Celtic punk

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Celtic Punk
Stylistic origins
Cultural origins
Typical instruments
Mainstream popularity Underground during most of its history, recently becoming more commercially successful due to bands like Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly
Subgenres
Gaelic punk
Regional scenes
London - Ireland - Scotland - Chicago - Boston - Los Angeles
Other topics
Celtic Fusion - Celtic rock - Folk punk

Celtic punk (also known as Paddybeat, Celtcore, Jig punk, or Rock and Reel) is essentially punk rock accompanied by traditional Irish instruments. As a musical movement, it was founded in the '80s by the Pogues, a band of punk musicians in London who were seeking to reclaim their Irish heritage.

Celtic punk bands often play a blend of traditional Irish folk and political songs as well as original compositions. While the plight of the Irish people throughout history is often a topic of their songs, it's not considered an overtly political movement.

Most recently, Celtic punk is seeing a rise to popularity as American bands such as Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys put their own spin on the subgenre, and give it a decidedly American flavor.


The typical Celtic punk band includes a rock rhythm section accompanying more traditional instruments such as bagpipes, fiddle, tin whistle, accordion, mandolin, and banjo. Like Celtic rock, Celtic punk is a subgenre of Celtic fusion, which includes all amalgamations of celtic music with other genres. Celtic punk is also considered part of the broader folk punk genre. Many Celtic punk bands emerge from predominantly Irish communities in cities which are historically centers of mass Irish immigration, such as Glasgow, London, Melbourne, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. As a result, prevalent themes in Celtic punk songs include Ireland, Irish Republicanism, the Irish diaspora, drinking, and working class pride.

Contents

[edit] History

The roots of Celtic punk are in the folk rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s who first electrified the music of Ireland and the United Kingdom — and in more traditional Celtic folk bands such as The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers. The Dunfermline, Scotland band The Skids were possibly the first UK punk band to add a strong folk element, as they did on their 1981 album Joy. Around the same time in London, England, Shane MacGowan and Spider Stacy began experimenting with a sound that became The Pogues. Their early sets included a mixture of traditional folk songs and new original songs written in a traditional style - all performed in a punk style.[1] Other early Celtic punk bands included The Men They Couldn't Hang, Nyah Fearties, and Australia's Roaring Jack.

More recently, Celtic punk has gained popularity with the success of bands such as Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, and The Real McKenzies. Three media outlets of Celtic punk include Paddy Rock Radio, the webzine Shite 'n' Onions(which releases compilation CDs), and a podcast called The Scallywag Show With Barnacle Brian.

A related genre, Gaelic punk, is punk rock sung in Scottish Gaelic. Foremost of these bands are Oi Polloi from Edinburgh and Mill a h-Uile Rud from Seattle.

[edit] Notable bands

Seattle's Mill a h-Uile Rud play hardcore punk sung entirely in Scots Gaelic
Seattle's Mill a h-Uile Rud play hardcore punk sung entirely in Scots Gaelic

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Scanlon, A. The Lost Decade. Omnibus Press, 1988

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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