Faith J. Cormier wrote this review.
I found Good Intentions to be a very “New World Irish” collection. First there’s the romantic view of the IRA in “Broad Black Brimmer” and “Boys of ’98.” There’s nothing quite like a good rousing rebel song to remind a person that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter (and vice versa). Then there’s the idealized look back on the immigrant experience, especially in “When New York Was Irish.” Apparently there were no “NO IRISH OR DOGS ALLOWED” signs in New York. “Meet Me On McLean” is an equally rosy view of modern New York Irish culture.
We mustn’t forget the obligatory drinking/rakehelly songs, either. There are quite decent versions of “Jug of Punch,” “Finnegan’s Wake” and “Whiskey, You’re the Devil,” as well as the original “Good Intentions.” The latter, to my mind, fits nicely into the venerable tradition of songs that make you want to ask: “If you cared about disappointing your poor old grey-haired parents so much, why did you go and make such a complete fool of yourself?” (To explain further, the good intentions in the title are those things that pave the road to hell.)
There’s just the one love song on the recording, “Wild Mountain Thyme.” They even included a verse I’ve never heard before. There’s no notation that they wrote it themselves, so I guess I will have to admit I haven’t heard everything yet.
In stark contrast to the jaunty IRA songs stands “Green Fields of France.” Personally, I believe this song deserves to be in the same category as “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” and “Patriot Game,” and Shilelagh Law do a decent job on it.
Decent – yes, that would be my verdict on this album. It doesn’t exactly have a unifying theme, but it does a competent job on a variety of songs, both traditional and original. It’s fun, enjoyable light listening. Shilelagh Law doesn’t feel obligated to add bizarre chords or vocalizations just to prove they’re different, the way some groups do, and this is all to the good. Too many young groups ruin perfectly adequate traditional music by trying to add a little something to it.
Shilelagh Law is made up of Terence Brennan, Stephen Gardner, Denis McCarthy and Richard Popovic, accompanied by Kevin McCarthy. The motto on their Web site is “Awful Irish Brogues Great Irish Music.” They have two other CDs, Together in the End (2002) and Half the Bottle Down (2001).
There isn’t much in the liner notes. One cool touch – the CD itself is printed to look like an old vinyl recording.
(Shilelagh Records, 2004)
