Record Label: Fat Wreck Chords
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I fell in love with the Real McKenzies back with their first Honest Don’s album. Now I have all their albums and I have been anticipating this one for awhile now! Those Canadian Scots are back with 13 NEW bagpiped punk rock songs that will make you want to run out and buy a kilt.

It seems when Oot & Aboot came out, they really harnessed their sound and now have something unique & stand out from the other “McPunk” type bands. Trust me, I listen to nothing but Celtic/folk bands now and the Real McKenzies have a different sound than other bands. Well Dropkick Murphys sort of have a similar sound because they have bagpipes but they’re Boston Irish so it’s different! But believe it or not, there are differences. The bagpipes, the vocals, just everything about their music just sounds a lot better and more importantly, cleaner than their earlier albums. I still love those albums but I prefer their newer stuff.

This album opens up with their first single “Smokin’ Bowl,” which is a decent song but I think “Farewell to Nova Scotia” would have been a better single. That’s my favorite track on the album and I really like what they did with the traditional song. The guitar riff is great in it too! Some songs feature the bagpipes more so than others, sometimes the songs are slow, traditional sounding songs. I don’t mind those either. It seems with every album, they are going for a more straight laced punk rock album. The majority of songs are fast punk rock songs but I like the mix of different Celtic/folk songs. While this isn’t as good as Oot & Aboot (that album was hard to top in my mind), the album will still not disappoint Real McKenzies fans. My only complaint is the album is way too short! Make more songs next time damnit!

Bottom Line: Another fun, bagpiped filled punk rock CD!
Notable Tracks: Smokin’ Bowl, Pour Decisions, Farewell to Nova Scotia, The Catalpa
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