Canadian Paddy-punk pioneers the Mahones are back with their new sixth studio CD, “The Black Irish. They have been together for 20 years or so, so as expected , a lot of the CD is reflecting on their storied history. 
There are songs about getting drunk with the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan, growing up listening to the Clash and the Who, lots of great, upbeat drinking songs. There are lots of upbeat songs in general. Which is what they do bet— play high energy, upbeat, fun songs about whiskey drinking and carousing.
While most of the CD is pure, upbeat, paddy punk anthems like ‘Give It All Ya Got (Or Forget About It)’ and ‘A Great Night On the Lash,’ there are also tender moments, like “Girl With The Galway Eyes’ which frontman Finny McConnell wrote for his wife and Mahones accordion player, Katie as well as a mournful ‘hangover song’ ‘Whiskey Under The Bridge, and even a cover of the Replacements’ ‘Here Comes a Regular.’
But the uptempo songs are my favourites — ‘Great Night on the Lash,’ ‘Ghost of a Whiskey Devil,’ ‘Lord of the Dirty Hordes,’ and especially, the Mahones’ highly charged political anthem ‘Blood On Your Hands.’
They even included a new version of ‘Paint the Town Red,’ which is called the fighter mix as it appears in the Oscar award winning movie ‘The Fighter.’
It’s typical, if not more introspective, Mahones. Black Irish shows a little growth and maturity but retain the sense of fun you expect from a new Mahones CD.
Band: The Mahones
Genre: punk/ pop/ Celtic
Record Label: True North Records
{jcomments on}
