“Marathon” might be the best word to describe a Brick Top Blaggers performance.
“Our typical show is three-four hours,” says accordionist-bagpiper Matt Maulding. “We try to keep the energy level up the whole time with really, really loud, high-energy music that people like to sing along to and dance to and raise a pint of Guinness to.”
Tonight at the Mucky Duck, you can expect three sets sprinkled with Irish traditionals like “Whisky in a Jar” and “Finnegan’s Wake,” Flogging Molly and The Pogues covers and originals the band – Steve Almond (vocals), Dustin Lindberg (bass), Nolan Lynch (mandolin/banjo), Daniel Murillo (guitar), Phoebe Camilletti (fiddle) and Kevin Ousley (percussion) – calls Celtic punk rock.
“Our band stopped identifying itself, early on, as an Irish rock band because we didn’t want people getting the wrong idea about us being for or against the IRA,” Maulding says. “We’re American kids for the most part – the lead singer’s British – and we don’t really like to cast opinions one way or the other on that.”
Additionally, defining themselves as an Irish rock band wouldn’t be accurate since they source musical influences from countries including Scotland and Wales.
A couple weeks ago, BTB released their sophomore full-length record, Two Years Enough, which picks up where their 2011 debut Coaster leaves off: a tapestry of U.K. culture, fight music, drinking songs and gigantic sound. The album opener, “Plastic Paddy,” wastes no time pounding at the eardrums with aggressive lyrical fists: “I got something to say better listen to me!” Almond declares.
“We all come from different backgrounds, as far as our genre of influence,” Maulding explains. “It’s neat because everyone brings their own unique spin to how they write songs, so it makes for an interesting collection when you put them all together.”
But there is one thread common to each bandmember’s background and current approach: The music they generate is always loud enough to blow the speakers out.
BRICK TOP BLAGGERS perform at 6pm Thursday, Oct. 10, at The Mucky Duck, 479 Alvarado St., Monterey. 655-3031.
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