The Tosspints – Have You Been Drinking? Review

As much as one can try to keep their ears open to all the existing bands, there will be bands that fall through the cracks. The Tosspints, a three-piece band from Saginaw, MI is one of those for me. I wish I had heard of these guys sooner! I have been previewing their upcoming release Have You Been Drinking which is set to be released on June 4th and it has really blown me away! This will be their third studio album and I am hoping they will find a venue in St Louis to play on the upcoming tour so I can pick up all their CD’s. The 12 track album highlights different styles and influences of playing and some great vocals that range from melodic to gruff and the music is tight and fast. Most of the songs have a dark tint often hidden by the fast and up tempo pacing of the music.

The album starts with the darkly disturbing “Genocide is Painless” about a soldier struggling with the classical warrior virtues of honor with the harsh face of genocidal war, killing men and children, raping the woman and taking the valuables. The music is fantastic and vocals are tight.  “Soldiers Heart” is one of the top tracks for me. The varying tempos range from highlighting the vocals to hard-driving instrumentals. “Our Last Breath” is another favorite track of mine. As I have been primarily listening at work, it took several run throughs of the album to get how dark and haunting this song is. It is heartbreaking and beautiful, carried primarily by the vocals deliver this chilling ballad. “Shoot at All the Cops” gets you moving with a foot stomping rhythm and gruff vocals. “My Own Country” is another great melodic piece, with what feels like an Eastern European/gypsy folk feel to it. “Train Robber Song” starts with a great feel of a train building steam into this song of an ex-railroad worker that changes the course of their life by becoming a train robber with the inevitable end to someone living the life of crime. “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye” and “Come Out Ye Black and Tans” are some hard rocking covers, though I really preferred the songs The Tosspints pinned, so comparatively speaking, they were ok covers and blend together from “Johnny” to “Black and Tans”. “Message in a Bottle” is about a castaway who pins their hopes on rescue by sending a message in bottle. Another footstomper with some great sounding music. “Eleanor” is a poignant song with great vocals, reminiscent of Chuck Ragan and is my top track on the album. The evocative emotions delivered by the vocals and backed by the music really delivers! “Your Name” reminds me of Cutthroat Shamrock with the pacing and bluegrass influences. Even though it harkens to Cutthroat Shamrock, it is clearly not a case of copying another band. “Blood and Whiskey” gives me chills listening to the lyrics. The chorus is rousing and sticks with you.

The Tosspints have a winner on their hands. The more I listen to Have You Been Drinking, the more I am enjoying it and finding little nuggets I did not hear before. Come June 4th, I recommend you track this album down by either getting it from the band directly or through iTunes and Amazon. The range of styles and tempo make for a great and interesting listen. Overall, it is hauntingly and chilling beautiful work! Now I just need to track down their previous releases!

Track Listing:

1. Genocide is Painless
2. Soldiers Heart
3. Our Last Breath
4. Shoot at All the Cops
5. My Own Country
6. Train Robber Song
7. Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye
8. Come Out Ye Black and Tans
9. Message in a Bottle
10. Eleanor
11. Your Name
12. Blood and Whiskey

Slainte!

Lexington Field – No Man’s War Review

The new Lexington Field album No Man’s War is filled with strife – physical, societal and emotional. The third release from Lexington Field, based out of San Diego, CA is more mature and continues with the string of deep lyrics that has made me a huge fan of this rocking band that tags itself as American Fiddle Rock. With the maturity, comes thoughtful songs that are chilling and a pleasure to listen to, yet still has the fingerprint of the past Lexington Field songs of great vocals and hard playing intruments. The album contains 14 tracks, 3 of which are instrumental – of those three, two were penned by Lexington Field’s fiddle player Cami Smith.

The album starts with the short instrumental “Fiddle Fister” that sets the tone for this album, feeling a bit dark and somber. It deftly transitions into “American Crow”, a soldiers song of brotherhood and fighting for the cause of freedom. The band is in fine form and before you know it drives you into “Daniel Plainview Has a Drinking Problem”. The song is interesting and once again hard driving and for the movie buffs out there, inspired by “There Will Be Blood”.  “Crazy Eyes” starts out slowly before ramping into gruff vocals by Beau Gray with catchy lyrics and pounding string work. In “Fireworks”, Cami’s fiddle work really shines through. “Rest of Our Days” has a great mix of alternating pace and beautiful work . “Dear Old Friend” is my favorite on the album. Even before listening to it, just reading the lyrics, gave me chills. Once the track started playing, the chills were deeper. As someone battling addictions, I find the lyrics really hit home and spoke to me. The music is haunting and sorrowful, yet there is something comforting in the song. “Variation on Promontory” is the second instrumental that features some great work. “The Chemical Worker’s Song” which was adopted from “The I.C.I. Song” by Ron Angel, is another hard pounding tune with some great riffs. “Here’s to You” is at the top of my favorite songs on this album, between the lyrics and various pacing and great vocals. “Cursing The Man” is a song that feels raw, but isn’t – the music is polished and lyrics stinging. Of the last three songs “Lady Arlington” is the third instrumental that is a rapid foot stomper that is bookshelved between “Pioneer” and “Tumble”, both songs are soulfully deep, speaking to anyone who has suffered the loss of love. Both songs round out my top of the album list.

This album is my favorite of the year so far, and I had really high expectations for this follow up to their EP Poor Troubled Life and it certainly lived up to my expecations. When you do get it (there are no if’s, you HAVE to get it), skip the digital download and get the physical copy. The booklet contains great artwork by Jose Pimienta with each song having it’s art plus you get the lyrics for the songs.

Track listing:

1. Fiddle Fister
2. American Crow
3. Daniel Plainview Has a Drinking Problem
4. Crazy Eyes
5. Fireworks
6. Rest of Our Days
7. Dear Old Friend
8. Variation on Promontory
9. The Chemical Worker’s Song
10. Here’s To You
11. Cursing The Man
12. Pioneer
13. Lady Arlington
14. Tumble

Slainte!

The Fatty Farmers – Refarmatory Review

The Fatty Farmers are a Celtic Punk band from Toledo, Spain. After listening to them, the best way to think of The Fatty Farmers is a Spanish Flogging Molly – I don’t mean that they copy Flogging Molly but clearly heavily influenced by them that is clear in the music. That Fatty Farmers have a unique sound of their own and their own flair to writing songs in both English and Spanish. The album starts rocking out hard with their first track “No More Woman You’ll Kill” the pace is relentless and the music goes to your core. “21 Blackjack” starts out with great whistle work, the percussion bringing the rhythm to stomp your feet to. “Sraka dupa” is a bouncy instrumental that alternates pacing from fast to slow back to fast that has a fun gypsy feel to it. “Rather Die Than Forget” brings the tone down to a more dirge like level, the fiddle work beautiful and soulful. Lifting your spirits, “Next Sunday We’ll Begin Again” is my favorite track on the album. This one really got me moving, tapping along, head bopping to the beats. “The Way Back Home” is another tune that ramps up fast, with the strings taking the glory during the fast pieces, the whistle and percussion carrying over during the slower portions of the song. “With Head Held High” and “The American Dream” feel extremely similar, fun little pieces but perhaps a bit to close each other. “Hate Cannot Be Forever” brings the speed of the album back down in a soulful song that is mournful and haunting. “At The Counter Bar” & “Lurfy el Payaso” (track 14) are the same song – one in English, the other in Spanish, speeds up the pace once again, deftly handling changes in pace and letting their instruments shine. “My Childhood Dream” brings some hard rocking string work driving the speed of the song. “Fancy Prankster”  is my second favorite song of the album. Perhaps the most Celtic influenced and unique from some of the other songs on the album. “Johnny Techno Ska” starts to bring the album to a close with a heart pounding romp with boundless energy that is a joy to listen to.

In all, this is a solid piece of work. There are some nice standouts here and few songs that sound very similar to the others. If you are looking for something different and has a good international feel to it, then I do recommend you give this a listen to and enjoy!

Track Listing:

1. No More Woman You’ll Kill
2. 21 Blackjack
3. Sraka Dupa
4. Rather Die Than Forget
5. Next Sunday We’ll Be Back Again
6. The Way Back Home
7. With Head Held High
8. The American Dream
9. Hate Cannot Be Forever
10. At The Counter Bar
11. My Childhood Dream
12. Fancy Prankster
13. Johnny Techno Ska
14. Lurfy el Payaso

Slainte!

The Righs – A Retrospective

The Righs (pronounced as rigz) are currently working on their album. This Oklahoma based Celtic Punk band has been playing since 2005 and have had two critically acclaimed releases, The Rivers Run Deep (2008) and Roses (2010). As the ebb and flow of the music brings attention to bands as they release new material, my retrospective look at The Righs is to introduce this hard rocking band to people who have not heard of them or to re-introduce you if you know who they are.

The Righs have a very unique sound that could have some detractors for those more in tune with mainstream Celtic Punk. With the use of brass instruments on some songs, there is a melding of ska, original songs, rough vocals and deep songs. To truly appreciate The Righs, you need to set time aside to REALLY listen – you won’t find many party anthems or songs that really fit into the background – to really appreciate the hard thumping tunes and lyrics. The originality of the band and the music put out is a lot of fun which you can listen for free at Spotify or you can support the band by purchase and download at Bandcamp and get your own impressions. I for one am looking to see what the third album holds in store this band in my extended backyard – now I just need to find the time to trip down to Oklahoma!

The first album by The Righs released in 2008 was The Rivers Run Deep. The album contains 10 tracks. The track listing is:

1. I Hope I Never See You Again
2. My Life in the Bike Scene
3. Dublin: Easter 1916
4. That Guy
5. My Weary Irish Eyes
6. Amazing Grace
7. I’m Bound Away
8. Agony’s Night
9. The Shire
10. Loch Lomond

The second album, Roses, was released in 2010 and contains a whopping 18 tracks:

1. Double-Edged Sword
2. You’re Drunk You Limey Bastard!
3. The Man With Nickel Plating Makes All The Rules
4. Two Cents
5. The Day Booze Saved Humanity
6. Poseidon’s Wrath
7. My Dear Molly
8. A Dog Named Job
9. The Prisoner
10. Mother Knows Best
11. And So It Goes
12. The Sword That Broke The Demon’s Back
13. The Valley (Billy’s Song)
14. When Johnny Comes Marching Home
15. Renunciator
16. What Good is Death?
17. The Blessing
18. Roses