THE CD: Whiskey On A Sunday
PERFORMER: Flogging Molly
LABEL: Side One Dummy
WEBSITE: www.floggingmolly.com
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: Dropkick Murphys
SELECT TRACKS: Laura; Drunken Lullabies; The Likes Of You Again; What’s Left Of The Flag
SOUNDS LIKE: Straight-off the boat Irish folk musicians formed a band with some punx.

Los Angeles-based Flogging Molly’s latest release, Whiskey On A Sunday, is guaranteed to have you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day…
EVERY DAY!! WITH N2!
No, the Irish punk rockers’ 10-song CD has a mixture of acoustic and live songs (plus a bonus we’ll get to later) so you can see if they suck live. It’s common for bands.

Long story short…they rock. The seven piece collective known as Flogging Molly is comprised of Dublin transplant Dave King on vocals; Bridget Regan on fiddle; Bob Schmidt on mandolin/banjo; Matt Hensley on accordion; Dennis Casey on guitar; Nathan Maxwell on bass; and last but not least…George Schwindt on drums. I think they could break up into two seperate bands, and still be cool, but on with the review…

On more rockin’ Flogging Molly songs, Regan and Schmidt set you up on the folk side, with, say, a fiddle overtop of a mandolin to open; then: drum (usually snare) roll, punk riffs…the rock ensues. The opening song on Whiskey, “Laura,” fits the description. King’s lyrics fall into the proud poetic tradition from the Emerald Isle, looking back on love lost: So bye, bye Laura/There’s no one to take your place/Bye, bye Laura/Your beauty will never fade/I could’ve danced in the sun/but my world came undone/LAURA!!

You might have some sort of aversion to believing me when I say that Flogging Molly’s mix of traditional Irish music and punk rockin’ will have you doing circle fits quite promptly — believe me now. I became a believer when I heard “Drunken Lullabies” on a Tony Hawk game. A slightly subdued acoustic version of that song is included on Whiskey, but you’ll still feel like you’re right there in the pub with Flogging Molly, singing in on the chorus: We find ourselves in the same old mess/Singing drunken lullabies.

It would be different if the songs weren’t so catchy. And it would be different if Regan and Schmidt couldn’t handle their own musically, and were used as, like, filler, for the sound. Those two can play, and they add a timeless feel of traditional Irish music and depth…to a punk band! All the musicians kind of take turns doing solos, or kind of driving the sound. Right when you think the Irish sound might be too much for you…TA-TOW!!!
(punk rockin’ with rousing choruses)
How can you say no?

The live songs, recorded at a show in their hometown of Los Angeles, are great too. “Black Friday Rule” clocks in at 11:59, and it’s worth it to hear the extended jam. King describes his mom as a “…happy f—in’ puppy,” after Ireland won a recent World Cup qualifer; says that, as regards to American football: “queers wear helmets,” and that, after the song, he’s five years older. Always great to hear live concert footage, and how the musicians interact with fans.

“What’s Left Of The Flag” closes things with more high-speed, hook-filled Irish punk rockin’. Check that song out, maybe with some haggas and potatoes, dawg. Oh, if you get the CD when it’s released Tuesday July 25 you’ll get bonus material: a documentary DVD of the band. Nice. Check ‘em oot.

THE CD: Futurist
PERFORMER: Alec Empire
LABEL: Digital Hardcore Recordings
SUGGESTED TRACKS: Kiss Of Death; Night Of Violence; Vertigo
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: Fearless originality, with uncompromising ideals. Oh, yeah: to rock out!

What could the spirit of rock & roll mean in 2006? For Alec Empire, it still means anti-conformity, irrepressible individuality, and that noise inside your head. The former Atari Teenage Riot leader’s latest solo effort, Futurist, is a tribute to “a time when British rock was straight and fearless” and the result is hardcore, backbeat-driven, industrial rock. Fearless is exactly how I would classify this Berlin-bred anti-Nazi.

For fans expecting something along the lines of ATR, and the 240-BPM 808 drum kits and the noise-turned-into-gold sound on Burn, Berlin, Burn! and 60 Second Wipeout, you’ll be disappointed…but not for long.

The 12-song CD is more straight-up rock than anything I’ve heard Empire put onto an entire CD. But never fear: DJ Nic Endo (a late addition to ATR) is back to help with sounds, effects, and yes, even a theremin. Empire (widely regarded as a genius in the electronic music genre) gets back to his roots on this CD: the picture of him holding a guitar on the back sleeve may serve as a reminder that he played guitar before he was an engineer.

“Kiss Of Death” opens Futurist with a sample that states plainly: I’m talking about the death of Rock ‘n Roll. From there, Empire lets the rock, and his poetic (near-apocalyptic) words do the talking. On “Point Of No Return” you can’t help think Empire is talking to us all when he says This horror can only consume you…And your only goal is to survive/someone has to cut their power/and that someone has to be you and me. On “Gotta Get Out” Empire says Their right wing s— is a joke and let me tell you/there’s gonna be a lot of fire and a lot of smoke.

By the time you think that he’s completely abandoned his penchant for the mini-gun speed digital effects, Empire and Endo place them as filler or in bridges, panned to one side…nice. When you hear drum parts that couldn’t possibly be played, that’s Empire at work.

Futurist is a dream come true for fans of real, rebellious, intelligent rockin’. If you wanna hear something original, from someone with something to say, check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

– nick2
P.S. — Thanks for the CD, Jesse!

THE CD: “The Concretes In Colour” (Astralwerks)
PERFORMER: The Concretes
WEBSITE: Click here.
SUGGESTED TRACKS: “Tomorrow,” “On the Radio,” “Your Call,” “Sunbeams”
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF…: you’re looking for Euro-pop driving tunes for a summer trip to the Gulf of Bothnia.

Don’t wait for the Concretes to grab you by the shirt and tongue-kiss you. This eight-member behemoth of sugary Swedish sounds would rather do some eye-gazing, keep it gentle then pull the door closed on the way out so as not to wake you.

“The Concretes in Colour,” the group’s latest album (and the first to turn heads this side of the pond) harnesses the finer points of every feel-good, sunshine groove ever composed. The first track “On the Radio” opens with an official Peter Tork staccato that bleeds into a chime-heavy, high treble Wall of Sound a la late-60s pop. And thus it continues for 12 songs. By the end, a drop-top Saab and the sunny plains of Gotaland haunt your dreams.

Catchy, yes, but the Concretes are no mindless bubble machine. A stream of pop tributes runs through “Colour,” oozing a hip, “in crowd” vibe like the soundtrack of an indy film about quirky relationships. Enjoy the raspy patois singer Victoria Bergsman (below) inherited from Nico as you and some friends guess who the Concretes sound like now: Nena? The Grateful Dead? Camper Van Beethoven!? (Ooooo, good one.)

Outstanding songs like the boiled-down “Your Call” and the somber “Tomorrow” leave no doubt about the Concretes’ sincerity or talent. They just happen to have a major sweet tooth.