You gotta love Canada! That massive hockey loving country continues to spit out great bands into the music spittoon left and right! (except for Celine Dion, Bare Naked Ladies, and a few others) A band I have added quite close to the top of the Canuck list is Siobhan. Hailing from the capital city of the great white north. (Ottawa, for those of you who may be globally handicapped!) They have recorded a full album with 13 tracks of whiskey inspired mayhem. They never leave D’arcy McGee’s Pub in Ottawa, because they are all cheap lushes who know free pints don’t exist outside of their home pub! (Actually, they never leave D’arcy McGee’s because they are the house band!) So if you ever stumble into Ottawa, don’t go to a Senators hockey game, walk into the pub and go straight to table 12 where the band drinks, and they will tell you to fuck yerself!

Okay, on with the album. According to the liner notes, all songs were recorded live in a single room with no re-takes or anything. Any mistakes you hear are the product of your deranged imagination. I must admit, it sounds as crisp as a Canadian winter evening in Manitoba, every instrument is represented evenly. It has about 5 covers, including “The Limerick Rake”, “Whiskey In The Jar”, “All For Me Grog”, a kick ass version of “Spancil Hill”, and the anti-war classic, “Salford Town”. The originals mix perfectly with the covers, such as “The Monday Night Drinking Song”, which is on par with “Streams Of Whiskey” inviting you to join the band for a pint or 10 on the first night of the week. Another classic song about pint hoisting ’till dawn is track 7, “The Killfinane Parish”, track 8 is a nice instrumental, “Gypsy Rebel”, track 2 is a great original ballad, “Lay Down And Die”, and a few others like “I Got Drunk In Europe” (who hasn’t?) This is a classic album from a promising young band. I recommend checking out the new album PRONTO! Siobhan is one of my favorite bands at the moment.

Siobhan’s Debauchery Tour

07/19 – Merchant MacLiam’s Pub – Kingston ON
07/20 – Merchant MacLiam’s Pub – Kingston ON
07/23 – Bunker’s Pub – Sydney NS
07/25 – O’Reilley’s Pub – St. John’s NF
07/26 – O’Reilley’s Pub – St. John’s NF
07/27 – O’Reilley’s Pub – St. John’s NF
08/09 – Toronto Festival of Beer – Historic Fort York – Toronto ON
08/10 – Fionn MacCool’s Pub – Toronto

July 2002

Review by Brian Gillespie