Celtic Punk fans have no reason to complain this year, as Flooding Molly played in Budapest a few weeks ago, and on Friday the 3rd of August, half a year after their last gig, The Australian. rumjacks They return to our country, with the difference that this time they will come to Dürer Kert as the main ensemble.
On first hearing, the term might sound strange: Australian Celtic Banks. However, the use of elements and instruments of Irish and Scottish folk music in a rock environment actually began many decades ago. We have to look for the original source of the genre in the 1960s and 1970s, in Irish folk bands like The Dubliners or The Clancy Brothers, but it was really popularized by groups like Scottish Skids or The Pogues, featuring singer Shane McGowan. The former was the first punk band to experiment with folk motifs, and the latter practically played this music in the form we know today: the traditional punk/rock lineup complemented by the instruments used in popular music—lute, mandolin, accordion, tin whistle—often reworkings of traditional folk songs among His writings.
Celtic punk has become more and more popular all over the world in recent decades thanks to bands like Dropkick Murphys, The Real McKenzies or the already mentioned Flogging Molly, so today it is not uncommon to meet someone who does not specifically practice this in the area of the Celtic language, style The success of Paddy and the Rats in Hungary is an excellent example of this.
At the same time, The Rumjacks, which formed in Sydney in 2008, are in many ways linked to the style’s roots, even if this isn’t obvious at first glance. As guitarist Johnny McKelvey told about this in an interview, a significant part of the Australian population is descended from Irish and Scottish immigrants, so it is not surprising that local folk music is also greatly influenced by traditional Celtic melodies. Additionally, three members of the band—in addition to him, Adam Kenny, who plays mandolin, bouzouki, and banjo, and vocalist Mike Rifkes, who arrived in 2020 to replace founder Frankie McLaughlin—boast Irish ancestry, so it’s not surprising that they grew up in this country. musical environment. At the same time, they are far from following the rules of style to the letter: elements of gypsy punk, ska and reggae often appear in their songs.
Since their inception, The Rumjacks have released five studio albums, three EPs, and two live albums, and have toured with such legendary bands as UK Subs, GBH, and Gogol Bordello throughout their career. Probably their most famous song is already over 86 million times on YouTube Irish pub songwhose lyrics ironically depict the degradation of Irish culture into a stereotypical collective good, although not everyone who knows only this song necessarily knows that.
Their latest album will be released in March 2021 Hestia, which in many ways marked a new beginning for them, as it was the debut of new singer-songwriter, Mike Rifkes. The title of the album, named after the Greek goddess of the home and hearth, speaks for itself, and when it was released it was said that perhaps the greatest virtue of the material was that while it was being produced, the band was able to enjoy what they were doing again, that positive music and thoughts were once again In the center, moreover, they won an excellent musician in the person of Mike. And then don’t be surprised that the sequel was published last year, copper for gold Didn’t expect much in the form of an eight-track EP. McKelvey told about it like this:
“After Hestia’s amazing response, we knew we had to prove we weren’t kidding. I think while Covid has slowed everyone down a bit, it has made us work harder, record more music, plan and think ahead about what we’re going to do when this whole mess is over.”
The planning seems to have gone well, since Hestia Since its release, the band has toured Europe, which is now their main area of operations, several times – they moved their headquarters to the Old Continent in 2016 – but they’ve also hit the US. They love Hungary very much: they have visited us eight times in the last seven years, and since their summer festival tour has been going on for a few weeks now, we can expect not a rusty production, but the usual cheerful and energetic concert in the Dürer garden, where Hestia and the copper for gold In addition to his latest songs, there will also be old crowd favorites like this one Irish pub song Obsession Catch roses.
More information and tickets On the Live Nation website!
