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The Mighty Stef – 100 Midnights – (RMG Digital, 2009)
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tracklist:
01 – Downtown
02 – Safe at Home (ft. Cait O’Riordan)
03 – Kings of New York
04 – Golden Gloves
05 – Hound Dogs of Love
06 – Come Over to the Darkside
07 – 100 Midnights
08 – Sunshine Serenade
09 – I Swear I Have No Feeling For That Girl
10 – Nelligan Guts
11 – Russian Roulette
12 – Waitin’ Around to Die (ft. Shane McGowan)
13 – A Pretend Sailors Goodbye
So far this year, I’ve caught the Mighty Stef twice – once opening for Flogging Molly on a big stage, and once for the Tossers in a small club – and while the band’s sound (and hometown of Dublin) do readily compliment the Celtic punk sounds of both bands, the music of the Mighty Stef is really nothing at all like that easily recognized sound.
And vocalist Stef Murphy, the actual Mighty Stef himself, is as much a aural chameleon as the band bearing his name, with a voice that wanders across the spectrum, drawing influence from as wide and powerful an array of sources like Tom Waits, Shane MacGowan and Nick Cave, with a little Neal Diamond and even some Joey Ramone.
On 100 Midnights, the Mighty Stef takes you on a tour of all their varied sounds. Starting with the moment the record opens with the raw rock of “Downtown†, it’s never obvious where the record will go next, although it is always fun, even though it seems to simultaneously be mildly macabre.
“Nelligan Guts†find Stef going for his best Shane MacGowan, and cranking through a song that is equal parts Celtic and full-blown Gypsy punk, with just a dose of sea shanty added. In fact, the this blend of sound reappears more than once on the record, always with a tune that makes you want to dance, like on the album’s title track, and on “A Pretend Sailor’s Goodbyeâ€, and much of the rest of record dabbles in his emotional style of pub rock that tinkers with punk, a little country and simple, smooth rock and roll.
Despite the fact that it doesn’t strictly subscribe to the Celtic punk sound, 100 Midnights gains further credibility from that scene by the inclusion of a few members of the Pogues dueting on tracks. Former Pogues bassist Cait O’Riordan appears on “Safe At Home,†a dark tune that waltzes between the thereal and the raw, and the legendary Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan duets with the Mighty Stef on a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waitin’ Around To Die†(Listen/Download), with the resulting track being a melancholy drinking tune.
Based on the power I’ve seen of Stef’s live shows, on small stages and large, and on the complexity and talent exhibited on 100 Midnights, I expect that the Mighty Stef will probably be around for quite some time, and if he gets noticed, is due for the sort of cult following that musicians like Tom Waits and Nick Cave get, the notice that is due to equal parts musical talent, raw charisma and innovation of sound. (punkmusic.about)
http://www.myspace.com/themightystefband
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