A Feast of Celtic Punk

By Mike Farragheririshwriter@optonline.net 

SHITE n’ Onions. It’s not just for breakfast anymore. 

It is also the name of one of the definitive web sites run out of Boston designed for those of us (I include myself in this lot) who refuse to let go of the Pogues. 

Celtic punks from Newark to Norway regularly log on to get the latest news on the flourishing Celtic punk movement.

There’s a saying that “blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll.” Celtic punk got its start in the U.K. in the early 1980s, when a randy Irishman named Shane MacGowan inseminated the fledgling British punk scene with traditional Irish melodies. The Pogues went forth and multiplied, and the world hasn’t been the same since. The bands that contribute tracks to Shite N’ Onions Volume 1, a compilation of groups regularly featured on the web site, do laps and backstrokes in the Pogues’ gene pool. 

The hard-charging music on this disc has the subtlety and grace of a swift knee in the crotch during a drunken brawl. Guitars snarl, banjoes scatter, the accordion heads for cover, and the tin whistle runs for its life in frantic arrangements by the likes of Neck, The Mahones and The Tossers. Lyrics are bitten off and spit out in a gravelly growl. Tin whistle trills are dotted with whoops and hollering. You get the drill.

There might be some of you out there that will sneer when they read this review as you retreat into your CD collection for your shopworn copy of Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash. Spoilsport! While it might be argued that there’s nothing here that you haven’t already heard, the collection is a gritty affirmation that this genre is still vital. 

Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly are regularly pulling down sellout crowds at skater punk festivals around the country, so a million Pac Sunwear mall workers can’t be wrong!

It would be a shame to have it die out with the Pogues. Open your wallet and keep these musicians fed! The liner notes on Shite n’ Onions Volume 1 has web site information on Green-land Whalefishers, The Skels, Siobhan, Blood Or Whiskey, and a whole host of new Celtic punk friends dying to make your acquaintance. The compilation is value priced at $11.98 when you log onto www.shitenonions.com .