2017-08-27 ALBUM REVIEW - SONS OF O'FLAHERTY "The Road Not Taken" (2017)

Sons of O'Flaherty "The Road not Taken"
Release date: July 15, 2017
Running time: 38:21, 11 tracks

When I reviewed Sons of O’Flaherty’s demo in 2012, I wrote “As the band say that their influences are Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Tossers, Social Distortion or Bad Religion, I guess that they could soon evolve into a real Celtic Punk band and move from the pubs circuit to the rock venues circuit. They are young, they write their own material and a strong competitor to The Booze would help to establish a Celtic punk scene in France.” After listening to the songs that were put together on the “Misc Songs” EP from 2016, it was clear that they have really evolved in that direction.

Some members have gone and new ones have jumped in. Then, the personnel who recorded "The Road not Taken" was Tibo on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Maël on mandolin, banjo and background vocals, Théo on bass and background vocals, Lawrynn on tin whistle, harmonica and veuze, Tom on drums and Théo on electric guitar and background vocals. They launched a successful crowdfunding campaign and have released the debut album that their fans were expecting.

“The Road not Taken” takes its inspiration from writings by Robert Frost and Jack Kerouac. It’s packed in a four panel digipack together with a 12 page booklet including all of the lyrics to the songs, all of the credits and the thank-yous. If the packaging is flawless, the music itself is brilliant. Only a couple of standards have made the album, and 9 out of 11 tracks are self-penned songs.

The fans having followed the band from their beginning will notice that 3 songs were previously recorded by Sons of O’Flaherty. In fact, an earlier rendition of “Sam Hall” can be found on the band’s first demo. Obviously the song has been re-arranged: it keeps the original spirit, but it has got a bigger Celtic punk treatment with electric guitar and tin whistle. Fellows from the Folk’n’Punk brigade sing guest vocals too:  Seb (The Mullins), Greg (Jack Raven’s Whores) and Denis (The Moorings). “Once upon a Binge” and “Fields of Athenry” were released on the “Misc Songs” EP. The former differs from the original version. The intro and the spoken part in the middle have been removed. Moreover, the previous version featured fiddle by old member Mak, while the new one features Lawrynn on tin whistle. Apart from that, “Once upon a Binge” is a kick-ass drinking song and I’m sure that you’ll grab a pint straightaway when you listen to this song. “Fields of Atheny” is close to the Dropkick Murphys’ version. However, it has some influences from Neck’s version: the tin whistle and the “hey hey the small free birds fly” gang vocals.

Other amazing songs from “The Road not Taken” are Dropkick Murphys infused numbers. The opening track ”Dead and Gone” features veuze (the old bagpipes from Brittany), gang vocals and mandolin. The song can be filed together with “The Night Pat Murphy Died” and Soldat Louis “Sur Ma Tombe”:  “Cause when I’m dead and gone I want my party to be restless / And everybody smiling to the trumpet of Louis Armstrong / Wanna get my kicks one last time with the sweet hoarse voice of Mike Ness / I want a kick ass funeral and all my friends to sing along / I want a kick ass funeral and all my friends to sing along”. “The Better Claim” is an awesome boy/girl song à la DKM’s “Dirty Glass” or The Pogues “Fairytale of New York”. Guest Sophie (Burning Lady) sings the girl’s parts.

“Love me” is So-Cal punk at its best. Maël on mandolin and Lawrynn on veuze do a great job. “The Lucky Ones” is a fantastic number. It reminds me slightly of The Men They Couldn’t Hang. It’s based on acoustic guitar, mandolin and harmonica, but the end of the song featuring electric guitar has a The Real McKenzies sound. Matty (Roughneck Riot) guests on “Saint or Sinner”, a badass song blending Flogging Molly influences, the mandolin driven punk folk by Matty’s band and some Celtic soul on the chorus.

“Red Wine Teeth” was the song chosen for the first video off “The Road not Taken”. “Glory Days” and “The Townspeople” showcase a different side of Sons of O’Flaherty. Lawrynn plays harmonica on both songs. “Glory Days” is a ballad where banjo can be heard. “The Townspeople” has an American folk song touch. Kevin (The Decline) guests on vocals.

German writer Jean-Luc Bannalec / Jörg Bong’s Comissaire Dupin crime novels take place in Brittany. They have been a huge success in Germany and in other European countries. Sons of O’Flaherty are currently on tour and they’ll be playing a couple of gigs in Germany and Switzerland at the beginning of September.  I’m pretty sure that sooner or later Sons of O’Flaherty will be able to break through the German Celtic festivals circuit too.

Track listing:

01. Dead and Gone 03:00   
02. Sam Hall 03:30   
03. The Lucky Ones 03:44   
04. Once Upon a Binge 03:10   
05. Saint or Sinner 04:08
06. Red Wine Teeth 03:25
07. Fields of Athenry 03:57
08. The Better Claim 03:06   
09. Glory Days 04:07   
10. Love Me 03:17   
11. The Townspeople 02:55

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Review by Kinksmarkham