The Welch BoysThis the third of a slew of releases from Thorp’s new label, Sailor Graves Records who will focus solely on the punk rock side of things whereas Thorp will be handling all hardcore/metal type releases. The Welch Boys from Boston were formed in 2004 when T.J. Welch, the guitarist and founding member of The Blue Bloods started the band and enlisted the help of Ed Lalli from Slapshot to do the vocals, Mark Powers on bass, P.J. Dionne on lead guitar and Ron Holbrook drumming. They are street punk in the rawest and purest form. From the moment the first chorus in "Friend or Foe" hit my ears I was immediately down with this record and listened to it straight through at full attention. These guys can craft some of the catchiest songs with loads of aggression. You still get plenty of the whoa-ooooh chants and the hey, hey, hey’s but the choruses are often filled with words of anger or optimism and hope for the blue collar American working class. Theirs anthems for individuals that were sent away to Iraq, songs about helping friends out through the tough times, friends betraying friends and what Boston release would be complete without an ode to Boston? Song for song, these are some the best lyrics I’ve had the pleasure of listening to in awhile. Sure some of the topics have been touched on by countless bands but they come off a hell of a lot more sincere than most bands do. And they do a good job of mixing things up between anger and hope without coming off cheesy in the least. And boy does Ed have a hell of a punk throat on him. When you factor in the quality of the lyrics with the delivery, you have yourself one of the best sing along albums of the year. As well any release from Thorp, you’re going to get your moneys worth in terms of production and layout. Jim Siegel, who has worked with many of Boston’s greats recorded and produced this. The guitars have a great tone to them, just enough crunch and distortion, not too thin nor is it too full. The bass has excellent tone and depth as it gallops along in the background rounding out the bands sound. The drums sound good, you don’t hear any echos from reverb or anything like that. The vocals are perfect, not to high in the mix or to far back and the backup vocals are balanced perfectly with Ed’s shouting. I’m liking the layout, the front cover looks like a and Irish book cover with a tattoo like drawing of a skull placed in front of a four leaf clover, talk about an oxymoron. Inside the booklet features a yellow backing with easy to read lyrics with pictures on each page pertaining to the lyrical topics. The CD also features a video for "617" which is just another bonus you can usually expect from the folks at Thorp/SG.
Rating: 4/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Les Paul, 617 and Count My Days
Thesis: One of the best street punk releases I’ve heard this year, lyrics are top notch. The music is catchy as shit. This album captures the essence of the lower middle class, it’s pissed off, it has its sad moments, its happy moments, there’s a little of everything. I’ll be bumpin this one a lot.