REVIEW - CALLANACH "Walk On Up" Self-released (2012)

CALLANACH "Walk On Up"
Release date: 28 January 2012
Running time: 37:47, 10 tracks


Callanach is a young and fresh Celtic rock band hailing from Rochester, NY. They have been chosen our band of the month since their debut album “Walk On Up” is a very good addition to any Celtic Rock collection. The band was established around fiddler Marissa Ruper. Thus, the fiddle plays a major role on their music, but it’s perfectly backed by banjo, electric guitar, bass and drums.

The album has been recorded by Jason Lustig and the sound is fantastic. These boys and girl have worked very hard on this. Arrangements are great (superb fiddling, excellent guitar work, top-notch drums and banjo) and the lyrics are really good. I feel that many Celtic rock bands base their sound on pipes sets of tunes and sometimes their songs are a little bit poor due to sappy lyrics. However, this is not the case.

Let’s take “Irish Pubs”, the opening track. It’s the definitive pub song. It lists almost every pub in Ireland! Even if Callanach are not a Celtic punk band, it could be said that this catchy song could become a Celtic punk standard. Lyrics by Jim McGowan (Drums, piano)

The next number is titled “Old Dirt Road”, but it’s not a Lexington Field cover. The fiddle is more American than Celtic and the song features Marissa’s backing vocals. The fiddle part at the end keeps on fiddling in my head.

Another track to check out is “Get Jiggy”. Obviously, it’s a set of jigs. The first one is the well-known “Morrison’s Jig”. Very good rocking rendition that is followed by another jig featuring more amazing  guitar work, drumming and piano. The last jig goes a step forward on this hard rock direction. Callanach don’t need pipes to make people dance, that’s for sure.

“Bonnie Lass” is a Drovers sounding Celtic rock piece whose lyrics are universal: “Don’t be shy, go ahead!That girl is waiting for you”

Track no. 8 “Searching for My Love” lyrics could be based on the French book “Un long dimanche de fiançailles” (Do you remember the French movie “A Very Long Engagement”?). The song has a quieter mood in a folk song fashion. When one thinks that the song is over, an awesome Celtic rock tune begins.

Finally “A Sailor’s Song” is a number written by Ryan Rovito (Vocals, acoustic guitar and banjo). A very good track that could have been written by any top Canadian band from the Maritime provinces.

There are another two special songs: “Donnie” and “Banshee”. The former is a number written by drummer Jim McGowan. Maybe the most “pop” song on the album, but a good one. The latter is a mature effort: female vocals, banjo and electric guitar together with excellent drums. Once again, there is a Celtic tune at the end on which Jim and Marissa really shine out.

Remember that you can listen to almost every track on the album if you go to their Reverbnation and Sonicbids sites.

If you were thinking that Celtic rock bands are predictable, check out Callanach.

Tracklist:

1 - Irish Pub 3:03          
2 - Old Dirt Road 3:20
3 - Banshee 3:41
4 - Dewey Road 4:29
5 - Get Jiggy 4:34
6 - Bonnie Lass 2:57
7 - Donnie 3:11
8 - Searching For My Love 5:07
9 - A Sailor's Song 3:01
10 - The War 4:24

http://www.callanach.com
http://www.reverbnation.com/callanach
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Callanach/184163595641?sk=info
http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=349965
https://twitter.com/#!/callanachband

Contact the band to buy the CD:

http://www.callanach.com/contact-us.html

Review by Kinksmarkham