Celtic punk

Celtic punk
Stylistic origins
Cultural origins1980s, London, England: Irish folk and punk rock scenes
Regional scenes
Other topics

Celtic punk is punk rock mixed with traditional Celtic music. Celtic punk bands often play traditional Celtic folk songs, contemporary/political folk songs, and original compositions.[3] Common themes in Celtic punk music include politics, Celtic culture (particularly Gaelic culture) and identity, heritage, religion, drinking and working class pride.

The genre was popularised in the 1980s by the Pogues. It is considered part of the broader folk punk genre, although that term is often used in North America for acoustic forms of punk rock rather than a mixture of traditional folk music and punk rock.

The typical Celtic punk band includes rock instrumentation as well as traditional instruments such as bagpipes, fiddle, tin whistle, accordion, mandolin, and banjo. Like Celtic rock, Celtic punk is a form of Celtic fusion.[4]

While popular around the world, Celtic punk is often criticized for certain non-Irish bands appropriating and misrepresenting Irish culture (perpetuating 'Plastic Paddy' stereotypes) with an excessive focus on drinking and fighting.[5][6] Other folk-punk bands that incorporate traditional folk material, such as The Dreadnoughts and Cordelia's Dad, have expressed disdain at being called 'Celtic punk' despite Celtic material making up a very small portion of their overall material (either due the common occurrence of non-Celtic folk songs being called 'Celtic,' or due to the misunderstanding that all traditional folk music mixed with punk rock is Celtic punk).[6][7]

  1. ^ Ćunković, Milan. "Alfapop". Nadlanu (. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  2. ^ Tabak, Nate; Mullins, Lisa (15 August 2013). "Belgrade's The Orthodox Celts Put Twist on Irish Standards". PRI. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  3. ^ P. Buckley, The Rough Guide to Rock (London: Rough Guides, 2003), p. 798.
  4. ^ B. Sweers, Electric Folk: Changing Face of English Traditional Music (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 197-8.
  5. ^ Power, Ed (2010-03-17). "Celebrating St Patrick's Day? Don't do it with the Pogues ..." The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  6. ^ a b Dreadnoughts, The (2022-10-23). "On 'Celtic Punk'". Roll And Go: Dreadnoughts Blog. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  7. ^ "Cordelia's Dad Interviewed by Auger/Anvil". cordeliasdad.com. Retrieved 2024-09-10.