I know what you’re going to say. I know it because virtually the same thing has been said over and over again since the band’s conception in Boston, Massachusetts in 1996. And I’ll say it now as I said it then: the proof is very much in the pudding. So if the only thing that puts you off the thorny, shouty hardcore of this wonderfully irrepressible Celtic band is the fact they’re not from Ireland, then one gruelling earful of rousing rebel drinking songs like ‘Famous For Nothing’, ‘God Willing’, ‘Flannigan’s Ball’ and ‘Loyal To No One’ should pretty much set the record straight.
The band’s sixth studio album, The Meanest Of Times is a collection of tales about family, loyalty and remembering where you came from. No mean feat when you have a barrel load of Irish Stout inside you, but the boys fulfil the brief with a salty and boorish assortment of noisy punk rock, Celtic folk and fiery political agitating. The album features guest appearances by Spider Stacy of the Pogues and Ronnie Drew of the Dubliners and was recorded at Westland Studios in Dublin with Dave Slevin.
Somewhere between AC/DC, Stiff Little Fingers, the Clash and Flanagan and Allen. Sort of.