Thursday, 4 September 2008

Review - The Real Mckenzies - Off The Leash

The Real Mckenzies - Off The Leash

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7 out of 10

They’re back. The boys with bagpipes and punk rock. But, don’t get confused, they may sound Scottish, but they’re from Vancouver, BC. Because lets face it if they were Scottish, they probably wouldn’t have got such a good break and they wouldn’t be signed to Fat Wreck Chords!

When I heard that the guys were bringing out a new album, I was pretty excited, as their last album is one of my fave.

The album starts out with ’Chip’ a middle of the road tune from the boys, slightly more Irish jig than rawkous punk rock. The next track ’THE Lads WHO Fought & WON’ sounds a bit like a Bad religion tune with bagpipes!?! Actually, thats a really good example of this album really, as it’s quite melodic and less in-yr-face punk rock than how I remember The McKenzies to be... which make the lyrics of ’Old Becomes New’ ("It’s all been done before") quite apt. Although, there is something different in the track ’The Maple Trees Remember’, sounds like a bit of a hillbilly ditty... oh slap my thigh!

Thats not to say they’ve lost all their punk edge on this album, it’s still got the McKenzie touch, it’s probably just a bit more accessible to the masses.

Tracklist:
1 Chip
2 The Lads Who Fought & Won
3 The Ballad Of Greyfriars
4 Kings Of Fife
5 Old Becomes New
6 White Knuckle Ride
7 The Maple Trees Remember
8 Anyone Else
9 My Mangy Hound
10 Too Many Fingers
11 Drink Some More
12 Guy On Stage
13 Culling The Herd

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