Review of Whiskey Bars A-Go-Go
by Tom Nelligan
From Dirty Linen magazine - August/September, 1999
A welcome musical spin-off from the recent surge in the number of Irish pubs in America seems to be the creation of new electro-Celtic bands who now find a place to play. There's little room for quiet airs or delicate ballads when you need to be heard over the conversations and clanking glasses, but plenty of opportunity to bang out cranked-up jigs and reels. The Prodigals, based in New York, and the Donegal X-Press, based in Baltimore, are two pub-friendly bands that carry on the thrashy but entertaining approach to Irish music pioneered by the Pogues...The six-piece band called the Donegal X-Press needs to do something about that name, but there's nothing wrong with their sense of humor. The track called "DXP" sounds like what would have happened if the Blues Brothers were Irish; "These Pubs of Mine" offers a boozy singalong tribute to favorite drinking spots, and the bass-driven movie variant "McShaft" is self-explanatory. Don't expect any virtuoso playing here, but do expect a lot of smiles. This one's definitely just for fun - at least up to the final unlisted track.