Jay Wars "Carry Me Home" Slippery Slope Records
Release date: October 31, 2014
Running time: 51:22, 14 tracks
Release date: October 31, 2014
Running time: 51:22, 14 tracks
After a while listening to a lot of CDs in order to get the “Best of” lists, it’s high time I caught up with some reviews. The last albums to be reviewed in 2014 are not rowdy Celtic punk CDs, but all of them have a lot of interesting songs.
Jay Stevens a.k.a. Jay Wars was the front man of the sadly defunct band Between the Wars. As a songwriter, music is flowing in Jay’s veins and therefore he needs to show it to his fans and friends. He could have started a new band, but he decided to follow a different approach. Armed with a bunch of self-penned songs and one cover, he called a couple of his old band mates (fiddler Haley Anderson and drummer Dan Scalpelli), Toffer Rush (bass) and Joel Stibbard (mandolin on “The Cruel Sea”) to record “Carry Me Home”. The result is a cross of Christy Moore storytelling and Billy Bragg workers’ topics improved with an Aussie twist.
“Carry Me Home” don’t have “intro” and “outro”, but a “Prologue” and an “Epilogue”. “Prologue” is an instrumental number featuring Jay on keyboards and Hayley on fiddle. It’s followed by “Pints of Guinness Made Me Weak”, a song featurings bits of the lyrics for “Black is the Colour”, a song from Christy Moore’s repertoire learnt from Scottish artist Hamish Inlach in the late 60’s. Hayley backs Jay perfectly on this acoustic number.
Fans loving Between the Wars will notice a similar approach on the next track, “Give Me A Drink”, one of the standouts songs of the album. Jay, Hayley and Dan are really tight on this kick-ass song. Watch a live footage from the album launch HERE.
“Souvenirs” is another lively song on which Joe Guiton guest on backing vocals. That’s what Joe Guiton told about it on his facebook page : “The story goes like this: It’s a sunny Sunday about two months and I am nursing an INCREDIBLE hangover from some Suicide Tuesdays gig the night before. My phone rings and I answer it quickly because the noise is making my brain jump out of my skull. I say hello and Toff is on the other line. "have you got a spare E String?" he asks loudly. Im all "Dont yell motherfucker!" Hes all "ha!" anyways, for some reason I check my pockets, you know... Where everyone keeps spare strings.. To my shock I find a packet of guitar strings. What the fuck? i think to myself. Turns out Yatesy had given them to me the night before... So i tell Toff that i do in fact have spare strings and to come get them. About 3 minutes later Jay Wars and Toff turn up. Toff is recording Jays Record. I’m like "cool". They ask if I want to come around and hang out. All I really wanted to do was eat slices of some kind of deli meat and watch Gilmore Girls... But I was ashamed of that so I say yes to hanging out. We go get beer, like we needed it... But you know.. Monkey see monkey do. I drink 5 beers and watch Jay record. Jay asks if I want to do some backing vocals. My voice is thrashed, I’m drunk AGAIN, so I go "FUCK YEAH" Everything gets a bit hazy after that... But two months later Jay emails me to say that he liked it so much that he’s keeping the backing vocals and he’s putting a "Featuring Joe Guiton" on the record! STOKED! Anyways wanted to say that it is awesome to be a part of this wonderful singer songwriters solo record. He’s a top bloke and I hope that my slightly out of time backing vocals don’t ruin a wonderful folk record. If you've read all of this... Go pre order this motherfucker now!!!”
The next number is another highlight, the catchy “The Irish Boys of Old”. If you’re still missing Between the Wars, then listen to this song three times in a row. Different approach, but same spirit. Don’t forget, Jay is alive and kicking!!!
The level of the compositions is top-notch and the shanty “The Cruel Sea” gets a punk treatment. Go to Jay Wars Facebook page scroll down to December 6th and watch the video shot at a gig at the Brunny. Maybe the sound is not excellent, but you’ll see how Jay, Hayley and Dan give it all their got.
Another fave is “If You’re Not, Don’t”: hypnotic violin and amazing rythm section. After that great song, Jay moves to the Bard of Barking territory on “Oh Penny”, a more intimate number.
“The Number of The Worker” is together with ”The Irish Boys of Old” and “If You’re Not, Don’t” a song that gets the almost “full band” treatment. Enjoy Dan’s work on drums.
Jay covers NOFX “Linoleum”. If “Oh Penny” had a “Talking with the Taxman about Poetry” approach, “Linoleum” would have a “Life’s a Riot” twist.
“A Derry Girl and a Whiskey Chaser” is a stripped down song featuring Jay on guitar and Hayley on violin. The next song, “I Won’t Die Digging” begins with some waves and birds sounds. No instrument are played, Jay sings and backing vocals can be heard on the chorus. “Sleepy” is a number featuring Teer, Jay’s girlfriend. As he says on the liner notes “Thanks go to Teer without whom this record never would’ve been made – I love you and you brighten my day (and nights)”
The album finishes up with “Epilogue”. No Drums on this song featuring Melbourne Celtic folk band Saoirse.
After Roaring Jack broke-up, Alaistair Hullett recorded and toured with British fiddler Dave Swarbrick. Jay Wars has found the best backing band for his music too, The Howard Youth (Hayley and Dan). Celtic punks, please give a listen to this album. And take into account that all proceeds from this records are distributed to various charities chosen by Jay Wars, including, but not limited, to charities for the wellbeing and support of asylum seekers and refugees, LGBTQI youths and those who suffer from depression, bipolar and related disorders.
And don’t forget to read the album review that our London Celtic Punk friends published some weeks ago:
“Souvenirs” is another lively song on which Joe Guiton guest on backing vocals. That’s what Joe Guiton told about it on his facebook page : “The story goes like this: It’s a sunny Sunday about two months and I am nursing an INCREDIBLE hangover from some Suicide Tuesdays gig the night before. My phone rings and I answer it quickly because the noise is making my brain jump out of my skull. I say hello and Toff is on the other line. "have you got a spare E String?" he asks loudly. Im all "Dont yell motherfucker!" Hes all "ha!" anyways, for some reason I check my pockets, you know... Where everyone keeps spare strings.. To my shock I find a packet of guitar strings. What the fuck? i think to myself. Turns out Yatesy had given them to me the night before... So i tell Toff that i do in fact have spare strings and to come get them. About 3 minutes later Jay Wars and Toff turn up. Toff is recording Jays Record. I’m like "cool". They ask if I want to come around and hang out. All I really wanted to do was eat slices of some kind of deli meat and watch Gilmore Girls... But I was ashamed of that so I say yes to hanging out. We go get beer, like we needed it... But you know.. Monkey see monkey do. I drink 5 beers and watch Jay record. Jay asks if I want to do some backing vocals. My voice is thrashed, I’m drunk AGAIN, so I go "FUCK YEAH" Everything gets a bit hazy after that... But two months later Jay emails me to say that he liked it so much that he’s keeping the backing vocals and he’s putting a "Featuring Joe Guiton" on the record! STOKED! Anyways wanted to say that it is awesome to be a part of this wonderful singer songwriters solo record. He’s a top bloke and I hope that my slightly out of time backing vocals don’t ruin a wonderful folk record. If you've read all of this... Go pre order this motherfucker now!!!”
The next number is another highlight, the catchy “The Irish Boys of Old”. If you’re still missing Between the Wars, then listen to this song three times in a row. Different approach, but same spirit. Don’t forget, Jay is alive and kicking!!!
The level of the compositions is top-notch and the shanty “The Cruel Sea” gets a punk treatment. Go to Jay Wars Facebook page scroll down to December 6th and watch the video shot at a gig at the Brunny. Maybe the sound is not excellent, but you’ll see how Jay, Hayley and Dan give it all their got.
Another fave is “If You’re Not, Don’t”: hypnotic violin and amazing rythm section. After that great song, Jay moves to the Bard of Barking territory on “Oh Penny”, a more intimate number.
“The Number of The Worker” is together with ”The Irish Boys of Old” and “If You’re Not, Don’t” a song that gets the almost “full band” treatment. Enjoy Dan’s work on drums.
Jay covers NOFX “Linoleum”. If “Oh Penny” had a “Talking with the Taxman about Poetry” approach, “Linoleum” would have a “Life’s a Riot” twist.
“A Derry Girl and a Whiskey Chaser” is a stripped down song featuring Jay on guitar and Hayley on violin. The next song, “I Won’t Die Digging” begins with some waves and birds sounds. No instrument are played, Jay sings and backing vocals can be heard on the chorus. “Sleepy” is a number featuring Teer, Jay’s girlfriend. As he says on the liner notes “Thanks go to Teer without whom this record never would’ve been made – I love you and you brighten my day (and nights)”
The album finishes up with “Epilogue”. No Drums on this song featuring Melbourne Celtic folk band Saoirse.
After Roaring Jack broke-up, Alaistair Hullett recorded and toured with British fiddler Dave Swarbrick. Jay Wars has found the best backing band for his music too, The Howard Youth (Hayley and Dan). Celtic punks, please give a listen to this album. And take into account that all proceeds from this records are distributed to various charities chosen by Jay Wars, including, but not limited, to charities for the wellbeing and support of asylum seekers and refugees, LGBTQI youths and those who suffer from depression, bipolar and related disorders.
And don’t forget to read the album review that our London Celtic Punk friends published some weeks ago:
Tracklist:
01. Prologue 01:23
02. Pints of Guinness Made Me Weak 04:19
03. Give Me A Drink! 05:21
04. Souvenirs (feat. Joe Guiton) 03:23
05. The Irish Boys of Old 03:31
06. The Cruel Sea 04:02
07. If You're Not, Don't 03:54
08. Oh Penny! 03:27
09. The Number of the Worker 04:10
10. Linoleum 01:26
11. A Derry Girl and a Whiskey Chaser 03:45
12. I Won't Die Digging 02:40
13. Sleepy (feat. Teer Wayde) 04:45
14. Epilogue (feat. Saiorse) 04:42
Click to buy:
Bandcamp
Review by Kinksmarkham
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