorded a 15 track album based mainly on their self-penned songs. The approach has not changed. The sound is based on Luca Crespi’s tin whistle, Irish flute or Uileann pipes, Lorenzo Testa’s banjo and Guido Domingo’s lead vocals, who are perfectly backed by Silvano Ancellotti on electric guitar, Rob Orlando on bass and Francesco Fabris on drums and percussions. The songs always include an Irish traditional tune or a tune written by Luca and the lyrics to their songs are mainly auto-biographical or about experiences that the band members have lived. The main songwriter is Lorenzo (6 songs), but most of the members have written some stuff too: Silvano (2 songs), Guido (1 song), Rob (1 song) and Luca (the instrumental “Blue Velvet Glove" and several tunes for different songs).
It’s not easy to pick up only some songs, since there is a bunch of amazing compositions. The catchiest song might be “I Only Got One Pint”, the booze number on the disc, a sort of an Italian answer to The Mahones "Down the Boozer". A couple of songs with a Tossers twist would be “Skedaddle” and “Black Sheep”. The powerful ballads are “The Rambling Bhoys of Pleasure” and the cover of “When the Boys Come Rolling Home”, which has been improved with the addition of “The Rambling Pitchfork” tune. There are two top-notch autobiographical songs about their busking tour, “The Road”, and Rob’s difficult days in Ireland when the crisis arrived, “Green Shamrock Shore”.
Regarding the tunes, Luca’s “Blue Velvet Glove” featuring Uileann pipes and keyboards has a slight Davy Spillane twist. On the other hand, the traditional set of tunes “1.21 Jig-O-Reel Set” is perfect: the march “Stananivy” has an Alias Ron Kavana sound; the next tune, the jig “The Girl of the House” is an electric Chieftains number; and, finally, the reel “The Guns of the Magnificent Seven” is a Wolfstone meets The Bothy Band number.
Uncle Bard and Dirty Bastards have chosen a couple of well-known songs, “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” and Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire”. The former has got the band’s treatment. Instead of playing “Tabhair dom do laimh” (the “Give Me Your Hand” tune) like Planxty, they have added “Tarbolton”, the tune that opens The Chieftains “7” album. The latter is also rounded by adding “The Galway Rambler” tune.
Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to the lyrics to “Off in the Jacks”, about the dangers of the social networks: “Ring-diddle-daddle-oh / Ring-diddle-daddle-oh / When did we unlearn to listen / When did we unlearn to talk? / I guess the time it happened / I was off in the jacks”. It was already said by Dropkick Murphys back in 1999: “Get off your computer and get a life!”. Now it’s a little bit different: “Get off your smart phone and your tablet and get a life!”
To finish up, some words about the packaging. Fantastic digipak with a 16 page booklet: all the lyrics to the songs, pics of every band member and the full band and the best credits and liner notes that I’ve seen in a while. A small introduction to every single song and all the titles of the tunes that are featured on them are clearly mentioned. Hats-off!
A lot of bands from the mainland have been haunted by Irish music with a punk twist. Some of them have “pretended” to be Irish. Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards don’t pretend to be Irish. As they state on the liner notes, they are showing “huge gratitude and all the due respect to Irish music and culture”. They are really Ireland’s adopted sons and have brought a new breeze to the European Celtic punk/rock scene. I wish them all the best, since they deserve it.
Tracklist:
01 - The Road 3:29
02 - Black Sheep 3:34
03 - The Rambling Bhoys 3:48
04 - Green Shamrock Shore 4:52
05 - The Dark Side of the Leaf 3:56
06 - We Ruled the Seaside 3:39
07 - Blue Velvet Glove 2:31
08 - Skedaddle 3:10
09 - When the Boys Come Rolling Home 3:33
10 - 1.21 Jig-O-Reel Set 4:00
11 - Raggle Taggle Gipsy 3:41
12 - I Only Got One Pint 3:14
13 - Off in the Jacks 4:40
14 - Ring of Fire 3:25
15 - Be 5:34
Website
Tracklist:
01 - The Road 3:29
02 - Black Sheep 3:34
03 - The Rambling Bhoys 3:48
04 - Green Shamrock Shore 4:52
05 - The Dark Side of the Leaf 3:56
06 - We Ruled the Seaside 3:39
07 - Blue Velvet Glove 2:31
08 - Skedaddle 3:10
09 - When the Boys Come Rolling Home 3:33
10 - 1.21 Jig-O-Reel Set 4:00
11 - Raggle Taggle Gipsy 3:41
12 - I Only Got One Pint 3:14
13 - Off in the Jacks 4:40
14 - Ring of Fire 3:25
15 - Be 5:34
Website
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Reverbnation
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Click to buy:
Amazon
Reverbnation
Click to buy:
Amazon
Or email the band to purcahse a hard copy
Review by Kinksmarkham
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