The Righs

The Righs, (pronounced “RIGZ,”) have returned to confound those who would dare to describe them, with Roses, the band’s second full-length release, (“full-length” and then some, actually, with over seventy minutes of music and 18 tracks!) since 2008’s eclectic “The Rivers Run Deep.”

This time around, the Oklahoma-based Righs continue to write their own rules and then, (based on the amount of departure from the norm included on this release,) promptly set out into breaking them.
In fact, The Righs are so set apart from other bands in the Celtic Folk Punk realm that a point of reference is not readily available. Even the term “Celtic” may not necessarily apply in same ways it does in other bands of the genre. On Roses, it could describe some of the instrumentation, with the inclusion of the fiddle, and mandolin, but that is about all. The band seems fairly entrenched in a direction of its own, and possessive of its own compass.

The CD itself doesn’t have a weak moment on it (impressive considering the amount of material!) but does have a few tracks that stand out. And So It Goes is an immediately accessible song that grabs the listener immediately and doesn’t let go for an instant. It also features guest vocalist, Alicia Williams, a formidable set of pipes in her own right, sharing lead vocals duties.

Another track worthy of special mention is Two Cents, a song with enough mood and atmosphere to blur the line between music and horror movie, with vocalist Omid Nowrouzi twisting his voice into a banshee-esque wail, (that would make Marilyn Manson sleep with the lights on!) and the pervasive “nervous energy”-meandering of the over-caffeinated mandolin, providing tangible chills.

But it is The Man with Nickel-Plating Makes All the Rules, that is possibly my favorite track on Roses. The song has a manic quality that is almost overwhelming at its start, but for some reason seems to best encapsulate The Righs sound for me.

As with their debut, The Righs are able to pull off a rough and ragged finish on some well written, well arranged and generally polished songs, giving the CD a close approximation to what the band’s live performances must be like.

I am not sure if it was an intentional attempt to carve out an identity, or to start a whole new style, but the The Righs have most definitely created a sound all their own with Roses, albeit one that is almost impossible to accurately describe.

Highly recommended for repeated listenings.

Review by Christopher P. Toler, THE Blathering Gommel. - shitenonions.com

The Righs sound like a bar brawl between a local laborer and a sailor on leave. Part pirate crooners and Celtic punk rockers, the metro sextet — singer/guitarists Nate Williams and Jackson Smith, mandolin player Omid Nowrouzi, fiddle player Jian Azimi, bassist John Slawson and drummer David Johnson— recently released “Roses,” a follow-up to its 2008 debut, “The Rivers Run Deep.”

Most of “Roses” pops with double-time punk tracks, the best of which is rounded out by album-opener “Double Edged Sword,” a rally against apathy in a country filled with “little lives of luxury.” “Stand up and fight / Let your voices be heard,” Williams sings. “Show them your might / And raise your glasses high.”

Appropriately swaying with gruff double vocals, “You’re Drunk You Limey Bastard!” swaggers with a shuffling drum march, plucky mandolins and flying fiddles, while another ode to alcohol, “The Day Booze Saved Humanity,” is a more straightforward, bass line-led rocker that breaks in the middle for a drum/mandolin/fiddle jig.

“The Valley (Billy’s Song)” uses crying fiddles, strummed acoustic and slide guitars for subdued departure that’s a little folk country. Here, the vocal cadence doesn’t quite line up with the music’s, but it’s unclear if the misstep was in the studio or an issue of hasty arrangement.

The echoing “A Dog Named Job,” which combines deep, whispering vocals, tremolo guitars and random bass drum-pedaling, is the most playful and experimental song on the disc, but the effort is canceled out by including a take on “When Johnny Comes Home Marching Home.”

“Roses” isn’t completely fresh-cut, but it’s pretty fun. The Righs (rhymes with “twigs”) are like a bar buddy: You don’t want to hang on every word, but you can count on them to raise a glass or drop an elbow.

“Roses” is $12. For more information, visit www.therighs.com. —Joe Wertz - The Oklahoma Gazette

I have only one problem with Irish punk: I can only hear two different sounds. No matter what Irish-punk band I’m listening to, I hear the Dropkick Murphys (Irish-PUNK) or Flogging Molly (IRISH-punk). That’s why hearing the Righs is so refreshing: it doesn’t feel like I’m listening to either staple of the genre.
In fact, on the best tracks of The Rivers Run Deep, The Righs summon comparisons to the decidedly non-Irish Neutral Milk Hotel rather than their Gaelic brethren. Standout track “Dublin: Easter, 1916” draws comparisons to Jeff Mangum’s “Holland, 1945” in more than just title. The heavy acoustic guitar strum, the crowded exuberance of the embellishing instrumentation and the underlying distortion drone of “Dublin” evoke feelings very similar to those that “Holland” creates. The Righs’ vocals are deeper and more ferocious than Mangum’s, and the lyrics are more straightforward story than NMH’s lucid dreaming, but it’s still a comparison that screams to be made.
If a NMH clone was all this band was, there wouldn’t be any reason to keep writing – there have been plenty of NMH clones over the years, and none have been as good as the original. But the Righs are not anyone’s clone. They have their Flogging Molly leanings (the mercilessly catchy “My Life in the Bike Scene”), their Dropkick Murphy moments (the nearly straight-forward rock song “That Guy”) and their “traditional Irish” moments (their rowdy takes on “Amazing Grace” and “Loch Lomond”).
But they don’t conform to any of those brackets. “Agony’s Night” is a sea shanty. “The Shire” is a well-written and performed song that also happens to be a tribute to Lord of the Rings. Heck, they even subvert the idea of a ballad by throwing distortion and a snare-heavy drumbeat under their prettiest song (“I’m Bound Away”). Yeah, they do lay it on heavy with the Irish-related lyrics, but that’s one of the few clichés that they fall into on the album.
The performances are solid, but it’s not the individual skill of the players that makes this album such fun to listen to. It’s not that the pan pipes or the violin are especially virtuosic – it’s the fact that the sound works together perfectly that makes this such an engaging listen. The instruments play off each other nearly perfectly.
In short, I’m no big fan of Irish punk, but I am a big fan of the Righs. Their songs are catchy, their instrumentation is varied, and the attention level is high. The songwriting prowess and melodic intensity captured in The Rivers Run Deep make for an engaging and exciting listen, no matter what you normally listen to.
- Independent Clauses.com