[The Real McKenzies will rock the house at El Corazon in Seattle, Wa on 5/18.]
Westwinds is the new release by The Real McKenzies and it’s traditional Real McKenzies. Westwinds is part traditional Scottish folk music, complete with bagpipes, with a heavy dose of drunken punk thrown in, then shaken so hard the music explodes like a beer keg.
The recording opens with “The Tempest,” a traditional sounding sea chantey that immediately slams the listener with wailing bagpipes, followed by screeching guitars and the gritty but powerful voice of singer Paul McKenzie. He has never sounded better.
“The Message” comes across a little more poppy, starting out almost a cappella until the bagpipes and guitars fill in about half way through.
The album picks up again on track five with “My Luck Is So Bad,” with McKenzie singing, “My luck is so bad it can only get better” and lists humorously all the ways in which his life is so bad. This is the type of song one must sing along to while swigging beer, arms around each other. I could just picture them doing so in a Scottish pub.
“The Glencoe Massacre” is an angry anthem about a real massacre that occurred back in 1691, but is still remembered in Scotland. The steady drumming of Sean Sellers along with the bagpipe playing from Gord Taylor bring a lot of power to the song.
The twelfth track, “Barret’s Privateers” is an attention grabber that demands you to turn up the volume.
While listening to “Blue Nose,” I wanted to get up and dance. Track thirteen presents a stellar and breathtaking (yes, I know that sounds corny, but it’s true) bagpipe solo by Francis Fraser.
Westwinds is prime material. Celtic punk isn’t played enough on the radio and that’s a tragedy. Although The Real McKenzies claim Vancouver, British Columbia as home, Paul McKenzie is from Scotland, which gives their music its authenticity. Westwinds is a ripping, punk drunk good listen and I give it five out of five stars.
