REVIEW - THE WAKES "The Red and The Green" (2013)

 

The Wakes "The Red and The Green" Big Hooley Records
Release Date: 17 August 2013
Running time. 38:40, 11 tracks

The Celtic/folk punk scene in the UK is very active. There are “pirate” bands, such as Captain Bastard & The Scallywags or The Jack Ratts; bands moving the boundaries of the genre, such as The Roughneck Riot, Smokey Bastard or The Lagan, and bands with a bigger Irish stamp such as Neck, BibleCode Sundays and the Scottish band The Wakes.

The band from Glasgow has a strong following both among Celtic Football Fans in the UK and St. Pauli fans in Germany. “The Red in the Green” is their fourth album. The album artwork is a sort of a 3D picture. Keep calm! No special device is needed to listen to the album: piano and sax are played on some songs, but the trad. instruments (whistles, flute and mandolin) are always there.

I guess that the band’s sound is evolving and therefore two kind of songs can be heard on the album: more mature efforts and “basic” or “straight” songs.

Songs from the first type would be the opening track “Colours” (it’s not a  The Men They Couldn’t Hang cover, but an original song with a  BibleCode Sundays twist featuring sax ), “8.30 am Glasgow Cross”, “Myth of Return” ( a couple of Waterboys sounding numbers featuring piano), “The Brave” and “Until the Last” ( two Christy Moore infused songs).

The most “Celtic punk” numbers would be “Men to Be Feared” (my fave, a catchy song featuring fantastic flute), “John MacLean’s March” (a cover, probably the most Scottish number on the album, great flute on this too), “Never Again” (an antifa ska number) and “To Hell or California” (imagine Michael McGoldrick playing flute with The Men They Couldn’t Hang on “Rosettes” and you get the sound of this kick-ass song)

Fans that miss The Electrics will appreciate this album. Their music approach is not exactly the same, but both bands are the ambassadors of the Irish culture in Scotland.

 Track list:

01. Colours 4:10
02. To Hell or California 2:55
03. Men to Be Feared 2:27
04. Empire of Skulls 3:08

05. The Brave 3:51
06. Peat Bog Soldiers 3:15
07. Never Again     2:55
08. 8.30am Glasgow Cross 5:17
09. Until the Last 2:24
10. John MacLean's March 3:16
11. Myth of Return 4:41



http://www.thewakesband.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wakes_%28band%29
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wakes/82386420832
https://twitter.com/TheWakes

Click to buy.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thewakes14 (digital)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-red-and-the-green/id674233524 (digital)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Red-and-the-Green/dp/B00DYP1ZH0 (digital)

Review by Kinksmarkham