Published on Jun 6, 2002
I’ve always had issues with punk rock. It’s always seemed to be
a little too simplistic to me. And it’s not as if I was never
exposed to it. Truth be told, I experienced a fair bit of its
nascent development while working as a doorman at a pub attached to
the University of Toronto in 78 and 79. My most prominent
recollection of the various local punk bands that dropped by to
regale us with their talent was a group named The Battered Wives.
Ya, you can just imagine the love that name inspired in the local
politicos. I remember two things most distinctly about the happy
visits by this group:
1) It was the only time we had to protect the crowd from
projectiles thrown by the band; instead of the other way
around.
2) The energy level of this group was full out, all of the time,
100%.
Now that was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away and I
tend not to dabble in punk music if left to my own devices.
However, one of the perks of being a college teacher is that you
get to keep tabs on the musical tastes of your students. It is
impossible to ignore and frankly I look forward to hearing, and
hearing about, almost any kind of music that the “kiddies” want to
bring in. It was the “kiddies” BTW, that introduced me to Napster.
Man, I miss Napster. But I digress…
So it came to pass that one of my more gifted students brought
me in a cd by the Dropkick Murphys called
Sing Loud Sing Proud. “It’s got bagpipes!” she said.
It does indeed have bagpipes; and whistles too. It also has
interesting lyrics and that energy level that I remember from the
“old days”. Flat out, foot to the floor, throat rippin’ energy. It
was interesting enough that I scrounged some more examples of their
work from various sources and spent some time listening to a fair
piece of their musical output. I listened to most of it while
marking final exams last month… which may explain the less
than forgiving attitude that I took with less than exemplary
examples of scholastic endeavor that presented themselves during
that period. You probably shouldn’t operate heavy equipment or make
important life affecting decisions while listening to
Sing Loud Sing Proud.
Based on a hard driving punk beat mixed (liberally) with Celtic
influence,
Sing Loud Sing Proud is an easily recognizable descendant of
original punk. “Which Side Are You On”, a song of strikes, unions,
strikebreakers, evil bosses and the poor downtrodden working man
pretty much sums up the philosophy that the band espouses.
There are, of course, some disparities within the lyrics. While
“The New American Way” rails against ‘The morals of this nation’s
youth have long gone astray lead by tolerance, indifference, and
this kinder gentler way that has corrupted and destroyed so many of
our boys and girls…”, another song, “Fortunes Of War”,
despairs for the loss of a young man who was murdered simply
because he was Punk. Now look. You either want tolerance or you
don’t. You can’t have it both ways. Such is the pitfall of all
fundamentalist philosophies.
It’s a good CD. Hell, it’s a great CD if you are looking to
party and have a lot of energy to burn off! If it has any drawbacks
at all it is the “sameness” of its musical character. But, I’m a
prog fan and therefore expect a variety of musical textures within
every stanza and a time change every 30 seconds… so I am
biased.
If you enjoy Irish influenced Punk, or think you might, and have
the energy to keep up with a frenetic pace, this CD is most
definitely for you.