Saint Bushmill's Choir "s/t" LP
[Profane Existence]
Ehhh, I'll have to pass on this one. I've never been into this kind of stuff at all, and this LP certainly doesn't change my mind. It's that whole "punk" take on traditional Irish folk music, so even though some of the members used to be involved with Christdriver, The Gits, The Pinkos, and Subvert, to name but a few, the music isn't along those lines at all. There are seven band members taking on bass, guitar, drums, accordion, banjo, violin, and vocals, and they go so far as to only include two original compositions on the entire record. Everything else is either their take on traditional tunes, jigs, or polkas, plus an unexpected cover of Poison Idea's "Just to Get Away". The two originals, "Goddamn Shame" and "Mineshaft", definitely sound a little different than the traditional types of compositions, obviously drawing on those influences but taking a more creative road in my opinion. "Mineshaft" is slower and darker with sparser use of some of the accented instrumentation and I'm not quite as into it, but "Goddamn Shame" is an excellent song, harnessing a good level of energy and coming off as much more memorable - certainly my favorite track herein, so I would encourage the band to cut the shit with the jigs and polkas and stuff and start recording more original works! The Poison Idea cover is also solid as they take a nice, slow paced and emotional slant to it, somewhat similar to what they did in "Mineshaft" but with a far stronger and more fitting vocal performance. Plus, it's a variation on Poison Idea, so it just rocks more! The recording is fine, of course. It's nice and clear and sounds completely natural, and I would expect nothing less from this type of a band, as it wouldn't sound right to have everything be super polished. On some level it does have a bit of a live sort of quality to it, but it's much clearer and more well rounded than an actual live recording would likely ever be. The mix is very beneficial to their sound, since all of the different instruments have their own space and work together nicely. So they've done a nice job there. The LP comes on clear green vinyl in a matter color sleeve with minimal illustrations related to the influences of this style of music. Inside is a black and white insert with another simple illustration as well as the lyrics for the two original tracks, which sort of take a storytelling approach that still conveys a message, which is kind of cool. This just isn't for me in the end, though. I know there are people out there that dig this stuff, so I imagine they'll be into this, but I'm sort of confused that there are only two entirely original Saint Bushmill's Choir songs on this record (Unless I'm misreading something?). Either way I don't like this kind of stuff, but I think these folks would have more to offer fans of this style if they'd focus on writing more of their own material, because "Goddamn Shame" is pretty promising. However, if nothing else, I can sit and listen to this without actively getting irritated and wanting to turn it off. So, they're not awful or anything... (5/10)
Running time - 42:00 (approximately), Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Goddamn Shame, Just to Get Away]
Profane Existence - http://www.profaneexistence.com

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