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Label: Fat Wreck Chords

The year 2007 was a very strange one for me.  I moved out of home, started going to university and finally learnt the meaning of the word “drunk”.  Perhaps fittingly therefore, it was also the year that I first discovered The Real McKenzies.  While aimlessly walking through a JB Hi Fi one fateful day, I stumbled across their seventh and then current album, Off The Leash.  From the opening bagpipes of “Chip” to the explosive conclusion of “Culling The Heard”, I was hooked.  The strong and charismatic singing of frontman Paul McKenzie mixed with the musical muscle of the band’s traditional Scottish and punk rock roots just seemed to fit together so perfectly, that I couldn’t (and still can’t) believe that there aren’t more bands out there like them.  This month sees The Real McKenzies finally releasing a new album, this time a live acoustic recording made during one their many tours of Europe.  While Shine Not Burn sees the group trade in their electric guitars for mandolins and penny whistles, the atmosphere provided by the live setting makes this a highly enjoyable and memorable release from this often underappreciated band.

The first thing that is immediately apparent upon listening to Shine Not Burn is that it sounds like every member of the band and the audience is mightily intoxicated.  While this does result in a few bum notes here and there, the truth is that The Real McKenzies flourish rather than flounder in such an environment.  Additionally, unlike most other live albums, this one has also somehow managed to quite accurately capture the live feel of the performance; not only can the listener hear the band and audience, but they can almost feel the other members of the sweaty and drunken crowd as they sing and dance along.  The onstage banter only adds to the affair, with jokes and heckling from particularly rowdy crowd members all being clearly audible on the album.

With a track list that collects 21 songs from across the band’s entire career, there should be something here to please all fans of the group.  While I was disappointed to find that there was only a single track included from the above mentioned Off The Leash, the band at least made sure it was a cracker.  Other highlights include the drinking anthem “10,000 Shots” and crowd favourite, “Bugger Off”.  Without the presence of the normally dominating electric instruments to distract the listener however, what becomes more noticeable than ever is the pure charisma that frontman Paul McKenzie exudes; his often self depreciatory and bittersweet lyrics accentuate what is a real flair for storytelling, and this comes to the fore on Shine Not Burn.

With high brow topics such as the Loch Ness Monster, making deals with the devil and drinking by the barrel load all covered in their songs, it is clear that The Real McKenzies are a party band first and foremost.  When considered in that vein, this album definitely hits the spot.  While they might not have reinvented their sound by going acoustic, it does offer an interesting twist on their style and further helps reaffirm the group’s Scottish heritage.  Overall then, Shine Not Burn is not only another high quality release from the Real McKenzies, but indeed will likely prove itself to be essential drinking music to help pass the many cold winter nights still yet to come.

By Matthew Woodward