Alan Kelly Gang
Album: The Last Bell
Label: Blackbox Music
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.alankellygang.com

Energy is the word of the day when it comes to the Alan Kelly Gang. There are a fair few traditional Irish bands on the scene but the Alan Kelly Band really breaks out over many others because of the sheer energy they project into their tunes.

Whether it is a fast tune or a slower more relaxed song with vocals you can still feel intense energy and emotion going into the music and that really helps to give goose bumps to the listener. Vocalist and musician Steph Geremia who delights us by taking the foreground for the songs 'Music Makers', 'The Poorest Company' and The Sleeping Policeman' has a beautiful voice that works perfectly symbiotically with the backing vocals and music to give us a modern well rounded song.

One of the things I like most about this album is full stretch of variety achieved throughout the album, no tune or song sounds too similar so as to be repetitive, but all have that flare of Irish tradition that brings you to the band in the first place. The entire band complements each other and fit perfectly together as a team.

If you want a more soothing tunes to wind down your day then the Alan Kelly Gang provides for that too, 'January Gales' is an extremely soft tune that keeps the previously mentioned energy, but rather than getting you pumped it gently calms and relaxes before moving into 'The Moth & The Exorcist' to really chill you out.

Alan Kelly and his band of course choose to finish on a great note with the lively and captivating 'Frankie's Reels' which I believe nicely rounds off the album and leaves any listener with that craving for just a little bit more.

Paul Rawcliffe