Last Call wraps up Celtic Kitchen Party’s trilogy of albums

Craig Bakay | Oct 13, 2021

Last Call is Celtic Kitchen Party’s final installment in the North of Princess trilogy of albums, which also includes Lobster Tail and Beer and Sociable.

Basically, if you liked the first two, you’ll like this one as it’s pretty much more of the same.

But that’s OK. Five of the 13 tracks are listed as traditional and that’s very much a part of what you’re expecting when you listen to a band with Celtic in the name.

The album starts off rockin’, with traditional tunes Sean Ryan’s Polka/Irish Rover and Tell Me Ma/Swamplake Breakdown. Fans of the old Don Messer’s Jubilee TV show may recognize that one.

The third track, The Temperance Song, keeps the up tempo beat going and is a band original.

For the fourth tune, they chose Dirty Old Town, and did a nice job on the old standard.

That’s followed up by Whiskey in the Jar/Whiskey Before Breakfast, traditional tunes done just how you’d like them to be.

The sixth track is a bit of an anomaly and somewhat mysterious. It’s titled Covid-19 Shanty, penned by Andrew Vanhorn and D. Ryan. It’s about, as you might expect, the pandemic we’ve all been experiencing and particularly about the effects of lockdown. However, the liner notes say that the album was recorded live off the floor at North of Princess Studios May 8 and 9, 2018. Here’s the problem, the World Health Organization declared covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 30, 2020 and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Perhaps Vanhorn is a psychic? But, it’s not a bad tune and one of the better covid-inspired pieces out there, and there are many forgettable ones.

The album continues with a couple of ballads, originals Just For Tonight and On the Banks (of the Rideau River). Didn’t George Martin once say not to slot ballads back to back on an album?

Following that comes Auld Lang Syne (yes, the New Year’s favorite) and while it starts of kinda slow and dreary, it picks up nicely for the second half.

Next is a short instrumental called Macpherson’s lament and then a Vanhorn original called Big Break. Big Break is the least Celtic song on the album and one every local musician can probably relate to.

That’s followed by The Immigrant, a love letter to Canada which probably suffers from a cliché or two (land of milk and honey, make my dreams come true) but is otherwise quite solid.

The did, however, save the best for last.

Roll On Home is an original “I got too drunk” song and we never have enough of those. It’s essentially about the advantages of a pub being at the top of a hill and being fortunate enough to live at the bottom of said hill, thus being able to ‘roll on home.’

Overall, the album is consistent and competent, if not terribly creative. Fans of the band and/or Celtic music in general won’t be disappointed though.