The Tossers: The Valley of The Shadow of Death

If you're lucky enough to be Irish, than you're lucky enough.

Reviewed By: Pete

It seems that "Celtic rock" or "Irish Punk" has muscled its way into the forefront of music these days. You have your obvious Kings of the Court: Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, and The Pouges. And your endless amount of insufferable imitators like the the Bloody Irish Boys have tainted the genre slightly, but I would like to introduce you to: The Tossers. They will 'un-taint' (eww) anything any band could every do. Pre-dating both the Mollys and the Murphys their brand of Irish/Punk/Folk/Rock is unstoppable, and creates some beautiful and haunting songs, especially on "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" their 2005 release, and their first on Victory records.

From the opening chords on "Goodmornin' Da" you can tell these guys are different than the bands they are constantly compared with. The singer, Tony Duggins, has a voice that is gruff and full of thousands of tales of drinking and lost love and friends. Along with the opening track, the next one, "A Criminal of Me" keeps the party going with more fast paced dancin tunes.

Track 3 , "No Loot, No Booze, No Fun" slows things down a little and sounds like a drunken waltz, except for the subject matter which in the second verse includes snorting coke till you tun blue...

Track 4, The Crock of Gold, should have been separated into two fantastic songs... but instead it has a 3 minute intro which is great but still proves to be one of the only flaws on the whole record. It takes forever to actually get into the song.

Next up is "Late" one of the standout track on the record. Contains an absolutely beautiful chorus "I'm here for you, only to adore you. You mean Everything to me" The slow and muted execution of this song alone is worth the price of admission.

The next few songs are two more reasons why you should be wearing your dancing shoes when listening to this record. "Drinking in the Day" is another slower and very pretty song, despite its story of being drunk before noon (which may very well be a beautiful thing) the only problem is the intro again. There is a two and a half minute spoken word intro that is kind of creepy. But this song includes some great lines such as "She said I'll have a drink with you, but I said you'll have to pay. For a comprehensive education on drinkin in the day" and "Bestowing ancient wisdom of what made me this way, here it is: Deny your friends and family, to serve you must betray... always talk to strangers and make love with whom you may"

The next three songs are each an example of different styles of traditional music, which is really where The Tossers shine. Stick to playing what you know and if it ends up a little faster and a little more "punk rock" than other bands than thats just how its going to be.

The last track is the best on the record. "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" a looming and slightly depressing beginning blossom into a jazzy drum beat and a violin leading the way. With Tony growling along every measure of the way. The chorus repeats several times but never loses its effect. Near the halfway mark in the song everything drops out except the vocals and a little mandolin action. It seems that in this sad portion of the song the band is building up steam, (most likely they all did an Irish car bomb while the singer and mandolin player were recording that part) because when they come back after Tony howls "if only in my dreams...well, come to me in my dreams..." everything, even the soothing violin from the beginning, sounds angry. And the song takes on a life of its own running away like a freight train and fading out on a really great record that does not receive nearly enough recognition. Perhaps being on Victory Records doesn't help. Almost a perfect album. But those damn extended intros piss me off... still 4 1/2 stars ain't nothin to laugh at.

Get this record. Now. You will be happy you did.

The Tossers' The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Released 2005

Reviewed by Pete