Album Review: Shinbone Alley, The Sick and Indigent Song Club

Even in the rarified world of folk, this collective are a very odd commodity. Almost completely devoid of any hint of the contemporary, they favour an authentic, sepia-toned sound and texture. In addition, the Dublin six-piece are almost defiantly eclectic. The album shares a title with a flop Mel Brooks animated comedy from 1971 – but apart from a lovely rendition of the American folk standard ‘Shenandoah’, that’s where any similarity ends. The bulk of the tracks are sea shanties; songs like ‘The Handsome Cabin Boy’ and the a capella ‘Nelson’s Blood’ are the kind of hearty, ale-fuelled ditties you’d have heard at Great Yarmouth or Plymouth a few hundred years ago.

‘Tommy’s Gone To Hilo’, French tune ‘Hourra Les Filles A Cing Deniers’ and ‘Paris Here I Come’ add an international flavour, while ‘Leave Her Johnny’ and ‘Farewell To Nancy’ take care of the romantic dimension. The vocals are rich and, yes, “salty”, while the instrumentation includes guitar, mandolin, dobro, harmonium and – wait for it – cheese-grater! The cover art includes an 1881 painting of a fishing boat launch, and a more recent (1962) painting of a harbour scene. Shinbone Alley is the kind of thing that happens when the boat comes in.

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