Dreadnoughts – Cyder Punks Unite

After a couple of years of non-stop touring, Vancouver’s Celtic sea-shanty specialists The Dreadnoughts have earned a reputation as a rowdy, ale-guzzling bunch.  As I’ve witnessed first hand, offer a pint at a show and they’re you’re their new best friends (especially the monstrous Squid Vicious).  But with their latest (and first vinyl) EP, Cyder Punks Unite, they expand their bar-time pallet, revealing that this ale-guzzling crew shares a soft spot for the age-old draw of simple Cyder.

Spanning three tracks across two sides and seven minutes, Cyder Punks Unite is a quick but unique listen that continues The Dreadnoughts’ growing tradition for over the top narratives about unlikely topics.  Side A kicks off with the sole track “The Cyder Drinker Marches On.”  Weaving a tale of resistance in times of prohibition, the band turns to the heavenly garden and that fateful apple tree to justify their “ancient birth right” to Cyder, and communicate that to their protagonist Scrumpy, the right to press apples is a privilege well worth fighting against even the highest power.  Against militant drumming and a mid-tempo, accordion flooded beat, always-anthemic vocalist “Uncle Touchy” offers a rallying cry that “traces this noble heritage” across the new world and into a “final stand” for alcohol that shares the same fiery passion as those fueling men’s lust for riches.”

Flip the album over and listeners can continue down the Cyder path with “Cyder Road.”  Less about the beverage and more about using apple-based references (i.e. “the only way to death is through the apple tree”) to describe a larcenous vagrant’s transgressions, the track taps into The Dreadoughts’ angrier outspoken side.  While Side A could have fit on the band’s original debut, “Cyder Road” feels more like a product of their sophomore effort, Victory Square.  Here Seamus O’Flanahan’s fiddle takes the reigns and taps into a frenzied, punk-fueled passion that actually finds the band importing some middle-eastern string work half way through.  But as with their embrace of eastern European polkas, the new inclusion feels right at home in their rag-tag box of tricks.  And for the third and final track, “Sally Brown,” The Dreadnoughts continue their tradition of shouting bar-side acappellas, which slides right in with their existing discography, and should make for a fine addition at live shows.

For a band built around the simple themes of excessive drinking and seaside scourges, Cyder Punks Unite makes clear that The Dreadnoughts are still riding that initial wave of creativity, with no sign of slowing down.  And for fans who might be anxious to learn that The Dreadnoughts’ upcoming full length will be titled Polka’s Not Dead, Cyder Punks Unite’s unique direction should relieve any fears that the boys might be getting too ambitious.  So much like the fruit of the hour, Cyder Punks Unite is a delicious precursor to what will undoubtedly be a tantalizing main course.