RAMSHACKLE GLORY:
Live the Dream: CD
Honestly, I really don’t care for “folk punk” all that much. Most of it comes across as either too discordant (some acoustic jerkwad crooning nasally) or—the opposite end of the spectrum—cutesy (some acoustic jerkwad crooning nasally about, say, dumpster diving), there’s a few bands that avoid all the pitfalls and just rule. The Taxpayers are one, The Wild’s another. They—and, as I just found out, Ramshackle Glory—are doing stuff that’s couched in folk sensibilities, is also smartly political without sloganeering, and still rock out pretty goddamn hard. Combining instrumentation as varied as banjo, piano, saw and violin, as well as the usual armament, Live the Dream’s got a great thing going on here. When done poorly, folk punk is some wincingly bad stuff. When it’s done well, the songs are as moving as any more “standard” punk anthem. This is a good record. –Keith Rosson (DIY Bandits)