Shellshock Rock – the John T.Davis short documentary film that gives this epic triple CD and DVD compilation its name – has assumed mythical status since it was first briefly released in 1979. Not surprising perhaps, given that it was initially banned from the Cork Film Festival, went on to win awards around the world, and yet has never really had a proper commercial release until now, a mere 41 years later.
Thankfully it more than merits all the hype, being a brilliant piece of filmmaking, quite unlike anything before or since. Yes, it’s a perfect 45-minute snapshot of the original punk rock scene in the North in the late 70s, but somehow Davis and his tiny team manage to make it a whole lot more than just that, through an inspired mix of music, interviews, archive footage and, best of all, pure silence. The usual clunky narrative voiceover would have killed it stone dead. Instead Davis just lets it all play out, the local brass band murdering ‘Good King Wenceslas’ crashing straight into ‘Big Time’ by RUDI, some old-school native Belfast chancer raising his hat to The Outcasts’ ‘You’re A Disease’, a brief helicopter ride zooming us straight into The Undertones onstage in Portrush with the inevitable ‘Teenage Kicks’. Continue Reading…
Grá mór to RÓIS and her album Mo Léan. This hidden story of the Irish keening tradition has become a shared fascination. She has liberated voices, long silenced by Church, State and Empire. A wonderful coup.
You can’t accuse The Wood Burning Savages of caring less. Every track on their second album is a retort, a legitimate wail, a Ken Loach storyline. They itemise loathing, furious at the major lies and petty cruelties. It’s a parade of militant incels, grasping landlords, party ideologues and the children of immigrants who want to outlaw a system that gave their own families a point of entry. 
Dani Larkin sings ‘She Moved Through the Fair’, reeling with the fever and surprise in the words. It’s a story of intense attraction but it also hints at a love affair that may not be realised in this world.
There are many arresting moments across the new Everlasting Yeah record, but there’s none better than the pure flow of ‘Myself When I Am Real’. Sure enough, you have great musicians with a provenance that goes back to The Petrol Emotion and then further, to Damian’s place in The Undertones. And for this track, they roll and coil for over seven minutes, relishing their simpatico groove, clearly aware that a cool thing is in process.
Ursula Burns has written a bunch of memorable lyrics over the years, from ‘Sinister Nips’ and ‘Continental Boys’, to ‘Small Square Parks’ and ‘Heartbreak Was Heartbreak’. But on the new record, words are banished and the harp has full dominion. It’s a chance to indulge and evoke, to let the maverick style contend with bardic traditions, Latino flourish and semaphore bleeps. It sounds rich and unfettered. As the album title suggests, the tunes indicate roots and blossom, endurance and ecology. 
Eric Bell is the guitarist who convinced Phil Lynott and Brian Downey to join him in a band. Then he invented the name of the group: Thin Lizzy. That was December 1969, when he brought his character as a Belfast artist to the emerging Dublin scene, causing great things to happen.
He also created the bedrock riff that became ‘The Rocker’, an early example of Thin Lizzy swagger. But Eric was also wary of the showbiz world. It reminded him of his tiresome past on the Irish showband circuit. Therefore, he parted with the band after a stressful show in Belfast, New Year’s Eve, 1973.
Eric Bell will receive his Legend Award at the Ulster Hall on November 13, 2024. He will also perform on the night with a special guest. This is part of the Northern Ireland Music Prize event, produced by the Oh Yeah Music Centre. Eric’s award is supported by PRS for Music.
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