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Review of The Saw
Doctors Album, "The Cure"
Ireland has changed utterly since The Saw Doctors first
enthralled us with their hick schtick, doing for rural Ireland
what rap acts did for Compton, but now they're back with their
sixth studio album and sounding as vibrant and celebratory of
all things real and Irish as ever. Indeed, Davy Carton's vocal
benefits here from a sharper focus and turning down to about
nine, allowing the band, including Waterboy Anthony
Thistlethwaite on bass, more space to reveal a surprisingly
introspective side.
The rueful and nostalgic “Out For A Smoke” is a
Springsteen-esque work-out. They achieve an impressive blend of
chiming guitars and Hammondish organ on “Me Without You”, while
“Your Guitar” shows a tougher musical side, with its declamatory
vocals calling out the names of chords, suggesting the Docs have
lost none of their rich rural humour. Meanwhile “Vulnerable” is
exactly as its title suggests, eschewing the brash machismo of
old.
Hot Press, 8th February, 06 Jackie Hayden
US Reviews for Live CD and DVD
"Live in Galway"
“The CD/DVD captures the band's
irresistible stage energy and suggests what Bruce Springsteen
might have sounded like if he had grown up in Western Ireland
writing less ambitious lyrics and catchier choruses”.
Geoff Himes – Baltimore City Paper
“Ireland's most exhilarating
musical export – the DVD is beautifully filmed and deeply
touching, offering a keen insight into what makes this
remarkable band tick”
The Republican – Springfield, MA.
“catchy melodies, heartfelt
lyrics and impeccably crafted songs – Live in Galway captures
the Saw Doctors at their peak”
Eileen Murphy – Irish Echo.
Saw Doctors - A Review - The
University - Leeds - 5 December 02
The Saw Doctors are an
institution. People love them. No surprises likely, but a good night
out more or less guaranteed. Plenty of dancing, plenty of singing
along and a bar stocked with Guinness. They regaled the crowd with a
punk / folk / ska / calypso / rock'n'roll mix. And the crowd loved
it. This was one of the few gigs I've been to where I felt
relatively young and not
as grey haired as everyone else. And the maturity meant a lack
of inhibition so reels and jigs fired off at random.
We'd
rolled in
fashionably late at nine and the band were already going. They
fired off singalong after singalong and I worried that this was the
climax of the gig and I'd somehow turned up at the end - did they
have that many tunes that they could toss them away early in the
evening. Well, this wasn't the end, they played another two hours
and, yes, they did have enough tunes to blast through the evening.
Plus they had the legendary weapon - Irishness.
With
an Irish lilt, any song lyric, no matter how naff, takes on a
significance that bypasses the normal 'cool' filters we put up. So:
'Why Don't We Share The Darkness Tonight' became more than a
desperate end of the night singsong. 'Wish I was on the N17, stone
walls and the grass is green' filled us with longing for a trunk
road. 'Why Do I Always Want You?' became a philosophical enquiry on
the meaning of unrequited. Getting the theme? Love lost, love
spurned - good maudlin stuff - but delivered with an upbeat jig.
What lifts The Saw Doctors above a pub band is not just a very fine
set of original material and love for the music but an affection for
rock and roll. Vis the Ramones- esque 'Ask Her Why She Don't Want To
Go With Me'. They throw in a glorious snatch of I Wanna Be Sedated
at the end as a nod to their roots. Add to that the packed crowd out
for the craic and I understand their place in the hearts of the
audience.
Ross McGibbon |
