| CD REVIEW The Welch Boys |
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Band : The Welch Boys From Boston (Massachusetts), Street Punk act The Welch Boys were founded in 2004 by guitarist TJ Welch after the demise of his former band The Blue Bloods (of which he was also a founding member). With him from the beginning were Slapshot guitarist Ed Lalli (now in the capacity of lead singer), guitarist/ backing singer PJ Dionne, bassist/ backing singer Mark Powers, and drummer Ron Holbrook (whom Welch and Dionne had already known for about decade). They recorded their 15-track self-titled debut album with the aid of legendary producer Jim Siegel (see Dropkick Murphys, Blood For Blood, The Ducky Boys, Darkbuster, The Unseen and more) and saw it released in February 2006 on Sailor's Grave (a subsidiary from Thorp Records concentrating on the Street Punk scene) in the US and the I Scream label in Europe. Due to circumstances, Holbrook (who'd been in a Rock 'n' Roll side-project band with Dionne and Welch while the latter was still playing with The Blue Blood and Gage) was asked to leave the band during Summer 2006. A temporary replacement (only for 5 gigs) was found in Over The Edge (& ex-Blood For Blood) drummer Mike Mahoney (and I'm not sure whether he was in on the benefit for Spike from DRI – check the band's blogs on their MySpace page), untill new man Steve Maffeo joined in late 2006. Tragically, Holbrook died on August 18 of last year, and the band played a memorial concert to raise money for Ron's children in October '07. So now there's the sophomore album, again recorded with and produced by Jim Siegel. The result is said to be somewhat darker and more politically charged than the first album, the band taking on themes like child abuse ("Pervert", dealing with Pete Townsend's eledged "research" on child pornography...and featuring a short but nice child "choir" passage), warfare ("Charlie The Marine", dedicated to one Charlie Knight, and "Route Irish"), terrorism (album opener "Head In The Sand"), struggle with addiction ("Drinking Angry", "Johnny Black"), struggle with fears in general ("No Hope", "My Own Creation", "Time Ain't On Our Side", "Turn It Loose"), gang violence ("Ambulance Ride", meant to condemn the occurance of it), and politics, of course ("Transparent Man"). The themes are said to be the product of the turbulent recent past in the lives of the guys. There's also a cover of Anti-Nowhere League's "Let's Break The Law". Obviously, with 18 songs on a 49-minute album, the songs are short and concisive, to the point...with the music rooted in the legacy of Boston's Punk Rock history. Songs which emphasize on a singalong factor and melody, but also on aggressive guitar play which however remains within the realm of Street Punk overall (there's definitely a Hard Rock afinity, but no Hardcore aggression!). Lalli has a truly hoarse voice, which makes you wonder whether even speaking might be painful to him. He is however nicely backed by all band members, a fact which evidently enhances the singalong tendencies one gets when listening to the material. You can check a total of 6 songs off the debut album by surfing to purevolume.com/thewelchboys (4 songs off the album plus a total pof 8 videos available) and myspace.com/thewelchboys (two more studio tracks off the debut plus "Police Dog" – about police brutality – off the new album, and again two videos). Not a must-have album by my personal standards, and I don't always agree with the way the guys bring their themes...but then that's personal. Nevertheless, I'm sure many a Street Punk fan will simply lóve this stuff! 84/100 Tony. |