by Catherine L. Tully

Artist: The Larkin Brigade
Album: "Paddy Keys For Mayor"
Year produced: 2006

Named for a Dublin labor-union founder and republican Jim Larkin, The Larkin Brigade's sound is unlike the typical Irish music that the band members remember growing up on. Taking the energy of punk music, (read--they like the Pogues) and the music of their youth, they have tossed it all in the mix and wound up with something truly their own.

It was an interesting ride that resulted in this mixture--after all, you don't get much more traditional than Irish music, and you don't go too much further out on a "musical limb" than punk! The band members went out into the world, experienced all different types of music, and then later came back to their roots--but with their own ideas about how to play.

The really neat thing is that it gives the music an unmistakable Irish stamp, but allows for an improvisational feel -- sort of along the lines of some types of jazz music. Although the songs don't wind up sounding like jazz, they have a similar energy.

The nice part is -- these guys can play. Some punk-style bands wind up just banging away on their instruments--sometimes literally--but the Irish sound lends a definite musicality to the tracks that make them work. It also widens their appeal, because fans of both musical styles will see a fit here. It just goes to show you, sometimes letting up on the rules is a good thing.

Oh, and in case you are wondering (or have not heard of the Molly Maguires) . . . Paddy Keys is a member of the band . . .

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Catherine L. Tully is a freelance writer and photographer who specializes in the arts. She has written for American Style and Classical Singer, among others and reviews music for Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. You can reach her through her photography website at www.moonbeamdigital.com.

Labels: cd_review_2006

Posted by Marc Gunn, Friday, August 11, 2006.
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