Heads Up!
Brown Ale
Independent
2000
19 tracks
This is pub-music, the sort of rollicking, not always serious folk music that draws crowds to the "Irish" bar that exists somewhere in every Canadian town that has a college or university. The music is a mix of traditional sounds from Canada's Maritime Provinces and the United Kingdom and the presentation, geared toward a possibly rowdy bar room audience, might not always please the folk purists.
Transplanted Maritimers Glenn McFarlane and Les Smith, now resident in the industrial heart of Ontario, bring a certain energy and authenticity to their performance of this mix of Down East, Scots-Irish, and contemporary songs. The result is a lively, interesting set that must surely keep a live audience awake and quaffing the Guinness or some Canadian draught right through to closing time.
If this release is taken as a folk album, which at surface it is, then one song seems out of place. "Les Raftsmen" is a hard rocker that employs a pounding electric rhythm reminiscent of Bo Diddley or Johnny Otis. (It's also the only French language song on this very Canadian release.) Further listening reveals that, although not noticed at first, that same driving electric guitar backs up several of the other more folkish songs in this set as does the frenetic drum style found here. In the context of pub-music, which often strays from the traditional to please its younger audience, this all makes sense.
Sans the rock and roll, "Les Raftsmen" is in fact a traditional French-Canadian song about a Lumberjack's canoe trip down the Ottawa River.
This band nor this release is a one-trick pony. Here are a capella numbers backed only by bodhran or doumbek, rollicking drinking songs with full instrumentation, songs that tell historical or contemporary stories, spritely instrumental pieces, and even a spoken-word piece about limericks. While many of the selections are up-tempo, the few slower songs provide a good balance. I'm reminded of the old sock-hop formula: three fast songs and then one slow.
Nothing to do with the music, here's an item I find interesting. It reflects either that these fellows are very pretentious or else that they have a wonderful tongue-in-cheek sense of humour. I suspect the latter. The notes mention that Les Smith plays a "acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrenewhistle." Correct me if I'm mistaken, but wouldn't that be a plastic whistle?
The notes on this release are written with a sense of humour and are interesting to read for their own sake. They include both information on the history of the songs included here and tidbits about the performance. For example, it's noted that on "The Willow Tree Set" ( a medley of two traditional songs with a Glenn McFarlane Composition) Glenn uses a different pick on each song. Perhaps that tongue remains firmly in cheek.
If I've not mentioned more songs from this set in specific, it's because the quality is pretty even across the board. It would be difficult to select any one or two songs as better or worse than the others. Over all, the quality of the performance and the quality of the recording are above average and well worth a listen.
The performances on this release are recognizably Canadian, featuring traditional Canadian themes (closing with "Squarin' Up Time," an interesting alternative lyric set over the melody of "Squid Jiggin' Ground"). If you don't have the time to go to the Irish pub downtown, you might do well to pick up a couple of Guinness on the way home from work and play Brown Ale as background music for your relaxing evening at home.
Read my new review of Brown Ale's release Self Titled at Sound Bytes.
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Review written: February 24, 2005
Page modified: March 19, 2005
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