Tim Hoke penned this review.
The title gives a good sense of what can be heard on this disc. The selections mostly have to with the sea (including four traditional shanties), with a couple of Australian bush songs thrown in, and rounded off with a few jigs and polkas.
The Rocky River Bush Band is anchored in South Australia. The members are Peter Thornton (button accordion, concertina, vocals), Annie Thornton (bodhran, lagerphone, vocals), Cate Burke (whistle, vocals), Des Fenoughty (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Dylan Woolcock (bass guitar, mandolin, didgeridoo, vocals) and shantyman Fritz Fitton (vocals).
The instrumentals feature the free reeds and whistle, and are full of bounce, but also include unexpected twists. The raucous but merry lagerphone, an instrument made of a broomstick with several bottle caps attached, accompanies a driving set of minor-key jigs, while underneath a sprightly pair of polkas the hum of a didgeridoo can be heard.
The focus, however, is on the songs, especially those with hearty choruses where the whole band (and presumably the listener) can join. The bush songs lend themselves well to this, and the shanties even more so. There are some slow songs, prettily done, but this band’s forte is the lively stuff.
While the traditional material is well done, the most interesting tracks are modern compositions. “Roll Down” is from Peter Bellamy’s ballad opera “The Transports”. Telling of convicts transported to Australia with the First Fleet, the song presents the story in the form of a shanty. “Ocean Liner” is the lament of a disillusioned young man who finds that working on a fishing boat isn’t the exciting job he’d expected. It drips sarcasm, and has a rousing chorus, too. “The Wee Pot Stove” describes the bleak existence of whalers in the Antarctic, “where the chill seeps in your soul”, where the crewmen carried around small coal-burning stoves. Slow, sung by shantyman and chorus, with only didgeridoo accompaniment, the song feels as dark and cold as the “wee dark engine room” mentioned in the lyrics.
Shanty fans are sure to like this album, and it also makes good driving music. Just be aware that you may look strange belting out the chorus of “Whip Jamboree” as you’re motoring down the road.
(Self-released, 1999()
Editors Note: You can find the band here. Nearly twenty years on the band is still active and has two additional recordings.
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