ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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The Saw Doctors
CLARE ISLAND TO CAPE COD SHAMTOWN RECORDS 17.3.09 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk
God bless The Saw Doctors - the ultimate good time band and caring so little about cool that they pass out the other side into cultdom. I defy anyone to go to a Saw Doctors gig and not have a great time. And, to be clear, this is The SAW Doctors - you'll be sore disappointed if you're hoping to hear Two Princes banged out by The SPIN Doctors. The DVD opens with their "Hay Wrap" a big chantalong full of folksy wisdom and Health And Safety advice about not riding on top of the cart at harvest time. Not that most of their audience has direct experience of such bucolic pleasures but The Saw Doctors fulfil the role of imaginary Irish Bog Cousin - simple, wise, charming and up for "the craic". And they are just so lovely with it. In the middle of the song they break into The BeeGees' "Massachusetts" to amuse the audience here in Cape Cod. There’s far more people who think themselves expatriates than would fit in Ireland y’see. This is a DVD and CD simul-release. The CD documents a fair slice of the 14th August, 2008, while the DVD intersperses songs with bits of interview and snippets of the lads being charming. Like the gigs, there is a general good humour though the talkie bits aren't for repeat viewing any more than any tour documentary. There's a lack of pretension about the chat about being in the band and the creative process. Introducing the band's hymn to the N17 road to Galway the comment is offered that it's as relevant to anyone as Springsteen writing about the Jersey shore. I've compared them before to The Grateful Dead, because of the extraordinary friendliness of the audience and lack of testosterone threat of a gig. The other comparisons are that this band is 21 years old, quite a span for a group, their amazing stamina for gigging and their output of live albums. OK, The Saw Doctors can't match the seventy-odd album sets of The Dead but this is the fourth live release I've come across. There are favourites that repeat across releases but are changed by mixing them into other songs or just taking a slightly different slant. Songs are about the joys of Galway and Mayo, about love, about heroes of recent years and spending time with your friends. And then, of course, there is their Number One (in Ireland) hit single – a cover of The Sugababes’ About You Now! The gig is from a tent in the round - full of dancing and cheering and clapping. While the studio albums I've heard seem fine, I get the feeling that they are a way of setting down the songs ready for use in their real home - a gig. The band's musical roots seem to sprout as fertile from balladry as from country and even late seventies punk - no-one is surprised if they cover the Ramones or if they sing some lachrymose dirge (though those are thin on the ground in this bouncy vision). As a document, these releases will leave a smile on the face of those that aren't too cool but serve mostly as an incentive to catch the band next time they come through. www.sawdoctors.com |
