by Phil Hall

Artist: The Saw Doctors
Album: "If This is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back"
Year produced: 2001, original recording released in 1991

The Saw Doctors' 1991 album "If This is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back" is arguably the closest that Celtic rock has ever come to perfection. A stunning mixture of rude and rue, with visceral up-tempo explosions mixed along introspective ballads and laced with a distinctly Irish personality, the album is a stunning achievement which never wears out its welcome.

From its opening burst of bad-boy sass, the hilariously impolite tribute to jettisoned romance "I Useta Lover," to the closing tribute to lost love rediscovered too late in "I Hope You Meet Again," the Saw Doctors take turns kicking and caressing the human emotions. Through their music, love can send one soaring into new plateaus of emboldened pride ("What a Day"), corrupt the heart into the red light zone of pure undiluted lust ("Presentation Boarder"), wax nostalgically on the too-perfect past ("Red Cortina") and drive the mind into dangerous realms of obsession and angst ("Why Do I Always Want You").

But throughout the recording, "If This is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back" maintains its unique Irish soul and perspective. "N17," a song from the perspective of a disillusioned emigrant who has yet to assimilate in his new land and who remains fixated with those he left behind, is both a haunting examination of new dreams turned sour when compared to the previously unappreciated simplicity of times which have passed. "Twenty-Five Quid" goes to the races, where a generous bet on "a 10:1 shot called Celtic Queen" is the strategy to win a night's entertainment with a sexy yet elusive lady.

The power of music is also celebrated. "Freedom Fighters" offers a tuneful solution to Irish problems: a traveling band of musicians who cover the entire country in their quest to bring peace and stability. "Sing a Powerful Song" follows well-worn advice of using music to raise spirits, with an extra reminder of the effectiveness of the formula in regions where jobs are disappearing and beloved institutions are facing the wrecking ball.

The album is unique in that it lacks a single false note, false sentiment or false step. To compare "If This is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back" to a rollercoaster ride would be trite, since the average rollercoaster ride is far more sedate than this album.

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Celtic MP3s Music Magazine writer, Phil Hall is contributing editor for Film Threat, book editor for the New York Resident, author of "The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies" (MWP Books) and a proud child of Wales.

Labels: cd_review_2005

Posted by Marc Gunn, Wednesday, January 19, 2005.
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