The Killdares came to life in 1996. Two members, Tim Smith (drums and lead vocals) and Linda Relph (fiddle and vocals), survive from that time. Nowadays they are joined by Jim Folstad (bagpipes and guitar), Roy Fletcher (guitar and vocals), and Ed Waleski (bass). The band hails from Dallas, Texas, and currently performs about 150 shows a year.
Live is their third album, following two studio offerings. This is not merely a collection of live renditions of songs from the earlier albums, as nine of the fourteen tracks are previously unrecorded. One track originates from the first album and four from the second. As they write in the sleeve notes they have taken the opportunity to record some of their favourite covers. These include Maartin Allcock's "The Noise Club" (from Fairport's Red & Gold-album) coupled with "Barney Brallaghan" (one of the ingredients for Dirty Linen by that same group), "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones and a rather unnecessary slaughter of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane".
The choice of covers says a lot about the group. At the heart of their sound you find heavy metal drums and distorted guitar chords. The bass alternates between just hammering out the root notes and playing jigs in unison with the fiddle (in the style of Dave Pegg). I would say that their big influence is the Oysterband, with spoonfuls of Fairport, early punk and heavy metal thrown in to spice it up.
At times the mixture works very well. They do a blistering version of "The Noise Club" and any doubts as to why they included a bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace" are wiped out when you hear it. There are some glorious instrumental interludes in the songs as well. At other times I am not so sure. Many of the songs come from within the group and sound a bit samey, with no real melodies. You get the feeling that the songs began life as chord changes to which lyrics were added. Since you can't just sing a single note all the time, they had to use at least four or five, often sticking to notes that are there in the chords. It takes a lot of imagination to write good, memorable melodies within such a restricted range, and I am sorry to say I do not find too many traces of such imagination. This is illustrated all too clearly at the end, when "Leaving on a Jet Plane" is matched against the other songs.
I'm also unconvinced by the bands overall sound. While they're clearly aiming for an Oysterband "wall of sound" (with added guitar textures in the style of Runrig's Malcolm Jones), the drums often dominate and the fiddle comes out like a mix between a droneless hurdy gurdy and a buzzing fly.
This band certainly have an abundance of energy and (in this respect) remind me of the Whiskey Priests. They seem to share the same goal of giving the audience as much as it can take. The difference is that the Priests know that sometimes a band has to slow things down in order to make the rockier numbers rock. The Killdares do not seem to have grasped that and keep up the relentless hammering until we all are breathless. Nuances and subtle changes are not their strong points...
I guess that it all makes sense if you are jumping up and down in a small club for an hour or two, but if you went to just listen then you would be slightly disappointed. While this CD isn't really my cup of tea, there are plenty of folks who will enjoy it. I don't doubt their skills for a moment; I'm just not too fond of what they use those skills for...
