Sons of O'Flaherty "The Road not Taken"
Release date: July 15, 2017
Running time: 38:21, 11 tracks
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
Website
Facebook
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
Website
Click to buy
Band's store
Bandcamp
Amazon
iTunes
Review by Kinksmarkham
