Enter The Haggis Review: Soapbox Heroes
On January 19, 2008 in Original Music, World music, reviews
This album was originally reviewed in October 2007. The URL has changed along with BandVox’s new format. Please adjust your bookmarks.
As with many of the bands that I review here, I first heard Enter The Haggis on Shite ‘n Onions. For months, their album Soapbox Heroes sat on my wishlist. I was about to finally order the CD, along with several others when I found that Enter The Haggis would be playing nearby. Excellent! So I saved up the cash for another two weeks, and headed off to the Celtic Fling. Not only did I get one of the best CDs ever, but I got to see this amazing band live.
While ETH is heavily influenced by world beats, they have an equally strong footing in Celtic and folk sounds. Their opening song Lancaster Gate is a very modern bagpipe tune. If you’re familiar with the band Off Kilter, this song will sound like home. It has a more modern, rocky sound than Off Kilter’s music, but is similar enough that celtophiles should be immediately drawn to it. By contrast, No More Stones has a strong country rock tone. Normally, I despise country, but these boys can turn common rocks into gems. Cynical carries over the celtic overtones and is also where the name of the album comes from( And we’re so lazy/we’re soapbox heroes/and we’ve got so much to say ).
Marti’s Last Stand and One Last Drink are strong in celtic theming (the first being a pascifist who’s forced into battle, and could apply to any person in any war, though it may be about a specific person- the second is about an old man who refuses to die until morning so he can have one last celebration).
Normally I abhore any song that makes me cry, but ETH’s The Barfly is so stirring that it really stands out on its own, and I won’t turn it off no matter how the tears fall. It’s about an old man and how he lost his wife and two daughters. While both daughters are still alive, one has moved far away and never contacts him, while the other lost her own husband, and hasn’t spoken since. There may be piano music in the rest of the album, I haven’t noticed it, but in The Barfly it really stands out and underscores the mood of the song.
This is an excellent CD. Very clean and professional without losing an ounce of individuality. The varied influences make Enter The Haggis popular with fans of many genres, though more particularly with fans of Celtic music. I highly recommend Soapbox Heroes, and am anxiously awaiting their next album.
Icewagon Flu Review: The Great American Something
On January 19, 2008 in Fun music, Pub/Drinking Music, reviews, traditional celtic music
This review was originally posted in July of 2007. We’ve changed platforms since then and the URLs have changed. Please adjust your bookmarks.
I bought Icewagon Flu’s newest release The Great American Something the weekend it was released. I’d love to say that it’s taken me this long to feel that I could do it justice in a review- but that’s just silly. I don’t feel that I can do it justice, I just feel that I can’t hold it back any longer.This is a great album which explores a slightly broader range than their last CD, Off The Wagon. Where Off The Wagon was more traditional in nature, though still played with a strictly Flu sound, The Great American Something is completely theirs. All songs were written by the band, and while the sound isn’t quite as strong as it is when they’re live, you absolutely will not be disappointed.
We knew they could perform the heck out of a live gig, and songs like Nudity and Whiskey & Soda showed us that they could write great songs too. But pulling together an entire original album and making it work is what separates the good bands from the great. And Icewagon Flu is a great band.
True, this album nearly backs entirely out of the Celtic and Paddy Punk genres, but the originality of everything they play should keep it in the rotations of your favorite stations that have played them before.
Clowns & Jokers starts off the CD with a mellow kind of groove, followed by a slightly more upbeat Blue #9. I have no idea what it means, but it’s one of my favorite songs on the album.
The rest also follow Flu’s basic sound while maintaining each song’s individuality. Little Red Devil actually sounds a bit beachy while Wild Irish and Industry Down hold Icewagon Flu’s place in Celtic and Paddy Punk music.
All in all, I’d say the only thing better than this CD is seeing them live. And for $15 it’s a great value.
You can purchase The Great American Something at CD Baby.
JD and the Longfellows Review: Confessions!
On January 19, 2008 in Pub/Drinking Music, reviews
The band that started it all. In an effort to tell the world about this wonderful band I found and yet avoid building a fansite, BandVox was launched. This review was originally posted January of 2007, but the URL changed when we switched format. Please adjust your bookmarks.
JD and the Longfellows describe their sound as “renegade folk, drunken country, shit-kickin’ western, psycho-skiffle” and after listening to their CD Confessions, I can’t find anything wrong with that. The first song that I heard (Another Drink, Another Round, Another Bar, Another Town) sent visions through my mind of people swinging, arms entwined, in drunken circles, with beer sloshing from their tankards. I quite liked this image, and so I searched out more.
After listening as much as I could from their MySpace page, and on Shite ‘n’ Onions (at Live365 ), I gave in, spent the $12.97 and bought the CD. I am so happy that I did. I have played this CD nearly every day since I received it from CD Baby and enjoyed every minute of it. There’s no denying that this is drinking music (and who’d want to deny it?), but it’s much richer, with more depth than your usual drinking songs.
The band has a unique and instantly recognizable sound, and yet the variety within that sound is astounding, especially when you consider that this is the band’s first CD.
For instance, the opening song Lenny sounds like country music would, if country music were actually good. And while I can’t explain it, I swear the horns in Another Drink sounds like mariachi. I also detected a hint of the Cure from time to time. Josh Davis’ vocals change from song to song as well. In Jamaican Rum and Why his smooth tone flows well with Clare Portman and Gemma Cumming’s back up vocals. In Another Drink and Wedding of the Year his voice switches to deep and growling, which contrasts nicely with the girls’ sweeter, higher vocals.
One of the many great things about this album is the humor woven throughout. Such as it can be difficult to tell if they really like tropical islands, or just the unscheduled in-flight entertainment (Jamaican Rum). It’s not so much what is said, as how it’s said. Listening very carefully is an absolute must, and the opening and closing lines of Holiday to the Sun are well worth the effort.
The subject matter runs the gamut between getting scammed out of your plane tickets, wedding nightmares or nightmarish weddings, and joining the mile high club. My personal current favorite Another Glass of Whiskey makes some very good points about the merits of whiskey over those of a whining girlfriend. Thunderstorm is also quite an entertaining song, involving an angry husband, a shotgun, and a pair of socks.
Confessions has it all! Humor: “Now this is an old, old basic drinking song that I’ve only just written” Pick-up Lines: “I’ll show you that my pencil’s full of lead” even Helpful Household Hints: “If you mix your women like you mix your drink, well the end is just the same”.
Final Verdict: A fun CD, great without paying attention to the words- unbelievably excellent if you do. Buy the CD, you’ll be glad that you did.
You can find JD and the Longfellows at CD Baby or their website, JDandtheLongfellows.com
Ceann Review: Rave, Rant, Lose Pants
On January 19, 2008 in Fun music, reviews
This review was written and originally posted in August of 2007. Since then, BandVox has changed formats, and the URL changed along with it. Please update your bookmarks.
Fans of “Almost Irish” will be thrilled with Ceann’s new CD “Rave, Rant, Lose Pants”. For the most part they continue in the same style of (slightly bizarre) humor and beat. Saying that they’ve matured is rather like saying the sun is blue. Technically impossible and more or less irrelevant. They are, however, including already popular songs such as Monahan the Mutineer, New York Girls, and Go, Move, Shift. Naturally with their own flair. I was especially impressed by Patrick Halloran’s McGranahan’s Wife because not only was it funny, it sounded like a traditional song given a Ceann twist.
It may sound sacrilegious to say so, but three songs on their new disk beats the.. Um… pants, off their last album. Blame the Viking is the first actual song on Rave, Rant, Lose Pants and it’s earned its place in the top spot. From mysterious stains to mysterious pregnancies, everything can be blamed on the Viking. Trust me, it says so in the song.
Pretty on the Inside is the biggest insulting compliment that I believe I’ve ever heard. Is it an insult? Is it a compliment? Can anyone really tell? It’s funny as hell, and as a friend recently pointed out “It’s the ultimate guy anthem!”.
And Boom!. Has Al Quaeda ever been so funny? Suicide bombers that just can’t do the job right. Except when it comes to blowing up people who write songs about them. Last Ones Standing is a bit of a stepped up Almost Irish. On My Tab pretty much defines them as leaches- albeit likeable leaches. And I’ve Got No Beef With You might offend some vegetarians, but I have trouble believing that anyone wouldn’t find this funny.
In fact, the only downer on the whole album is the original song Home. Now, I can deal with them trying to stretch their wings a bit- I’m all for artistic integrity and all. It’s even a rather nice song in a soothing yet depressing kind of way. My problem isn’t even that they have a guest vocalist, Julia Reisse. She has a great voice, and she sounds good on the album. The problem I have is that both Patrick and Julia are singing on this track- in separate time. The result is entirely jarring. I don’t know if this is a result of how they recorded, how it was mixed, or if they intended it to sound this way- but no matter how hard I try I can not enjoy this song. If either Patrick or Julia was the sole vocalist I’d have probably warmed up to it by now. But not together.
Still, one black spot on an otherwise flawless album is pretty good odds- and you can’t beat it for the price!