REVIEW - THE JACK RATTS "Sail the deadly Seas"

The Jack Ratts "Sail the Deadly Seas" Crawdaddy CRAW4447
Release date: December 2012
Running time: 49:30, 16 tracks (+ one hidden track)

The Jack Ratts are a new band from Dorset, England. The band consists of Vinnie (guitar, vocals), Andy (mandolin, vocals, banjo, whistle), Fabian (accordion, vocals, banjo), Rich (bass), Jo (fiddle) and Pete (drums, washboard). “Sail the Deadly Seas” is their debut album, an excellent blend of The Pubcrawlers, The Staggerers, The Dreadnoughts and The Punkabillys with Anglo-Irish roots. In other words, pirate songs, shanties, Irish traditional and some Appalachian music.

“Sail the deadly Seas” has a well-balanced tracklist, since The Jack Ratts have recorded 9 originals, 7 traditional numbers and one Ewan MacColl cover. The band is really tight on both ends. Even if some of the standards are overexposed, a live show atmosphere can be felt on numbers such as “Leaving of Liverpool” and “Muirsheen Durkin”, a good rendition featuring accordion, tin whistle and great vocals. Track no. 13, “New York Girls/Clumsy Lover Reel” is a true gem: I guess that everybody has always heard “The Clumsy Lover” on bagpipes. The Jack Ratts play a kick-ass banjo version that everyone should check out. The hillbilly numbers “Cripple Creek” and “Big Rock Candy Mountain” are really played with gusto and “Moving On” (you know, the Go!,Move! Shift! song) is a top-notch cover based on banjo, fiddle and mandolin with excellent lead and background vocals. Finally, there is another interesting shanty , the hidden track “Sally Brown”.

I must say that I have enjoyed the covers, but I feel that the self-penned songs are even stronger. The opening track “Sail the Deadly Seas” is a great pirate number, I love particularly the lead vocals. It’s a sort of a Dreadnoughts song at a slightly slower pace. A catchy song. “Cut Throat Jig” is a kick-ass instrumental that can rival with Smokey Bastard. “Working on the Ranch” is another amazing song with an American sound and pirate vocals. Just listen to the excellent guitar work at the end of the song. “The Curse of Jack the Ratt” is an upbeat number where accordion and fiddle shine out.  “The Dark Fable of Davey Jones” is another catchy pirate song with a lara-lara-lara-lah chorus to sing-along. And “The Voyage Beyond the Locker” and “The Tale of no Hope” are in line with the current wave of English folk punk bands.

The English scene has always had awesome bands blending Anglo-Irish music with American Folk music. The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Macavity’s Cat, The Cropdusters and The Boothill Foot-Tappers were at the front of a burgeoning cowpunk/skifle scene at the beginning of the 80’s, and festival bands like Pronghorn have also followed that path. The Jack Ratts have taken some of these elements and have blended them with a pirate/sailor  twist. They have really succeeded and their music can be filed together with that of Captain Bastard and The Scallywags and Smokey Bastard.

Tracklist:

1-Sail The Deadly Seas 3:28
2-Cut Throat Jig 1:44
3-Cripple Creek 2:08
4-Murshin Durkin 1:54
5-Big Rock Candy Mountain 2.19
6-Down The Hatch 1:40
7-Revolution In Central Square 3:58
8-Working On The Ranch 3:33
9-Leaving Of Liverpool 2:41
10-The Curse Of Jack The Ratt 2:37
11-Moving On Song 2:18
12-Drunken Sailor 2:45
13-New York Girls/Clumsy Lover Reel 4:23
14-The Dark Fable Of Davey Jones 3:25
15-The Voyage Beyond The Locker 2.47
16-The Tale Of No Hope 7:44

http://www.facebook.com/TheJackRatts
http://www.reverbnation.com/thejackratts

Click to buy:

http://thejackratts.bigcartel.com/product/the-jack-ratts-1st-ep-3-track
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B8133VI/ref=dm_sp_alb digital album

Review by Kinksmarkham