Isn’t it something how your brain can play tricks on you? I was listening to Shite ‘n Onions and thought I heard “Any punks in old PA?”. Naturally I became very excited since there don’t seem to be many celtic punk bands (or celtic, or punk) in Pennsylvania. A few, but not many.

If your sister works as a customer service rep for a popular web host- then this post is for you, buddy! 

I needed some help on BandVox’s website account and called the customer service line.  While we chatted, I mentioned what BandVox does- review Celtic Punk music.  My wonderful (and I do mean wonderful) CSR mentioned that her brother liked celtic and punk music, but wasn’t aware of celtic punk as a genre.  As much as I wanted to give her a list of links and bands to check out, I didn’t want her to get into trouble for personal stuff at work.  So here’s hoping that you see this post.  Or BandVox.com.  Or the Squidoo lense that I’m building.

 A good way to explore the genre is to check out internet radio stations that are currently free such as Shite ‘n Onions and Radio Rebel Gael.  Good bands to start with are Flogging Molly, Black 47, Larkin Brigade, and Icewagon Flu even has a virtual podcast with some of the songs from their new album The Great American Something.  Since these bands are rather different from each other, it should give you a fairly good idea of what’s out there, though is by no means comprehensive.

 For more information you can check BandVox, Shite ‘n Onions (website), and PaddyRock.  Of course, a google search on Celtic Punk should throw out some pretty good links as well.

I’ve had a chance to listen to all 4 CDs that I bought at the Celtic Fling last Saturday, and I can’t decide which of them I love the most. 

Enter The Haggis- Soapbox Heroes has some of the best songs for getting into, dancing, singing with, and just totally letting loose.  Honestly, I think One Last Drink is one of my absolute favorite songs. 

Icewagon Flu- The Great American Something is… well, great.  There are only two things that disappoint me 1.) no lyric sheet, and 2.) they’re so good live that I’ve been ruined for CDs.  Seriously, this is an awesome CD and it’ll be the next that I review on the site.  I highly recommend it, and it’s absolutely worth the $15 and any shipping you may have to pay.  But everytime I hear a song that was in their set at the Fling I just keep picturing the goofy performance I saw there.

Icewagon Flu- Off the Wagon I wanted for a loooong time.  However, I’m a total geek about spending my money.  I hate parting with cash, and so I’ve simply had it wishlisted for a long time.  However, I budgeted and bought it while at Fling.  Little did I know that the song I praise so highly in my Celtic Fling 2007 review was actually on this CD!  Wonderful!  So if you want to hear “Nudity“, get thee Off the Wagon.  This is just an amazing band all around, and while I encourage you to get their newest CD, don’t neglect their older ones. 

Ceann- Rave, Rant, Lose Pants was released the same week as Icewagon Flu’s The Great American Something and is as rediculously funny as Almost Irish.  Top of my charts are Blame the Viking, Pretty on the Inside, and Boom!.  No, seriously, you have to hear Boom!.

I’ll be reviewing Rave, Rant, Lose Pants after The Great American Something.  It was hard to decide between the two for the next review, but since I left Almost Irish up for freaking two months and only bumped it off the main page last week… well, maybe I should let someone else shine?

Of course, full reviews of all of these CDs will be going up on BandVox.com eventually, but the two new ones are the next in line.  I also have the Skels- Any Port In A Storm is on my list.  With all of these new goodies, that’ll have to wait.

Doesn’t it just drive you crazy when you find a new band or singer that you love and you can’t buy a cd?  Clare Portman, a member of JD and the Longfellows and Big Girls Blouse, has some wonderful solo songs on her MySpace page.   I recommend starting with The Other One; her voice is both sweet and soulful, and she has an optimism and streak of independence that comes through even while singing about an unfaithful partner.  There’s also a video of the song All Yours Now.  Go check it out!

Updates on the site will be coming soon.  Flatfoot 56’s Jungle of the Midwest Sea will be the next review posted as I received an advance copy through TitleTrakk and wanted to give it some space between that review going up and the one for BandVox.   

 Yesterday I ordered three more cd’s from CD Baby, and am expecting them soon.  Updates should be a little more regular now since I have a few albums to choose from. 

 Ordered:

• BROBDINGNAGIAN BARDS: brobdingnagian fairy tales  – I’m relatively sure that this is music that gets played at Renaissance Faires, but since most are based on celtic folk lore or actual songs, it fits within the boundaries of what I review.
• THE SKELS: any port in a storm  - obviously fits within the boundaries.  True, it’s a bit old, but I don’t review based on what’s new.  I try to give an accurate picture of any album that I review, as long as it’s still available for purchase.
• BELLES OF BEDLAM: who’s your sire  -  This is absolutely Rennie music.  Very funny, but doesn’t really fit the requirements.  If you feel strongly one way or another about this being reviewed on BandVox, please leave a comment or email me.  If the consensus is that you don’t want it reviewed, or that nobody cares one way or the other, then it’ll only go up in the emergency situation that I haven’t gotten any new albums to review.  If you really want to hear about it, I’ll post it. 

So this is what’s coming up.  Any thoughts? 

Ok, so it’s more YouTube, but can you blame me when I find things like this?  It’s not my favorite version of the song, but the Everquest characters dancing to The Last Saskatchewan Pirate is scary good.

I do so love unique bands, and Larkin Brigade is tops in that category.  You can see their Wicked Liquored Up video on  YouTube.  It used to be on their MySpace page, but seems to have disappeared.

This really is one of the best videos I’ve seen, though I’m not entirely certain what zombies are doing in an “upscale downtown Irish pub”, or why the bouncer is a nun in a mini-skirt, but hell.  That’s what makes Larkin Brigade so great!

Gotta love YouTube.  Where else can you find a music video by an awesome band and plop it right into your blog?  Unfortunately, I can’t get the embed to work through WordPress, so I’ll have to link.   Enjoy!

Before I started BandVox.com I was debating between actually starting a website, or starting a blog.  In the end I chose to start a website because (among other things) I didn’t like the way blogs archive.  I wanted old reviews to be easy to find, since people who don’t listen to the Top 40 probably don’t care if an album is the newest, just so long as it’s good.  And, of course, if I only reviewed albums, posts would be long and far in between.  If I wrote more than just reviews, the reviews could get buried under all of the other commentary.

 So, after debating for a month or so between choosing a website or a blog, I chose a website.  Three months later, I’m starting a blog.  

 Now, it’s not that I changed my mind.  Far from it.  There are things that I can do on BandVox.com that I can’t do on here, or that I can at least do easier on the site.  But now I’ve found that when there’s a little something to add, or if there is something that I’d like to recommend or mention that is outside of our genre, I’d like a spot that’s a little more informal to talk about it in.  Enter The Blog.  (I now have “beware of the blog, it creeps, and leaps, and glides, and slides across the floor” running through my head.  If you know why, please comment.  I know why, but I suspect that many people do not.)

 Here at The Blog I’ll be posting about individual songs that I like, out-of-genre songs/albums/videos that I would be happy to recommend, and anything else that seems fitting.  And over at BandVox.com, I’ll keep the reviews coming.