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Release Date: Dec, 2011
Run Time: 34:40
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1. Welcome to Happiness
2. It’s in Your Hands
3. I don’t Need You
4. Fucking Cops
5. All Night Drunk
6. With My Crew
7. Drinking Song
8. Scum
9. In Your Paradise
10. She Was 56
11. In My Head
12. Warrior Souls
13. Molly Never Sleeps Alone
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Drink Hunters started out roughly three years ago in Catalonian, an autonomous community in Spain. While they have done several projects, it wasn’t until the end of 2011 when we saw the release of their debut album, With My Crew. The album is 13 songs of original material. Though four of the tracks are from the 2009 demo release I Love Whisky, I Love Beer. Every single track on With My Crew is fast-paced and high-energy. If you’re looking for these guys to slow down, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re a fan of hard-core punk, which a lot of folks are, then you’re in for one hell of a treat.
The first song, titled Welcome to Happiness really caught me off guard. I thought it was going to be just some instrumental, but after a minute and 30 seconds in, I was greeted with vocals. The vocal stylings sound great. It’s very aggressive and doesn’t really change throughout the album. The backing vocals are also pretty good. It’s not just mindless screaming like a lot of hard-core bands out there, but rather coherent and entertaining. For a couple of the tracks, I did have to rewind and listen closely to understand some of the words. That’s not necessarily a fault with the band, but me being obsessive, and wanting to go through everything with a fine-toothed comb. Because let’s be honest, as music lovers there’s nothing more embarrassing than singing the lyrics of a song only to have someone point out to you that it’s “Wack fall the daddy-o” and not “wait for my daddy yo.”
The instrumentals fit nicely with the vocals. Often at the beginning of a song, you’ll hear strong banjo picking or fiddling with a reasonable tempo, and then bam! The next thing you know the guitars, bass, drums and even accordion switch into high-speed mode. It’s pretty impressive and works really well. As far as their live shows go, I would assume it would be very exhausting for them. From what I’ve seen of YouTube clips, it looks exactly like how you picture in your head. It’s as if it’s one gigantic nonstop party.
My favorite tracks on the album include All Night Drunk, the title track With My Crew and Warriors Souls. I also really like the song She’s 56. A song about falling for a MILF. Fifty six does seem kind of old. Perhaps it’s the new thirty? Anyway, I think a lot of guys out there could relate to this song. At some point in our lives we’ve all fallen for an older woman, or at least had an infatuation for one. Speaking of which, if anyone out there can tell Christina Hendricks to contact me, I would be forever in your debt.
I feel that Drink Hunters have found a niche in a style that seemed to be absent within the Celtic Punk. I think that there hard-core style will appeal to both the hard-core base, and traditional Celtic punk fans alike.
