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 THE REAL
MCKENZIES - 10,000 Shots (Fat
Wreck) You can add The Real McKenzies to the short list of worthwhile things
Canada
has contributed to the world: red bliss potatoes, Second City
Television, Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet, and now The Real McKenzies.
Seriously, this is a really good record. Of course, when they start
off with a song by the greatest songwriter in the history of the world
(Robert Burns, in case you don't know), it's hard to go wrong. The
Real McKenzies do for
Scotland
what The Pogues (and more recently The Gobshites) did for
Ireland
- combining traditional music with punk rock in a way that does justice to
both. Plus, they do it in kilts. You've got to be pretty damn
cool to get away with wearing a skirt when you've got legs as hairy as
these guys. Besides the opening "Smokin' Bowl", they also
do another song by the venerable Mr. Burns, "Comin' Through The
Rye", as well as 4 other traditional Scottish tunes, all with a
whiskey (Scotch, I'm sure)! soaked punk attack. And the seven
originals all hold up nicely alongside the classics. I'm especially
fond of "Pour Decisions" and "I Hate My Band", both of
which appear to be autobiographical snapshots of what it's like to be a
50-something Scottish-Canadian punk rocker in the 21st century. For
my money, this is as good as anything Fat Wreck has ever released, and
ranks among the top discs of the year. Oh, did I mention the
bagpipes? There's bagpipes. I like that. - Brian Mosher
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