In this series, Mad Sounds with Jake Bollington, I document the sounds of the city by speaking with the best bands and artists that Sheffield has to offer.
This week, I spoke with two musicians from slightly further afield: Tom and Cian O’Dowd who have become notable fixtures of Liverpool’s independent music scene as part of the folk-punk group The Guzzlers.
Originally from the city of Limerick, the pair are best known for their eccentric blend of traditional Irish folk music and singalong high energy punk rock. This is best showcased in their recent singles ‘20 Pints to Cherbourg’ and ‘The Drunken Tales of Gerry MacLean’ which have become staple setlist inclusions at many of their Liverpool shows.
Their forthcoming debut album entitled ‘Drinking the Dream’ is a concise and thematic collection of songs which explores the pair’s relationship with heritage, grief and Irish culture. Ahead of the album’s release, the pair joined me over Zoom to discuss their success, their recording process and what it was like to work with acclaimed producer Jon Withnall.
TOM: Jon’s unbelievable to work with, you know. He’s worked with Rihanna, Echo and the Bunnymen, Coldplay, so he knows what he’s doing. He works very fast as well which suits us… The first album that we’re bringing out was all pretty much done live in one or two takes.
CIAN: We didn’t really want that kind of studio-polished sound because it’s not really us anyway.
TOM: It’s also just all too common nowadays as well. It needs to change. It’s becoming so repetitive… [Things] just need to be brought back to their roots, so that’s what we’re doing… Anything produced is just not for us.
CIAN: Even for our second album, we’ve actually just been working on it now, and most of the songs are done but we’re thinking about adding new elements, like a fiddle to it, but I don’t know how far we’re going to go…. I think personally I prefer it more stripped back. The more punk, the better, you know?
Alongside their well-documented love of punk, the group are also well-known for their spirited performances of Irish folk songs. But the band hasn’t always been moved by more the traditional music of their homeland.
CIAN: It is interesting because we didn’t grow up with traditional Irish music. I never liked Irish music growing up. I don’t think [Tom] did either. So, like… this is a new world to us really. It was always punk. We were into punk bands, and so it’s really from doing the cover gigs, I suppose. We learnt a lot of Irish songs at home and then we were just like, ‘Geez, these are absolutely fantastic songs!’
TOM: There’s some artists like Liam Clancy, who Bob Dylan considered the greatest folk singer of all time, and I didn’t even know that till I found him, but you listen to some of his songs, like, oh my God, his voice and everything, and the stories he can tell. It’s a whole completely different side of music that more people should know about really.
Following the release of their debut album, the band will be touring in support of fellow band The Highstool Prophets. I spoke with Tom and Cian about their connection with the group and how that relationship first came about.
TOM: [The Highstool Prophets] played in the O2 Academy last January and our main singer Cian here was going away to Thailand, so we didn’t have him. I originally just turned down the gig because I was like ‘How am I going to do it? We don’t even have our main songwriter and singer!’… [but] the gig went down really well…. so we’re hopping on tour with them for four days coming up this year with some pretty big venues!
CIAN: And we just got news that we’re supporting Sharon Shannon, which is another huge Irish act, in January… It’s good momentum to have because our album’s coming out in November as well.
Having been lucky enough to hear an advanced copy of the group’s debut album, I can confidently say that they have achieved their goal of capturing the energy of their raw, unfiltered and unapologetically raucous live performances. The album is an irrepressible and joyous collection of drinking songs. A record that is meant to be enjoyed with a good pint in hand, among close friends. It will doubtlessly prove essential listening for any fan of the folk-punk genre.
The group’s debut album ‘Drinking the Dream’ will be available on the 6th of November via all digital platforms, and they will be appearing at the Manchester O2 Ritz on the 13th of December as special guests of The Highstool Prophets.
