Album Review EP Edition: Land Shanties, You Asked For It, Ship or Bust

We come upon the last reviews of the year and we are lumping the last three EPs we have into one review, our apologies. I’ll attempt to do them justice, but I’m not sure it will be as drawn out as some of the others are, which some of you may prefer who knows. These area three completely different bands and so it should be interesting going from album to album but will do my best not to let that influence my reviews in any way.

A reminder on how we do reviews on the show. I write my thoughts here as I listen to the album; in a sense what you’re reading is a stream of thought from yours truly. I am in no way qualified to give my opinion but as the Proprietor of the Inn I do feel duty bound to do reviews of the bands, for the bands and for our listeners as well. I also don’t appear to have a set way in how I do these reviews so expect track name, thoughts, and a score. At the end the scores are averaged to get the overall rating.

The Longest Johns; Land Shanties

To The Ends Of The Block: The Longest Johns started 2021 off with a bang with the sea shanties craze and we’re very happy to have them on board. They are a crisp machine of harmonies with occasional instrumentation. The trick with that is the bar is very high so in the end it often comes down to the lyrics as they all sound great. 3

The White Whale: Oh yeah, see this is what I am talking about. I’m going out on the limb and saying this is a take on Moby Dick but about everyday life. A hilarious mixture of a known topic with every day life, perfection. 5

Beyond The Light: As we get into the heart of the EP the meaning of Land Shanties becomes clear, those traditional topics and themes in the modern setting. Brilliant. We have the pipes and a darker feel, I quite enjoy it. 4

The Lady of the Map: I think this song is going to touch a great many folks in the subcockles area of the heart. I think we’ve all had a conversation with our GPS as this song details. I love that line, the fire of freedom burns…about listening to your GPS. 5

Drive Thru To My Heart: Have we gone back to the 70s in Tennessee? This is a big 70s country song feel at the beginning. The fact it’s about fast food just adds to the feel. Heart attack or love my dear, my heart just skipped a beat. Poetry. 4

A Mighty Wave: The interesting thing about this EP is where each song takes us to a different style of song. It is more at home with comedy music albums than what we usually play. The country pride style song is quite touching and it’s just bizarre in context of the lyrics. 4

Ode To The Road: You know, this is a perfectly placed song. How do I describe it, a pub song? It is the bow to the EP and wraps up the overall theme fairly well. 3

Landloch’d; You Asked For It

All the Night Long: Two men, a few instruments, and song. Sadly the production on the song has the lyrics just a tad below the instruments so it can be difficult at times to hear them. It does appear to be a drinking song and I am enjoying the lyrics I do catch. 3

Jolly Butcher: We can hear the lyrics much better on this track. A cover from a Great Big Sea song, a nice play on songs like Seven Drunken Nights and Bell Bottom Trousers. Good fun, well mixed. 4

St Brendan’s Fair Isle: The mix is somewhere between the first two, but can hear all the lyrics. As far as I can tell this is not a traditional as one would think, but it is a lovely version. 3

Jack Hinkes: Another Great Big Sea cover it has a similar feeling to Jolly Butcher, at least production wise. It’s subtle without being slow and has quite a nice percussion going on. 3

Wild Mountain Thyme: As far as I can tell, the only traditional song on the EP. Now I’m a big fan of Wild Mountain Thyme takes, usually all versions. There’s just something about this that isn’t quite connecting with me. I’m not sure if it’s the guitar or the mandolin, but one of them is just taking me out of the song. 2

JollyRoger; Ship or Bust

King-Fisher: One of our newer bands, you gotta like a song that starts of with Here Comes The King…especially if you’re a fan of Hamilton and you get a General feel in your head. It’s  quite catchy, even with “jazz flute” involved and a great hand clapping opening number. 4

We Rise: Not enough bands involve flutes/whistles, especially in pirate music since they would have been prevalent. Another upbeat highly catchy number. It’s not just the melody that is catchy, the lyrics themselves are also doing a good job. 4

Aboard!: The opening part of this song just does a great job of setting the mood. A no excuse pure nautical song as one can hear; this is the kind of songs you just live for in this genre. There is even a touch of the Key & Peele song in there that I quite enjoy. 5

Michael the Menace: I don’t know who Michael is, but I am curious to see if they deserve this. He definitely sounds like a bully, and as the song says, fucking mean. It’s a catchy melody, unsure if the lyrics match it. Not quite sure I can put my finger on it, there’s just a disconnect for me, but that may just be in my own preferences that is preventing me from going higher. 4

Reach Out: Now for something completely different as we slow things down to end the EP. If there was a little disconnect on the previous song, it’s a big here. I THINK I get what they are trying to say, a message about talking to one another; don’t just be ships passing by in the night but I’m not sure. It’s the right song to end on, but may just not quite getting there for me. 3