Rum Shebeen - Tropical / I'm An Old Punk

Rum Shebeen
Tropical / I'm An Old Punk
GUTROT

It’s a grey day in London town. Even though it’s August, it’s raining. The economy is going down hill big time. Food prices are going up. Your house has just been repossessed a couple of weeks after you were made redundant. The country is being run (into the ground) by a couple of the biggest public-schoolboy twats to ever walk the face of the Earth. In short, things aint looking so good in Old Blightly.

But hold on a second, who are these colourful scoundrels on the horizon? What is this neo-Clash upstart sound I hear emerging from the dirty depths of South London?

Lo, tis’ a band of modern day troubadours that go by the moniker of Rum Shebeen and they have come to brighten up the day with their tropical sounds.

Tropical is indeed a track to bring a wry smile to even the dullest recession day. Reminiscent of a Clash party-time track that has been sent to Trinidad for a holiday, it deserves to soundtrack many a sunny festival moments for its sheer positivity alone.

Lead singer Dave Ashby has an uncanny similarity to Joe Strummer in his vocal delivery and Rum Shebeen have clearly taken a lot of inspiration from the punk legend. The second track here, the shorter, spikier I’m An Old Punk makes this explicit with the line “…never forget – Joe Strummer is God…”. The track itself is a humorous look at what it means to be a Punk delivered with high velocity guitars and drums.

Rum Shebeen certainly entertain and are not afraid to mix humour into their sonic brew, something which is all too lacking in mainstream music these days. If these two tracks are anything to go by it won’t be long before you see more of these boys on a big stage near you.

Bring on the next big musical revolution: Tropical Punk!

Rum Shebeen - Tropical from Rum Shebeen on Vimeo.

Rum Shebeen - I'm An Old Punk from Rum Shebeen on Vimeo.

Tracklisting: Rum Shebeen - Tropical / I'm An Old Punk
1. Tropical
2. I'm An Old Punk

Tom Evans