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ALBUM REVIEW: Riot City Outlaws – Paddy and the Rats

Hungarian Celtic punk band PADDY AND THE RATS are set to release their fifth studio album, Riot City Outlaws. The new album comes three years after their previous record Lonely Hearts’ Boulevard, and have teamed up with Napalm Records for the release.

The first track is Aerolites, and begins relatively gentle – the acoustic guitar blending in well with the piano, and lead vocalist Paddy O’Reilly’s soothing voice adding to the gentle feel of the intro. The pace picks up fairly quickly through the drums and electric guitar, as the track shifts from a soft melody to a more generic Celtic rock number. It’s fast, catchy and fun; everything you want to hear from Celtic rock, and is a great way to start the new album.

This follows into Join The Riot, which right from the word go has much more emphasis on the accordion, again starting off relatively calmly before getting faster and throwing you right into the deep end. Just like the opening track, it’s fast, fun, and no doubt would be a great track to experience at a live show.

One thing that has been evident throughout the band’s history is that they have taken a fair amount of inspiration from piracy, and the theme doesn’t change in Riot City Outlaws, going off some of the song titles alone such as Black Sails, Sail Away and Castaway. While pirate metal has a fairly mixed reception in the rock and metal scene, PADDY AND THE RATS have hit the right note here with these tracks. The folk elements of the band’s sound help to add authenticity to the sound, and it’s certainly the kind of music you’d expect to hear from that time period, all of which makes it very enjoyable to listen to.

The album itself is relatively longer than most with 13 tracks featuring, but each track has its own unique elements to keep the fun going. One track that really stands out from the others is I Won’t Drink Again – a phrase many people have probably heard or even said at some point in their lives! It tells the story of the morning after a heavy night, and of course results in the frontman proclaiming he won’t drink again.

On the whole Riot City Outlaws is an excellent album; PADDY AND THE RATS have got their own unique identity which helps add to the freshness of the material, with only DROPKICK MURPHYS coming close to having a similar sound. While the album is fairly long, it’s certainly a record that you won’t get bored of halfway through, and the fun aspects will leave you with a huge smile on your face throughout the record. Celtic punk may be a niche genre and not as popular as other sub-genres in the rock and metal world, but for something different Riot City Outlaws is certainly well worth a listen, and has the potential to be one of the best records to be released this year.

Rating: 8/10

Riot City Outlaws - Paddy and the Rats

Riot City Outlaws is out now via Napalm Records.

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