The Bare Knuckle Boxers “Pictures on The Wall” CD :
This debut full-length release by these Philly paddy rockers kicks off with a ceilidh bang; with this brilliant band from the city of brotherly love demonstrating their Irish Rebel finesse. With the introductory track, “The Roadside,” that is an exceptional original by the Bare Knuckle Boxers, a powerful tribute to the freedom fighters of Erin with galvanizing Fenian lyrics like:
“Come down to the Falls Road
And step to the side
To hear a thing or two
To make your hearts realize,
We wish to raise our flag
But we can’t raise it high
‘Cuz a goddamn Union Jack
Is flying in the sky!”
The remarkable vocal skills of Sean Cahill, complemented by his mighty bass boom-boom, always makes room and lead guitarist Mike Stanton’s stunning rebel riffs and backup growls, accentuated by Brendan Donahue’s tin whistle and Matt Hungerford’s Celtic warrior drumming, complete with a superb new sound to boost the Irish Rebel and Celtic Rock scenes, with the earth-shattering banjo, mandolin, and rhythm guitar of Mike Stanton’s brother, Connor. The great traditional ditties “Waxie’s Dargle,” “Nancy Whiskey,” “Star of the County Down,” “South Australia,” and Pogues’ classics, “If I Should Fall From Grace With God,” and “Streams of Whiskey,” make this album a personal favorite for me and a fine addition to your Irish rebel rock n’reel collection. Not only because the Bare Knuckle Boxers are one of the select few Irish-American bands that can do Pogues’ classics without committing musical sacrilege and suicide, in their great cover of the Saw Doctors’ “Green and Red of Mayo,” may indeed be even better than the original, and I’ll be damned if that’s not a rare feat for a new band to accomplish.
But Bare Knuckle Boxers musical pugilism shines the brightest with their incomparable originals, like “This One’s For You,” a storming craic-infused Philly paddy rocker that is both a party theme and a romantic song, with the band daring to tread the murky waters of Celtic amour.
As cool as this clever tune is, their title track, “Pictures on the Wall,” must be my favorite Fenian original by the band, a craic-a-lackin’ Irish war cry brilliantly capturing the spirit of the men and women of Easter Week, 1916, the brave ten of the 1981 hunger strikes, the courageous Irish heroines of Armagh prison, the revolutionary martyrs of the Irish Citizen’s Army, and the Irish National Liberation Army, and undeniably, the gallant volunteers of the Real and Continuity IRA, with deeply powerful and inspirational lines such as:
“Their sons and daughters never see their fathers at all,
Only in the pictures hanging on the wall,
It isn’t the time to forgive and forget,
But to remember, all those we’ve forgot!”
Proving that the Bare Knuckle Boxers have no problem delivering a musical knockout, every damn time.
And if that Fenian battle hymn wasn’t grand enough, Bare Knuckle Boxers’ melancholy ballad, “Almost Home,” will surely stir something strong inside, with a moving melody that proves lead vocalist, Sean Cahill, is on a par with Seamus Mor, Damien Dempsey, Shane McGowan, Gary Og, and Terry O’Neill, with an equal mastery of singing aptitude, his vocal savvy shining like an emerald beacon at the end of the dark tunnel, because Irish man and woman, Plastic Paddy, Irish Londoner, Irish Aussie, and even that Englishman who secretly wishes he was born with a drop of Irish blood, with the musical prowess of the Bare Knuckle Boxers leading, you’ll never walk alone.
http://www.bkbband.com/
This debut full-length release by these Philly paddy rockers kicks off with a ceilidh bang; with this brilliant band from the city of brotherly love demonstrating their Irish Rebel finesse. With the introductory track, “The Roadside,” that is an exceptional original by the Bare Knuckle Boxers, a powerful tribute to the freedom fighters of Erin with galvanizing Fenian lyrics like:
“Come down to the Falls Road
And step to the side
To hear a thing or two
To make your hearts realize,
We wish to raise our flag
But we can’t raise it high
‘Cuz a goddamn Union Jack
Is flying in the sky!”
The remarkable vocal skills of Sean Cahill, complemented by his mighty bass boom-boom, always makes room and lead guitarist Mike Stanton’s stunning rebel riffs and backup growls, accentuated by Brendan Donahue’s tin whistle and Matt Hungerford’s Celtic warrior drumming, complete with a superb new sound to boost the Irish Rebel and Celtic Rock scenes, with the earth-shattering banjo, mandolin, and rhythm guitar of Mike Stanton’s brother, Connor. The great traditional ditties “Waxie’s Dargle,” “Nancy Whiskey,” “Star of the County Down,” “South Australia,” and Pogues’ classics, “If I Should Fall From Grace With God,” and “Streams of Whiskey,” make this album a personal favorite for me and a fine addition to your Irish rebel rock n’reel collection. Not only because the Bare Knuckle Boxers are one of the select few Irish-American bands that can do Pogues’ classics without committing musical sacrilege and suicide, in their great cover of the Saw Doctors’ “Green and Red of Mayo,” may indeed be even better than the original, and I’ll be damned if that’s not a rare feat for a new band to accomplish.
But Bare Knuckle Boxers musical pugilism shines the brightest with their incomparable originals, like “This One’s For You,” a storming craic-infused Philly paddy rocker that is both a party theme and a romantic song, with the band daring to tread the murky waters of Celtic amour.
As cool as this clever tune is, their title track, “Pictures on the Wall,” must be my favorite Fenian original by the band, a craic-a-lackin’ Irish war cry brilliantly capturing the spirit of the men and women of Easter Week, 1916, the brave ten of the 1981 hunger strikes, the courageous Irish heroines of Armagh prison, the revolutionary martyrs of the Irish Citizen’s Army, and the Irish National Liberation Army, and undeniably, the gallant volunteers of the Real and Continuity IRA, with deeply powerful and inspirational lines such as:
“Their sons and daughters never see their fathers at all,
Only in the pictures hanging on the wall,
It isn’t the time to forgive and forget,
But to remember, all those we’ve forgot!”
Proving that the Bare Knuckle Boxers have no problem delivering a musical knockout, every damn time.
And if that Fenian battle hymn wasn’t grand enough, Bare Knuckle Boxers’ melancholy ballad, “Almost Home,” will surely stir something strong inside, with a moving melody that proves lead vocalist, Sean Cahill, is on a par with Seamus Mor, Damien Dempsey, Shane McGowan, Gary Og, and Terry O’Neill, with an equal mastery of singing aptitude, his vocal savvy shining like an emerald beacon at the end of the dark tunnel, because Irish man and woman, Plastic Paddy, Irish Londoner, Irish Aussie, and even that Englishman who secretly wishes he was born with a drop of Irish blood, with the musical prowess of the Bare Knuckle Boxers leading, you’ll never walk alone.
http://www.bkbband.com/
-Rory Dubhdara, Radio Rebel Gael
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