Rebel hip-hop is back with a brand-new offering for the masses. This one's more guitar-oriented and less focused on re-making older tunes. Retaining the unique mixture of hip-hop and Irish traditional instruments and politically charged lyrics, they pick up right where I [Shamrock] New York left off.
At times, particularly on the over-long "Sunday Night Cruel," Chris Byrne stretches his vocal talents to the limit. His forte is the middle-range rap, so singing the slow, ballad is a huge stretch. Rachel, who doesn't get nearly enough lead vocals on this CD, has a voice much more suited to this style of song. "We're In Seville," is also so long and repetitive that it gets annoying. Thankfully, these two tracks are way overshadowed by the strength of the rest of the CD.
The title track mixes a punkish sound into the fold, just to keep things fresh. Guest vocals abound on "Mise Eire," from such heavyweights as Shane McGowan, Gary Og and Damien Dempsey. Other highlights include the drum-and-fife march, "New York Fenian Bhoys," the re-make of "50 Pints of Stout," which Chris did with his previous project Paddy-a-Go-Go and the Rachel Fitzgerald highlights, "Anne Sharkey" and a cover of The Clash's "Straight to Hell."
All in all, this is a great addition to the Seanchai catalogue with a few down spots. I would highly recommend it to anyone who's tired of the same-old, same-old sounds coming out of the mass-produced music market.
Because it's independently released on Unity Records, it's only available at the Seanchai website or at a live show. Seanchai plays every Friday night at the pub Chris Byrne co-owns, Rocky Sullivan's in New York City. If you're in the neighborhood, go check them out, they put on a smokin' live show.
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