Review Summary: Are you sick of pirates yet?
Piracy.
The often romanticised topic idolized by children and loved by fans of cheesy music. So many bands have put their attempts in at singing, or describing the era in musical ways, most notably Alestorm or Swashbuckle, usually with songs revolving around drinking, murder and sex with wenches. So really, what has been left to sing about? From a folk perspective, there is always the freedom to rummage around, find old tales and tell them. This is just what Ye Banished Privateers have set out to do with this record. Rather than telling tales of pirates roaming the seven seas, a tale from many perspectives including a murderous wench and a disillusioned son.
As a whole, this contains nothing groundbreaking, nothing genre defining, but what it does do is be a solid enjoyable folk record. With multiple vocalists, violins, banjos and piano-accordions littering every song, it is hard to get bored with most of the songs, be it the catchy vibe that resides in most of the songs, or the typical folk sing-a-long feel.
This will never win any awards when it comes to lyrical content, with dropped letters, yar’s and yo ho ho’s littering the record like broken teeth after going to a Russian pub. You can say farewell to any hopes that you’ll be questioning the philosophy of the universe by listening to this, nor will you be able to say that your life aspirations have shifted drastically because the music. Regardless, you will find yourself singing along with the gang vocals, or cackling maniacally at some of the ridiculousness found within. For example
“So I opened his gut, with a single deep cut, and his boots turned warm n'red.
Then he knelt in the sand, with his bowels in hand, as slowly to death he bled”
What could be more fun than murdering a man for having a friendly little flirt?
On the whole, this is a very simple record. Not too much silliness and immaturity, not too much thought. This is not a folk album that will go down in history, but it will earn at least a few replays in any format.
3.5 Yar’s out of 5.
