Long running, two piece, Minnesota based Irish folk-punk band, The Langer’s Ball, always manages to surprise. Fortunately on, Appetite for Tradition, they don’t “surprise” us with an album of Guns’n’Roses covers given a Celtic twist but surprise us with a collection of pure Irish traditional music, Airs, Jigs and Reels, and they do this very, very well. Maybe the most authentic traditional Irish music west of the Mississippi (assuming they are actually west of the Mississippi). In all there are 34 different tunes broken down into 14 tracks. Very enjoyable.
All posts by Mustard Finnegan
The Best of 2020 (and 2019)
I didn’t put out a best of 2019 list on St. Patrick’s Day 2020 and the whole world went to shite. So, in my attempt to fix the strange vortex we have been in since, here with no further ado is the Shite’n’Onions best of 2020 (and 2019)
The Top 6:
#1 The Go Set: Of Bright Futures….and Broken Pasts
#2 Greenland Whalefishers: Based on a True Story
#3 The Walker Roaders: The Walker Roaders
#4 The Real McKenzies: Beer & Loathing
#5 The Tan & Sober Gentlemen: Veracity
#6 Bodh’aktan: Ride Out The Storm
Best 30 Year Retrospective:
The Mahones: This Is All We Got To Show For It (Best Of 1990 – 2020)
Best Debut (single):
The Placks: Rebellious Son (7”)
Best Other Shite:
Flogging Molly – Swagger 20th Anniversary Edition
The Pogues – BBC Sessions 1984-1985
The Radiators: Ghostown 40th Anniversary Edition
Celtic Cross: 40 Shades of Blues – Black 47 Tribute
Celtic Cross‘s, 40 Shared of Blue, is the first track released from the up coming Black 47 tribute, After Hours – executive produced by Peter Walsh of The Gobshites and Larry Kirwan of Black 47.
The Placks: The Sabbath
Scotland’s The Placks, have a new single, The Sabbath, out today. This is the bands fourth single in the last twelve months and it’s a fun, sing along. I’m guessing the subject matter refers to Scotland’s sometime strict observance of the sabbath and what folks will go through get a beer on a Sunday.
The Mahones: 1990-2020 This Is All We Got To Show For It
1990 – 2020 means 30 years (!!!) of one of the original and greatest of all the Celtic-punk bands, The Mahones. Starting out from the back room of a pub in Kingston, Ontario, The Mahones have brought their own brand of Celtic-punk to a world wide fan base. To celebrate reaching middle age, The Mahones have released, This Is All We Got To Show For It, on glorious green vinyl. While this is not the first best of….. from The Mahones, it is the first on wax and the first opportunity we have to hear almost all of the songs here on vinyl.
Side one opens with the monstrous Shakespeare Road and its classic after classic till Celtic Pride closes-out side B. While long time fans may argue about what songs were included and what were excluded (where is The Queen and Tequila?), the 10 tracks here perfectly sum up the best of 30 years. This is a limited edition release so get it before it’s gone and hopefully the entire back catalog gets a vinyl release someday.
Dropkick Murphys: Turn Up That Dial
The Dropkicks drop (good ‘eh?) their new album, Turn Up That Dial, on April 30th. The first single from the album will be “Middle Finger”. Turn Up That Dial is the bands 10th studio album and here’s to hoping that its more rowdy celtic-punk’n’roll – I somehow suspect it will be.
Track listing:
1. ‘Turn Up That Dial’
2. ‘L-EE-B-O-Y’
3. ‘Middle Finger’
4. ‘Queen Of Suffolk County’
5. ‘Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding’
6. ‘H.B.D.M.F.’
7. ‘Good As Gold’
8. ‘Smash Shit Up’
9. ‘Chosen Few’
10. ‘City By The Sea’
11. ‘I Wish You Were Here’
Gary Moore: New Celtic-rock (possibly)
Looks like there may be new Celtic-rock material from legendary guitarist and Celtic-rock innovator Gary Moore coming out. Just prior to his death in 2011, Moore was working on new Celtic rock material. Moore was a member of Thin Lizzy (3 times) in the 1970s and played on their Celtic infused 1979 album Black Rose as well as recording his own Celtic metal opus Wild Frontier in 1987. From 1990 onwards Moore turned to the blues and had a very successful career.
Pete Berwick: Too Cow To Punk (anthology 1976-2019)
Too Cow to Punk is a 37 track digital career retrospective from original Nashville cowpunk, Pete Berwick. I’ve reviewed Pete a few times before and I’m a big fan of his stuff – if you like your country to be outlaw with a big dose of punk rock attitude and sound then Pete’s the man. I’ve said before, that Pete Berwick is the soundtrack to a honky-tonk brawl and not only has he brought the sound but he’s packing the big city knuckledusters.
https://peteberwick1.bandcamp.com/album/too-cow-to-punk
The Peelers: Prizefight
Prizefight the new single from The Peelers is now available on Spotify. The new album ‘Down & Out in the City of Saints’ out March 12th.
‘Down and Out in the City of Saints’ features 10 songs, recorded in Montreal, Dundee Scotland, and Vancouver between December 2019 and June 2020. In keeping with their more recent material, Dave Barton’s songs reflect the North American experience of the diaspora with a tip of the newsboy cap to the Quebecois narrative and the lure of Boston and New York; blending truth and fiction, glory and sport, love and loss, darkness and despair, while introducing composites of individuals, companions, friends and foes met along the punk rock journey.
Tracks
1. Give Us A Roar
2. Down and Out in the City of Saints
3. Prizefight
4. Spirits Seldom Sober
5. Stick and Move
6. Rakes Around The Point
7. Glad To See The Back Of You
8. Last Glass
9. Harder They Fall
10. From Here To Halifax
Black 47 Tribute
We’re very excited at Shite’n’Onions castle to hear that there is a Black 47 tribute in the works. The tribute is being compiled by lead Gobshite, Pete Walsh and will be digitally released on the Valley Entertainment label. Contributions so far include:
Screaming Orphans
Gary Og
Celtic Cross
Bangers & Mash
Barleyjuice
Pat McGuire
Rory K
Martin Furey
The Jonee Earthquake Band
PoguestrA
Mary Courtney
and those Gobshites
Shite'n'Onions 