Hudson Falcons: Desperation and Revolution

Hudson Falcons: Desperation and Revolution
Label: Street Anthem Records
Release Date: 2000
Review Date: 2001

I was impressed by this release on 1st listen. It is what The Dropkick Murphys would sound like if they were good, and they sang about something other than drinking and fighting. Good oi!’ punk rock songs with politically charged lyrics. Very working class/union based. There are a lot of pro-union/pro-workers/anti-ruling class songs on here, so if that floats your boat, then this is right up your alley. Personally I think that after about 5 songs this rhetoric tends to wear on you, but their heart is in the right place. They even have a song about sweatshops, a topic you don’t see addressed too often! The singer sounds like the guy out of The Ducky Boys, and that’s not good, but they carry it off because of the continually good songs. They even cover the 1977 Menace classic “GLC”. Solid stuff, but 1 complaint: why do all of the street-punk bands have to sing about how Irish they are? (1) they’re from the east coast, not Ireland (2) drinking Guinness and supporting the IRA doesn’t give you street cred or roots (3) there’s nothing worse than punked up versions of Irish folksongs. Leave it to the Pogues or Flogging Molly guys. (Editors note: Neil’s from England and he gets cranky about the Troubles.)

Good. This gets 7 stars out of 10.

You’ll like this if: you like The Dropkick Murphys.