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

Plaid to the Bone – Live Show Review

Tonight I caught local St Louis band Plaid To The Bone. They have just recently started playing shows and I look forward to seeing a lot more of them. The band is a six piece outfit, consisting of lead guitar, bass, full drum kit and three pipers. All the music is instrumental, so if you want singing, you will need to provide that yourself. The best way to describe them would be bagpipe rock. They fuse traditional piping with hard-hitting rock and also fuse classic rock from the likes of The Beatles, Rod Stewart and Ozzy Osbourne.

I caught them at a local suburbanite place called Sky Music Lounge as the middle act (and I will admit, I am guilty of not sticking around for the third act so I could get home to write this review) and unfortunately their act was about an hour-long that went by too fast. The music was fun and their energy was great. Plaid to the Bone is one of the more unique bands I have heard given the prominence and number of pipers in the band.

So for any of my St Louis readers, look these guys up and catch them live and for my readers out of the St Louis area, if you roll through town, look them up as well!

Slainte!

The Tossers – Emerald City Review

The Tossers new album, Emerald City has just come out this month. This long running band from Chicago has produced a thoughtful piece, that gives tribute to their hometown. I was excited when I picked up my copy, hoping to be blown away by these great Celtic Punk veterans. Instead, this release is like the girl next door. She is cute, maybe even a bit homely, but underneath the exterior lies something very deep and mature. The songs for me blended into each other but all were solid musically. However, in reading the lyrics from the songs contain deep substance and are quite poetic.

The songs I enjoyed the most were “Emerald City” that has a lovely story of Irish immigrants and falling in love, not just of a woman but of the city and “USA” about the community of south side Chicago.

Going back to my metaphor of the girl next door, this album did not set my heart racing or fueling my muse like the wild girl in town. On the surface it ok, but when you dig deeper, get into the lyrics, it is very solid piece of work. And like the girl next door, maybe as time develops, and love affair can develop. We will see what familiarity will spawn as it goes into my daily playlist of Celtic Rock and Punk songs and mingles with other songs. Perhaps breaking the songs away from the others can help me see the trees through the forest.

Track listing:

1. The Rover
2. Here’s to a Drink With You
3. Emerald City
4. Wherever You Go
5. USA
6. St. Patrick’s Day
7. Bombo Lane
8. The Break of Dawn
9. The South Side of Town
10. Where the Beer and Whiskey Flow
11. God Bless You
12. Johnny McGuire’s Wake
13. The Fermoy Lasses and Sporting Paddy
14. Slainte

Slainte!

The Narrowbacks – Fire It Up Review

Ok my friends, get ready for an onslaught of reviews over the next couple of weeks – there have been a lot of fun releases (thankfully on Xbox Music for my poor, broke ass) and to start the month of St Padraig, I am kicking it off with the debut album of The Narrowbacks. The Narrowbacks are a five piece band from New York. Fire It Up is fun rollicking piece of work and a majority of the songs are original songs which I love to see.

The album starts with “The Leaving of Liverpool” and they do a very competent job with it. “The Temperance” is one of their original tracks and it really shines. The music is fun, infectious and the lyrics are fun. “Sean South/Britches Full of Stitches/ Tell Me Ma Medley” is a great foot stomper leading you into “Tell Me Ma”, which is well done. “The Confessional” is another sparkling gem that when you give a good listen to the lyrics will put a smile on your face of poor Seamus’s decisions with the booze and women and the poor priests who has to hear the confession, this song is worth some repeated plays to truly get the flavor of it. “Muirsheen Durkin” is a nicely done song for the pub crowds. “Stay in Tonight” has a good swinging beat to it that hides a bit of relationship discord. “Lost Generation” can fall under the heading of a political song about being told to go to college, get a degree and you will have a job, but given the economy, the jobs aren’t there. The song has a great Irish feel to it with an addictive chorus. “Whiskey in the Jar”, another pub standard, is done well, more on the trad side than rock. “Murtys Publick House 4:45am” is a swaying instrumental tune. “Paddy’s Field” is a fun tune that will get your feet stomping and singing the chorus. The last song on the album is my favorite, “Doubt It”. From the acoustical start it quickly ramps up into a love song that is funny and sweet.

If you are needing an album that will put a grin on your face, this is a great one to pick up and listen to. I really enjoyed all of their original songs, they had great energy and the vocals of gruff yet melodic. The standards on the album are fair, I would not say anything exceptional, but they were very well done. For a debut album, I wait anxiously to see how The Narrowbacks grow and mature and create more original songs. You can get their album on CDbaby,

Track listing:

1. The Leaving of Liverpool
2. The Temperance
3. Sean South/Britches Full of Stitches/Tell Me Ma Medley
4. Tell Me Ma
5. The Confessional
6. Muirsheen Durkin
7. Stay in Tonight
8. Lost Generation
9. Whiskey in the Jar
10. Murtys Publick House 4:45am
11. Paddy’s Field
12. Doubt It

Slainte!

Between The Wars – Won’t Go Quietly Review

Back in January, I had the privilege to ask Jay from Between The Wars some questions of their upcoming release Won’t Go Quietly. If you have not read it (or want a refresher) you can find my post here. Last week, Between The Wars posted the full album on SoundCloud to give their fans a taste and encourage them to pre-order. I will tell you know, go pre-order it, you won’t be disappointed! BTW continues with their great story telling in melody, their sound is more edgy, but the feel is definitely still BTW – old fans won’t begrudge the sound change and new fans can go back to their older stuff and appreciate it. One of my favorite facets with these guys, and has been from the beginning is how the tempo and feel of the music does not always match the lyrics so if you are listening to the music in the background, just enjoying the feel and having fun, when do you pay attention to the lyrics you are blown away by the depth and feeling.

To start the album out is “Worst Enemy”, it is easily identifiable as a BTW song, though the vocals are more gravely, the music is harder and gives you a great promise of what is to come and was quickly one of my top picks on the album. “My Seafaring Home” follows up with a song with quick lyrics  and music that had me taping on my desk all week. “Goodnight Sweetheart” is the story of war-torn England and the blackouts. The fiddle work is exquisite and the pacing of the song fun though the subject matter is not fun. This song has really been growing on me with its depth. Speaking of depth, “First Train Out” is one of those songs that I referred to earlier, that it is on the surface an enjoyable song, then you get beyond its surface and the story of the song is incredible and melancholy. Appropriately, the next song up is “Afraid of Death” which was an early top song for me. The spirit of the song driven by the vocals and music, and again the great fiddle work make for a great tune. “Oh Penny!” is the lightest song on the album and the song is about past love moved on. The song is fast, you want to clap along with and sing out “Oh Penny!” Again this song tells a story, from the early stages of infatuation through the loss his love to someone else. “I’ll Dance On Your Grave, Mrs. Thatcher” is a political song by John McCullagh and features him on the song. I can see why BTW would want to include this song – it follows along with their MO of great storytelling put to music regarding striking miners. This is the hardest rocking songs on the album and their conveyance of the anger is fantastic. “I Won’t Ever Get Between My Woman and Her Whiskey Anymore” is more country feeling, and perhaps the greatest departure from previous BTW songs. It features some great tempo changes and once again, their new fiddle player steals the show of the song. “Rural Juror” brings the pace down to a song that has the music to match the lyrics, making it more poignant and thoughtful. “Ever Present Storm” brings the pace back up with a haunting tune of revenge with some brief guitar work reminiscent of spaghetti westerns. “A Sailor’s Lament” is a song that starts out slowly, with vocals and the sounds of water in the background before ramping up a bit, then at the 3 minute mark it ramps up again. Finishing out the album is “Frustrated From Berwick”, a song for those who chose for whatever reason of doing nothing instead of standing up for what they believe in. The song is catching not really in a fast way but through the repetition to drive home the point.

For new and old Between The Wars fans, this is one for your collections. In their interview they talked about how they enjoy telling stories with their songs and this album clearly shows that (along with their past works) and the skill they are able to craft music that belies the words of the song, so you actually have to listen, is what, to me anyway, really enjoyable about BTW. You have to think to actually get some of their songs and this world needs more people to think and not be sheep. To me that is the great thing about punk – don’t be a sheep, be who you are regardless of who the sheep want you be. So I’ve got my pre-order in, do you?

Track listing:

1. Worst Enemy
2. My Seafaring Home
3. Goodnight Sweetheart
4. First Train Out
5. Afraid of Death
6. Oh Penny!
7. I’ll Dance On Your Grave, Mrs. Thatcher
8. I Won’t Ever Get Between My Woman and Her Whiskey Anymore
9. Rural Juror
10. Ever Present Storm
11. A Sailor’s Lament
12. Frustrated From Berwick

Slainte!

The Lagan – Where’s Your Messiah Now?

The Lagan, a hard rocking six piece Celtic Punk band from London are releasing their debut album Where’s Your Messiah Now on St Patty’s day and I was lucky to get a preview release. I have to say that in listening to it, I had to keep checking that this was their freshman release. The album showcases their craft of music and vocals plus the amount of original songs has made for brilliant album that is fun to listen and get lift your musical spirit. The album contains 10 tracks, six of which are original, three standards and one hybrid.

“Staring The Devil In The Eye” starts out the album with grand fanfare with the drums leading it in followed by tin whistles before ramping up and really rocking. The song is one of several nautical in nature that speaks to the old wind sailor in me. Catchy lyrics and taking the themes from traditions and creating a new story paired with the rocking music make for a fun song. “Sailin’ East” is another nautical themed (yeah I know smart asses, the title makes that clear) that segues nicely yet remains it own song and not as a copy of “Staring The Devil In The Eye”. The third track, “Work Away” is my favorite track on the album. The melody and chorus are heartbreaking yet uplifting – a song for the fighter in all of us. Even pounding away, there is always the hope for relief without giving up. “Star of The County Down” is well done, the intro being my favorite part. “Guinness ‘n’ Chips” is my second favorite track, the mix of whistle and fiddle and pace for a fun song, that oddly in all my listening to, I did not hear any reference to Guinness. Every time this song has come in, I would stop doing whatever it was doing and start to get into the song – don’t plan on getting any work done during this song! “Sunny Day In Southie” is a fun song, though given my lifestyle choice of sobriety, does not speak to me as it would have previously, but I’m sure a lot of people will take this up for their drinking anthem. “I’ll Tell Me Ma” is a nice rendition of a classic tune that has been gruffed up in parts for them to the song their own. “The Good Ship Lagan” is the hybrid, it has the music from “Drunken Sailor” to original lyrics. A fun song and one that was enjoyable listening to their tailoring of the song. “Same Shite Different Day” rounds out my top three songs. Gruff vocals, hard lyrics that has the nautical tone of their other songs. Finishing up the album is “The Fields of Anthenry”, the song that it seems every Celtic band has to have in their playlist for someone in the audience. The song is well crafted, capturing the sorrow of the song very well.

The Lagan enter what will be a crowded field of top albums for the year and will easily be a contender for top slots come December and January. Their original songs are fun and well crafted and given this is their debut album, the overall quality is outstanding. Keep it up boys and don’t keep us waiting for your follow-up!

Track listing:

1. Staring The Devil In The Eye
2. Sailin’ East
3. Work Away
4. Star Of The County Down
5. Guinness ‘n’ Chips
6. Sunny Day In Southie
7. I’ll Tell Me Ma
8. The Good Ship Lagan
9. Same Shite Different Night
10. The Fields of Athenry

Slainte!

Valentino Is Dead – Misadventures In Punk Rock Review

Valentino Is Dead is an Irish Punk/Alternative band, and to clarify, they are from Ireland and a punk band – not an Irish Folk Punk band – so this review is a wee bit of a departure from my normal fare that I write about. Regardless, this band is hard rocking, their tunes are catchy and just downright fun to listen to. I discovered them thanks to a follow suggestion from Twitter and some free songs. Yeah, they are following the drug dealers method of business, give the taste away for free and get you hooked!

Hailing from the east coast of Ireland, this band clearly has a lot of diverse influences that makes for fun listening. Misadventures In Punk Rock is their debut album and listening to it, I was completely taken by surprise. The sound is polished and big. Each song stands on its own and has a different feel from the others on the album.  Right from the start, “Up Your Anti”, a song that is “really hard-hitting rocking song about the uprisings, fights for democracy and all that stuff in Egypt and all across North Africa”, sets the fast tone for what is come for 10 tracks on the album. The chorus is catchy and the music is fast and hard. “Forlorn” is perhaps my least favorite track on the album, musically it is great, but the electronic voice synthesizer to me takes away from the song, being a distraction from instruments. “A Galway Tale” is in my top 3 tracks of the album, starting a bit folky, it quickly moves into a catchy, nostalgic tune about fishing boats known as Galway Hookers.  “Not in My Name” follows, another of my top 3, that is has great vocals and varying tempos that goes straight to my soul, pounding my desk or steering wheel depending on where I am listening to the song. “This City Tonight” slows things down but still quite a foot tapper and enjoyably ditty. “Girl That Never” has a retro feel, evoking 60’s pop yet still current, if you are not singing along with the song by the end of it, I would be surprised! “Bad Boy Bubby” is an instantly catchy song that I had stuck in my head hours after listening to it. “Higher” brings to mind 80’s punk and alternative influences but not overly so with Valentino Is Dead still maintaining their domain over their music. “Homage to Hybris” though utilizing some voice synthesis, is not overdone. To me, it is the most somber of the songs on the album but given the catchiness of their songs, still expect to be bopping your head, tapping your fingers or feet as you listen to it. This brings us the last song on the album, and my final top 3, “Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down”, this song has been added to Attitude Adjustment playlist – a song to remind you to keep chugging along and as the title says “Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down”! The song is fun and quickly puts a smile to your face.

Valentino Is Dead has put out a great piece of work, one that is socially conscious and fun at the same time. The album is a fun contradiction, giving you some fast, rocking songs but still maintaining a pop catchiness to it. I would highly recommend you check these guys out for some fun listening! You can find their webpage at www.valentinoisdead.com, on Facebook and Twitter. If you sign up at their website, they will send you a link to download “Up Your Anti” for free!

Track listing:

1. Up Your Anti
2. Forlorn
3. A Galway Tale
4. Not in My Name
5. This City Tonight
6. Girl That Never
7. Bad Boy Bubby
8. Higher
9. Homage to Hybris
10. Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down

Slainte!