Soundtrack to Saint Patrick's: Dreadnoughts: Polka's not Dead!

At about this time last year, I ran a post about Songs from the Bunker by the great Celtic punk group Greenland Whalefishers, from Norway. A great, raw and ready band that I highly recommend. This year we head to the west coast of Canada for great Celtic punk!

Greet the sun with bottles high, your bodies pale against the sky...

This year I have discovered this terrific album by Vancouver's own Dreadnoughts, who combine Celtic music, punk, polka, and pirate shanties into a manic, boisterous mix. Polka's Not Dead, which came out in 2010 on Stomp Records, combines ferocious energy with great musical chops. I have little doubt that they must be a really entertaining live band. (check out the 3rd video)

This is about as much fun as it gets.

East meets West here, and then some. I was thinking that it wouldn't be a stretch to convert this album into a musical play like Les Miserables or Sweeney Todd. Songs like the Dickensian Gintlemen's Club or the a capella sea song Randy Dandy-Oh are examples of what I mean. In addition to the stirring vocal performances, they manage to deftly bang out a few fast and furious instrumentals, like Goblin Humppa. What's a Humppa? I'm guessing that its some sort of Finnish traditional music. The liner notes lists what the band was listening to when they made Polka's Not Dead, and one of the bands was Eläkeläiset, a Finnish group that apparently plays Humppas 24-7.

The album flies right out of the gate with the raucous Cyder Road. As much Clash as traditional folk,
this song rips!



Equally exciting is the title track Polka Never Dies. Lawrence Welk's worst nightmares realized. Make sure granny takes her heart pills before you play this for her.



This is another great band continuing and expanding on the legacy of The Pogues. Probably some purists may slag off the band due their globe-trotting musical tendencies, but they would only be doing themselves a disservice. This is kick-ass traditional music that is a load of fun to listen to.

St Patty's Day Redux--DVD--Teenage Kicks--The Story Of The Undertones

Although Teenage Kicks--The Story Of The Undertones was released here on DVD in 2004, I just watched this documentary late last night for the first time. Very, very enjoyable. It is a very engaging happy film, one of the better band overviews I have seen. Though the latter part of their initial run is glossed over (i.e. Positive Touch, Sin of Pride), and the bands internal problems are mentioned but somewhat underplayed, an amazing story is recanted for posterity here. Kudos to Tom Collins for creating this excellent film.

Stock footage of the band throughout the career, and historical footage of Derry and Belfast are interspersed with laid-back contemporary interviews of the band members by the late great BBC DJ John Peel. Peel was a huge fan and a primary early proponent of the band, who made four appearances on his legendary program. Peel was one of those rare who would air songs that he liked, and he was someone whose tastes were far from being Catholic. He kept his ears open. His headstone at St Andrew's Church in Great Finborough, Suffolk fittingly has the immortal first line from Teenage Kicks inscribed upon it, and at his funeral at his bequest, Teenage Kicks was played as his coffin exited St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

Teenage dreams so hard to beat....

Peel was right. That song is so perfect it simply can't be improved on, like Wouldn't It Be Nice by the Beach Boys, or September Gurls by Big Star. The song is of a specific era and place, yet it has an eternal quality that the all time great songs share. And at their best, The Undertones were the equal of any of their peers.



Unfortunately, as you find out early in the movie there is a 4 to 1 schism in the band, between singer Feargal Sharkey, and the other band members, so their interviews are separate. The band really was lightning in a bottle, a mix of a charismatic singer with an amazing unique voice and a high energy talented band. With the brothers John & Damian O'Neill on guitar, Michael Bradley on bass and Billy Doherty on drums, it's scary how young these guys were at the outset, and yet so damned professional sounding for an early punk band. It makes me jealous. If you have seen The Clash documentary Westway To The World, you have heard Joe Strummer's lament on the end of the band, and lightning in a bottle was his description. With maturity and in retrospect he realized what a rare thing he had been a part of, and wondered aloud what else they could have achieved. Well, nobody really knows the answer to that million dollar question.



The Undertones don't seem to have those regrets, or at least don't choose to air those views publicly. When you hear their story unfold, how they became pop stars through sheer talent and sheer luck, overcoming monumental odds, they speak with a humble realism. Heading to Belfast, then to London, being on Top of the Pops,signing to the Ramones' label, Sire Records, finally reaching the States as an opening act for The Clash. All of this was more than they ever expected when they started out, it was a means of escape from boredom, lack of opportunity, and the grim violent Troubles that inflamed the country. Even as pop stars Feargal Sharkey was still holding down a job delivering TV sets. So when you see them interviewed they seem quite proud of all that they achieved, and rightfully so. Certainly the four current members of the band do speak with humility, but I can't help but seeing them nostalgically holding back smirks. Unlike many bands who play down their past, who say they don't listen to their old recordings, these guys know all too well how damned great they were. And they seem to be pretty secure and content with their legacy.

This is a very fun DVD. You discover what a great live band they were and also that they are all seemingly nice polite people. The most interesting and candid interviewee is Sharkey, who takes pains not to slag off his former bandmates and has a lot of interesting views on the band and life in Derry. Mostly the band members are interviewed, but of course there is Peel, Sire Records president Seymour Stein, journalist Eamonn McCann and Terri Hooley, who put out their first EP on Good Vibrations records.

There are lot of interesting comments on life in Ireland. I'm reminded of the Saints experience in Brisbane. Like the Saints, The Undertones had their fans and their friends, but a lot of people hated this new thing they were playing. They were not doing what was expected of them, they did not know their place in this society. And it was even worse once they received fame and accolades from London and New York. One of the most amazing quotes was by Terri Hooley who said he saw a boy in Belfast run across the street so he could spit on Feargal Sharkey. I mean it's music we are talking about here, he didn't just invade Poland.

So go check this out--the historic footage is amazing, the cinematography is excellent and lovingly done. And of course, first and foremost listen to the outstanding music. You will quickly understand what all the fuss is about. Their first two albums, eponymous and Hypnotised, are essential rock albums, Punk Rock 101. When I listen to those songs, it's like a musical version of the Fountain of Youth that Ponce De Leon searched for in vain down in South Beach Miami. After the years where the O'Neill brothers made some very nice records as That Petrol Emotion, The Undertones reformed with a new lead singer Paul McLoone , who is featured briefly in the film and seems to do a credible job singing. The band rightly decided not to get a clone to replace Feargal. It would have been pretty weird. But they have released two albums over the last 10 years Get What You Need (2003) and Dig Yourself Deep (2007). Shortly after departing the band, Feargal Sharkey had a #1 hit in the UK with A Good Heart, and inexplicably his recording career all but evaporated after that. But as I speak the Undertones are doing a UK Tour and a West Coast US Tour in commemoration of their amazing first album.

I do highly recommend this DVD, particularly for anyone who is a fan of the band. Of course, if you see this video you will be a fan soon enough anyway. This last video goes out to the Rockin' Reverend.

Happy St Pats!!!!! A Little Treat From Jonathan Richman!!

Here's a brief little post to celebrate my Irish roots, and to pay to tribute a a friend who also happens to be the world's biggest Leprechaun, with which his name rhymes. After all, it's his day, his elevator of gold, and I'm just glad he allows us to share the holiday with him.



Hopefully I'll do a little before the night is out, but this will do for now. Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a lot of good Leprechaun songs.

Everybody Has A Song In Them!!--Damien Dempsey--The Rocky Road--A Classic For St Patrick's

The Rocky Road is the most recent album by Irish Folk Singer Damien Dempsey. It is a collection of mostly traditional Irish music, and it makes a perfect accompaniment for St Patrick's Day festivities. Dempsey's booming powerful voice is impressive and the songs he chose to perform range from historically themed to love songs. Though he is a huge star in Ireland, winning scads of Meteor awards over the past decade he is not so well known on our shores. I saw a review of this album in Uncut Magazine and decided to give it a try, and believe me, I was well rewarded. He is an artist with a lot of passion, socially conscious, with great empathy for the less fortunate. Just recently he made his acting debut in the film Between The Canals, playing a fictitious Dublin crime boss. The film is being released in Ireland this month.

On The Rocky Road, Dempsey is ably backed by veteran musicians, including John Sheahan and Barney McKenna from The Dubliners playing fiddle, and Banjo & Mandolin respectively. Eamonn DeBarra plays whistle/Flute/Bodhran/Harmonium/Piano. John McLoughlin is on bouzouki/mandolin/guitar and John Reynolds plays drums. Dempsey leads with The Rocky Road To Dublin, and he does justice to a great old classic. He reminisces about the song in his liner notes...

"At these house parties I've heard my mother and father, both brothers, uncles, aunties and grandparents sing their favourite songs unaccompanied. Sometimes we didn't always hold the tune or our voices cracked but you weren't left alone till you sang at least a verse of something and once you sang with passion it didn't matter how good or bad your voice was, the room would love you. Everybody has a song in them and the singsong is a vital and wonderful link to our past that I hope will carry on through the ages."



It really is a great quote and it just says so much about tradition in this country. When I listen to Irish music I can't help but feel the great level of profound sadness in the songs. But then I think of people, family, friends, being together, singing together, commiserating. People doing this today, as they did a century ago, maybe back before recorded history. And then I think of a culture where it is expected that people participate and perform and how finely honed these lyrical gifts have developed in a culture. And this is from a group who've had an extremely raw deal handed to them over the years as we all know. Music can form an indelible bond and can even help create a national identity.

I also appreciate that on this album he performs the Shane McGowan classic A Rainy Night in Soho. Because Shane is a great songwriter and he is part and continuation of the great Irish musical tradition. McGowans lyrics can contain such profound imagery and expressiveness that hold up with just about anyone out there. But I will say one thing. I saw him perform on Randall's Island one summer about ten years ago and he was so stinking bagged that he could barely stand much less perform and was rude to an adoring audience. It was pretty embarrassing and sad. There is nothing charming about somebody who is a complete wreck and no longer a young man. I hope that he has managed to straighten out a bit--it's a waste of profound talent, like lightning captured in a whiskey bottle.



Some of the other highlights include the ironic Schoolday's Older, where school end's and time to begin hard labor, toiling as a colliers in the mine pits. Very nice fiddle riffing on this number. Dempsey goes a capella on The Twang Man, a traditional number loaded with slang from 200 years ago. Quite moving is the song The Foggy Dew recounting the 1916 Irish uprising. But one of my favorite moments is the proud defiant tone of The Hot Asphalt. Also great is The Hackler From Grouse Hall/The Monaghan Jig and the lovely ballad Night Visiting Song.

So if you like traditional music or are simply looking for something new to listen to on St Pat's this could be just the thing for you. And if you like this album, Dempsey has plenty more nontraditional albums that are equally great like Shots and Seize the Day, or Live at the Olympia. Seriously, this guy has a fantastic voice, is supremely talented, tough yet tender hearted; one of the good guys. Check him out or lose out.