The Peelers, Liquordale
I know this album has previously been reviewed here a while ago, but it’s too fucking good to only have had one Sn’O review! One of the biggest surprises all year, I will simply call Liquordale an epic album. I knew after hearing their first mini-album Boots & Suits that these guys were good, but damn, I had no idea they’d be this good!! On Boots & Suits they mainly played traditionals...You could tell that The Peelers were a talented band still trying to develop their own distinct sound. I remember there was an original on that album that had me begging for more. Well, my wish has finally been granted. -Shite n Onions, 2004
Somewhere on this Web site is a review of the first show where I ever saw the Peelers at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda. My only criticism of the band at the time was that they had a dearth of original material — their debut CD “Boots and Suits” contained only one original song. With their new CD “Liquordale” featuring 11 songs, including eight new originals, that’s less of a problem now. “Liquordale” is in many ways the band’s real debut CD, and it’s a very good one. Starting with the slow ballad “Sweet Mary of the Bog” and seamlessly slipping into the much faster “The Glen Will Rise Again” and “Katie, Bar The Door”, you can see what the boys from Glengarry County are capable of. If you wanted to see how the band has grown musically, you could compare the version of “Meet You At The Bottom of a Bottle” on this release with that on “Boots and Suits”. It’s the same song (obviously), but is a richer sound. The songwriting is very good too — one complaint of mine about some bands in the Celtic punk/rock genre, even some bands I enjoy. A previous review of “Boots and Suits” on this site said that the Peelers were a band to keep an eye on. Their new CD puts a little more urgency to that suggestion. -Review by Rob “Hurricanes suck ass” Shore, Port Charlotte Sun Herald, Florida
This Canadian group of hopped-up, punk-tinged Irish rockers has become a favorite at this Congress St. pub. Fans of The Pogues and The Mahones will get their fix of manic, beer and whiskey-fueled jigs and reels. -Jim Reed, Connect Savannah 2007
The Peelers
Some locals may remember this band fondly from their appearance at last February’s Irish Festival. The self-proclaimed “rumbustious folk-rock-punk revival act” from KirkHill Glengarry county, Canada plays a high-octane mixture of traditional Celtic and manic rock music. With a nationalistic fervor that’s part and parcel of Irish music, and a juggernaut-like approach to stage craft that keeps audiences on their feet from the first note, they boast conviction in spades. According to those who’ve witnessed their infrequent local shows, the group is hard to beat for sheer verve. For an indication of just how much Savannah loves The Peelers, Shelley Lowther, the pub’s owner, says that when they play her place, O’Connell’s business rivals St. Patrick’s Day itself. The Peelers seem to revel in the same anarchic and loutish spirit of The Pogues (a seminal Irish group that virtually wrote the book on how this style of music should, look, feel and sound) without lapsing into parody or mimicry. However, in case you still had any lingering doubts about exactly where this band was coming from, their frontman tells me they’re “like hearing your favorite drink.” - Jim Reed, Connect Savannah 2007