I became a die hard fan of these Australian Celtic Rockers a few years back, when in 2007, they sent me a copy of their debut CD, “Sons and Daughters of The Soil”, a phenomenal release that sung the fighting spirit of working class Australia in all its beer, blood and sweat-soaked glory, from the legacy of the Irish convicts and Ned Kelly and his Bushrangers to the mighty fight of the insurgents of the Eureka Rebellion, raising the banner of the Southern Cross, McAlpine’s Fusiliers capture that Aussie-Celt feeling with all its rawness and vitality. True to their Irish-Australian roots, these balladeers have really put Bendigo on the map with their Bush Ranging Rock and Rebel Reels, kick starting this musical tale of labor, love, rebellion, and Australia, with one of the best tributes to the Australian Worker, since Alistair Hullet.
Beginning with the thunderous title track “When Giants Walked Our Streets”, a doughty rousing sing song along that will make you want to rumble and take you to the bloody battlefields of “the War that will end all Wars”, and the plight of working class Aussies giving their lives for a mythical freedom and returning , often with missing limbs, to lives of poverty, hunger and dashed hopes:
“The Twentieth Century split families asunder
With its cannon thunder
Leaving empty chairs and cold double beds
Strangers in photos and hearts full of despair
It was barely twenty years since a generation was blown to hellAnd those who came back were crippled or barely a shell
Jobs were far and few and memories of hunger scarred the soul…”
With a jaunty galloping melody that takes you back, with the skilled banjo strumming of Link Miller, and the dynamic vocals of Claire Johnson (who also plays the fiddle) and lead guitarist, Leigh Schroeter, accompanied by the accordion finesse of Rowan Blackmore and the indomitable drumming of Sean Loughran, McAlpine’s Fusiliers will never let you down with their exuberant jigs and rocking reels that are absolutely Australian while remaining boisterously Celtic.
Next, “Blackleg Miner”, is a classic anti-scab, pro-Union anthem that is truly reborn with a vengeance thanks to the mighty Aussie Proletarians, known as McAlpine’s Fusiliers. I’d first heard this tune on the Angelic Upstarts album, “Last Tango In Moscow”, with Welshman and former miner, Thomas “Mensi” Mensforth simply doing the old tune A cappella. Let’s just say that McAlpine’s Fusiliers rendition of this old English folk song is the best that you or I, will ever have the privelege to listen to. But don’t take my word for it, curious readers, get off your arse and get your copy of “When Giants Walked Our Streets”, before its too late !
Afterwards, “The Longneck Reel and Friday Night” is a third piece of evidence (if any is needed!) that McAlpine’s Fusiliers are not whistling Dixie with this Polka-Punk limerick with just enough Honky Tonk to keep you crying in your beer until last call, while giving your best friend a black eye and simultaneously getting a skull cracking from your ex-girlfriends frying pan. But atleast she likes good down home Swaggie symphonies, and who can make you sing along like a toothless hillbilly who just had his moonshine still busted up by the revenuers and his pick up truck repossessed, who can else make you want to howl at the full moon about your woes and your joys like the unvarnished, uncompromising, but never uncouth or out of tune, McAlpine’s Fusiliers, who tell a tale of the common man’s trials and tribulations with true grit and grace.
And not to give away too much, but their 4th track on this bad mamma jamma, “The Edge of The World”, is a stellar tribute to the daring prison break of the Fenians at Fremantle Prison, Australia, engineered by John Devoy and his New York brethren of Clan na Gael, and one freedom loving American whaling captain, George Anthony. This dazzling tribute to these brave patriots really captures the spirit of this courageous and brilliant Catalpa rescue to free the six Irish Republican Brotherhood P.O.W.’s , by hell or high water. God Bless McAlpine’s Fusiliers for helping us to remember, with these powerful words of warning :
“So here’s a warning to all you despots who exile liberty
There’s no distance that will ever offer a reprieve
For hope will outlast any prison cell
Even at the End of The World in a man made hell.”
Wise words, indeed.Next, “Portland” is another jubilant jig that functions like a Time Machine, as fiddle, war drums, acoustic guitar, accordion, bass and banjo, take us on a musical sojourn through the gold fields and constructions sites and dance halls and race tracks and football fields and local pubs into the land of Dreamtime. A deeply spiritual song that will feed that musical hunger , where :
“With food in their bellies
And dreams in their sleep
The shackles of the past will fall at their feet”
A song of liberation and resurgam ! Just another reason why McAlpine’s Fusiliers, can’t be beat.
Continuing to rock us off our seats and raise the rafters, next we are treated to a great rendition of “Follow Me Up To Carlow”, and a set of traditional jigs and reels (not to mention their phenomenal version of “Swag Upon me Shoulder and The Siege of Ennis”, that concludes this CD), but one of my favorite tunes on this marvelous rhythmic masterpiece must be “The Great Ocean”, a luminous harmony that captures the unshackled spirit of Australia, and again reminds us of the fact that Australia, like the America, Ireland, Scotland, and so many other nations, were built upon the blood and sweat and sacrifice of countless generations of workers, whom without, there would be nought.
But the song that really impressed me the most on this fantastic album and caught me by surprise has to be “Facing The Devil”, a song of spiritual warfare and the fight for freedom, as the Fenian brigade of McAlpine’s Fusiliers arm themselves for battle, their only weapons; their trusty banjo, bass and acoustic guitars, accordion, and drums of war :
“Traitors cheered as hearths were pulled down
Of Patriots led away from their towns
Hearts were smashed and women wailed
As the exiled went out under full sail
Scattered beyond the reach of evil’s hand
Hearths were rebuilt in new lands
The flame of freedom bursts back to life
Good men rally once more to freedoms light.”
And ladies and gentleman, should there be a musical battle, be sure that the mighty McAlpine’s Fusiliers will be the ones that will :
“……rally once more to freedoms light.”
---- Rory Dub., Radio Rebel Gael
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