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| Independent reviews from the road… |
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22AUG11
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Shifts & Changes…
The Band from County Hell (BFCH) is a band hailing from Lincolnshire (England). The band is fronted by Glasgow-born Jock McLelland, who plays guitar, composes the music and shares vocal duties with his wife, Joolz McLelland, who writes the lyrics and plays bodhrán. The third member of the McLelland family in the band is multi-instrumentalist Ben McLelland (fiddle, accordion and tin whistle).
'Shifts & Changes' is the band's sixth album. It has been recorded in three different studios (including The Levellers' Metway) and has been produced by the well-known Mancunian producer and engineer Jim Spencer.
It's obvious that the band's main influence is The Pogues and BFCH label themselves as Indie Celts. In fact, they are said to be an excellent festival band. However, there are no covers or traditional numbers on the album. All of the tracks are self-penned songs and some of them feature piano, trombone, trumpet or saxophone.
My faves are 'Pussycat' (a strong fiddle led number sung by Joolz), 'Meet The Folks' (a good Celtic pop number that features brass, accordion, fiddle and piano; Jocks sings some lines and Joolz sings another ones), 'But it Did' (the first single off 'Shifts & Changes'. The song begins with the tin whistle and then the other instruments join before Jock sings in a Celtic punk style), 'Will You' (this song features a Gaelic verse by Daithí O'Geanainn and is a catchy Celtic rock number sung by Joolz with excellent fiddle and accordion by Ben) and 'Liberty' (lead vocals by Joolz, accordion at the beginning, then the song goes faster with tin whistle, fiddle and mandolin. A good British folk rock number)
If you like both Celtic punk and Celtic rock music, BFCH 'Shifts & Changes' could be a good addition to your collection.
Review by Kinksmarkham
celticfolkpunk.blogspot.com
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31MAR11
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Have You Heard?…
A review of St Paddy's Day in Lincoln www.have-you-heard.com
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13OCT10
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Weyfest 2010 (04SEP10)…
Read a review by Neil Mach a reviews editor from Raw Magazine rawramp.wordpress.com
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22MAY10
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Here is the review from R2 RocknReel May/June 2010 for 'Shifts & Changes'
**** (4 stars)
Formed in 1995 and with five previous albums to their name, Lincolnshire-based six-piece The Band From County Hell have struggled to reach a wider audience, their albums failing to capture the band's live qualities. On the evidence of 'Shifts & Changes', that could be about to change. Self-doubt and a less than focused approach are now things of the past, replaced by a newly found confidence that energises these ten consistently gritty, passionate and appealing original compositions.
Throughout, genuine tunes harness a pop immediacy and benefit from seamlessly blended accordion, fiddle, whistle, banjo and guitar while the delightfully understated vocals of Joolz McLelland contrast with the occasional countrified croak of partner Jock.
Highlights include the brass-coloured, melody sodden 'Late Lost Souls', a sparkling, autobiographical 'Meet The Folks' with lyrics that evocatively recall, 'We had big black coats and Air Wair shoes, spiked green hair and Exploited tattoos'. There's a thoughtful reflection upon the cult of celebrity in 'Famous', and the poignant piano-and accordion-driven closer, 'Mammy', with its elements of Celtic pop-rock and barroom sing-along may well have created a new genre – Celtic boogie!
Steve Caseman
RocknReel Magazine May/June 2010
We are also featured this month on the free CD issued with the Mag track No 13 'But It Did'.
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03AUG09
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The Assembly, Leamington Spa…
Our thanks to Andrew Lock for this review from The Leamington Spa Courier.
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30MAR09
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SLF gig Bridgewater…
Hi to you all,
Caught you for the first time at SLF gig Bridgewater. Thought you were full on stonkingly good. Really enjoyed your set. Are you coming back down south anytime soon. I would like to catch a full night.
Cheers, Steve [SLF fan]
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28AUG07
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Wychwood review by Americana UK
Despite the rain earlier in the day, Friday evening was warm and sunny (an event which now seems remarkable at time of writing, halfway through the most desperate and inclement summer in living, and beyond that, memory) for the start of the 2007 Wychwood Music festival, the third episode in the continuing tale of this most enjoyable event held at Cheltenham Racecourse in er Cheltenham.
Festivals, like albums (in my view anyway!), need to start strongly and, despite not being a household name (well not in our house!) The Band From County Hell did a good job.
There is a train of thought (yes ok, mine) which has it that there has been nothing really new in maniacal (meant as a compliment) Celtic music since Shane Macgowan's Pogues took the genre and shook it until it squealed over twenty years ago. And I may be wrong, but my strong suspicion is that The Band From County Hell took their name from that source, as well as a certain spirit, and on this fine evening paid enough homage to carry it off on the main stage fairly splendidly. In the meantime, The Pursuit played in the ever so gloomy Big Ask tent unfortunately, to themselves.
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