Disclaimer: I have never been a big fan of the whole Irish punk thing which Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys seem to dominate these days. While it is all in good fun, there always seems an element of kitsch to the music from either band I have heard. Which is why I’ll stick my NECK (!) out and say this is actually a surprisingly gentile and poetic release, managing to pick the right times for a no holds barred sing-a-long and a poetic story of despair. With my excuses now out of the way I’ll tell you a little about the London-Irish six piece. Combining the likely suspects of fiddle, bagpipes, banjo etc it is a strange folk punk hybrid which works extremely well and proves more than endearing over the course of the 57 minutes. With just the right mixture of wind spitting punk and folk tenderness, it reaffirms faith that the genre isn’t just dominated by the stateside giants.
With a poetically epic feel accompanying certain efforts, it is difficult to imagine your not in the shire or Amsterdam in Gangs of New York at times (I apologise for the rubbish comparison, it’s been a long day). Lead vocalist Leeson O’ Keefe must gain a mention as well as he has crafted some extremely clever and down to earth lyrics which go down a treat on the upbeat and jolly ‘Every days St. Patrick’s Day’ amongst others. There is no pretension, no messing, just simple effective song writing. Other highlights include the sombre “Caoineadh/Blood on the Streets” but for every drawn out number, there is a ‘Down Where the River Bends’ to balance things out. A final note must also be mentioned for the artwork within. A lot of time has obviously gone into the various translations and meaning of certain lyrical sections and it is the icing on a very sweet cake.
There are a couple of slight deterrents though. It isn’t the easiest album to get into immediately and if you have zero interest in the music on offer, then chances are you wont give a monkey either way. But Neck have changed my opinion on this sub-genre quite a bit. There is barely a filler in site with all tracks seemingly fitting the jigsaw together perfectly and serving a purpose. It almost makes me want to raise a pint of Guinness to the sky and do a jig, but of course Guinness tastes like shite, and not even Neck can change my opinion on that.
Jay
Hibernian Records
www.neck.ie
