After having topped our Best of 2014 with their second album “Rise of the Bastard”, Bastard Bearded Irishmen only delivered a single in 2016, “Pirates of Three Rivers”. So, fans have had to wait till May 2018 to grab the latest album by Pittsburgh’s finest band.
The CD running time is 65:30. Then, in vinyl terms, “Drinkin’ to the Dead” would be a double album. There are 16 tracks on the album, 15 listed and 1 bonus track titled “Secret Strings”. There is only 1 cover (“Dirty Old Town”), 1 track written by fiddler Paul Dvorchak (“Harvest”), 4 tracks written by mandolin/banjo player Danny Rectenwald (“Let’s Have a Party”, “What a Life that Would Be”, “Slip (the) Jig” and “Drinkin’ to the Dead” (prelude) and the other tracks have been written by front man Jimmy Bastard.
Apart from the pirate theme (“Pirates of Three Rivers”), Bastard Bearded Irishmen have stretched the boundaries of their sound to Eastern European influences. In fact I daresay that Bastard Bearded Irishmen have become the U.S. answer to English band Smokey Bastard on tracks such as “No Problems, No Drama”, "Ya Ya Ya”, “Drunken Drinkin´” and “What a Life that Would Be”. Moreover, there is an instrumental number, “Harvest”, a couple of kick-ass party songs (“Moscato” and “Let’s Have a Party”), together with a number in The Tossers vein (“Another Bottle of Booze”) and a song that reminds me of the Eagles “Hotel California”.
My fave songs are, in running order, “Salutations, Memoirs, Denouements”, (celtic punk at its best), “Let’s Have a Party” ( amazing number to sing along, dance and drink), “Harvest” (brilliant tune based on mandolin and fiddle. Why most of the Celtic punk bands are reluctant to record their own instrumentals and keep on recording the usual worn out traditional tunes?), “Drunken Drinkin’” (a blend of The Dreadnoughts’ energy and Smokey Bastard’s sound), “Pirates of 3 Rivers” (an upbeat number featuring Mike Hall on accordion), “What a Life that Would Be” (another amazing Eastern European sounding number) and “Drinkin’ to the Dead” (a badass cut with a Flogging Molly twist featuring Jessica Hohman on flutes).
Bastard Bearded Irishmen “Drinkin’ to the Dead” is a must have for every Celtic punk fan and the proof that these guys are one of the best bands in the Celtic punk scene.
Irish Moutarde released their debut album “Raise ‘em All” in 2013 and their sophomore album “Perdition” has been issued in 2018. During that five year period the band has had some line-up changes. Rhythm guitarist Mathieu Audet, piper Christian Haerinck and banjoist and acoustic guitarist Dominic Haerinck left Irish Moutarde in December 2014 and Gabor Somogyvari on pipes and Tony Vandal on banjo and acoustic guitar joined the band in December 2014 and March 2015. So the 7 piece band is now a sextet.
Even if 5 years have gone by and there are some “new” members, “Perdition” is the logical follow-up to “Raise ‘em All”. Obviously, Irish Moutarde have grown up as a band and some changes have taken place. “Raise ’em All” was an album sung in English, but “Perdition” consists of 7 numbers in French and 6 numbers in English. Moreover, a new traditional instrument can be heard, the accordion played by Andrée-Anne.
Highlights on “Perdition” would be tracks no. 1, 2, 7, 9 10 and 13. The opening cut “Prélude en La (lala)” is a catchy song with its la-la-las and a sound that sometimes reminds me of Breton folk. “The Poison Trail” is an amazing number with kick-ass bagpipes and banjo, and hey shouts. “À la santé de Lucifer” is an uptempo song with the classic Irish Moutarde sound. Andrée-Anne plays accordion on “Bientôt”, there are girl and boy vocals and a great electric guitar part. “Old Days” has an acoustic beginning but soon turns into a Celtic rock number with a Black Tartan Clan twist. Finally, “The Bitter End” is the brilliant closing number, and upbeat song featuring Pachelbel’s canon.
Regarding the other tracks on the album,“Terre Rouge” is a Rage Against the Machine meets The Real McKenzies song; “Jarrets” gets the SoCal punk treatment; “Eat, Drink and be Merry” is a Queen playing circus music cut; “N’oublions pas” moves to the Flatfoot 56 territory; “Only in Your Lies” features electric guitar; “Go Away” is a hardcore song and “Condamnés” is a lively track.
“Perdition” is available at the main digital platforms and physical copies can be purchased from Bandcamp and CDbaby.
Track listing:
01. Prélude en La (lala) 02:59 02. The Poison Trail 02:49 03. Terre rouge 03:12 04. Jarrets 03:13 05. Eat, Drink and Be Merry 03:04 06. N'oublions pas 03:34 07. À la santé de Lucifer 02:27 08. Only in your Lies 04:37 09. Bientôt 02:45 10. Old Days 03:38 11. Go Away 02:52 12. Condamnés 03:57 13. The Bitter End 02:59
Jolly Jackers "Out of the Blue" Tom-Tom Records TTCD284 Release date: April 20, 2018 Running time: 37:57, 11 tracks + 1 hidden track
Jolly Jackers released their fourth CD titled “Out of Blue” last April 20. Last year former fiddler Krisztina left the band and the new fiddler is Noémi Szentimrei. Given that Krisztina was the main songwriter in the band, some doubts about the band’s new direction might arise. But all the bands members have engaged in the creative process and the result is quite good. Most of the lyrics have been written by the girls (Enikő, Andrea and Noémi) and Mark and Viktor have written most of the music with a little help from the girls.
“Out of the Blue” consists of 11 tracks plus a hidden track. The first cut on the album is a short intro and the hidden track (called “Surprise”) is a jazzy instrumental. Then, there are 10 songs that keep up the Jolly Jackers fresh sound from previous releases. My fave numbers are the upbeat songs “Billy the Crook” and “Dancing Shoes” together with track no. 4, the wonderful “See You at the Sea”. But the lively approach of Jolly Jackers can also be heard on other interesting numbers such as “Deaf and Dumb”, “Lies” and "War”. Other influences can be noticed on “Chameleon” (country), “Until We Meet Again” (female Celtic pop à la The Corrs) and ”Demons and Angels” (wah wah towards the end).
The album has been published again by Tom-Tom and comes with a 12 page booklet with the lyrics to all of the songs and plenty of pics.
Track listing:
01. Blue 00:28 02. Billy The Crook 02:54 03. Rich, Famous & Cool 03:19 04. See You At The Sea 03:03 05. Chameleon 04:11 06. War 03:36 07. Dancing Shoes 02:03 08. Lies 03:20 09. Deaf And Dumb 03:32 10. Demons And Angels 03:18 11. Until We Meet Again 01:28 12. Surprise
Jimmy Attack (La Fiesta del Diablo) and Pablo Riguetti (Aires Bastardos) have been working hard on a compilation featuring folk-punk bands from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Mexico: "Compilado Latinoamérica folk-punk2018". Pablo told me about their project some months ago and I gave some leads to them.
Finally, the album is ready on YouTube and will be available for purchase and download soon. I'm glad to see this kick-ass compilation out. You'll find bands you're familiar with (Lugh, RATS, La Fiesta del Diablo, McMiners, Punching Namard, Lucky Seven or Raise My Kilt) and brand new bands (Aires Bastardos, Gypsy Vanner, Cochinillas Alcohol Club, Index Of, The Celtas Ride Again, No Pibe, Bestiariö or Seven Rats Piper).
Hats-off guys!
Track listing: 01.- Lugh - Garrafas do Ofício (BRA) 02.- Aires Bastardos - Marche una poción (ARG) 03.- Gypsy Vanner - Galway Girl (ARG) 04.- Cochinillas Alcohol Club - El Beso del Diablo (MEX) 05.- Index Of - Nada queda en pie (ARG) 06.- The Celtas - All the Way to the Bansky (BRA) 07.- Rats - Saloon 79 (BRA) 08.- La Fiesta del Diablo - Resaca de Ciudad (CHI) 09.- The McMiners - Behead the Captain (BRA) 10.- No Pibe - Control AT (ARG) 11.- Panchofolk - Dime que no eras tú (CHI) 12.- Bestiario - De Luto (COL) 13.- Punching Namard - As They Say (BRA) 14.- Seven Rats - Drunken Lullabies (CHI) 15.- Rase my Kilt - 1982 (ARG) 16.- Lucky Seven - Por Libertad (MEX)
