They must be sick of the Pogues comparisons by this stage, but listening to Blood Or Whiskey’s third studio album it’s impossible not to think of Spider Stacey bouncing his head off a beer crate and an early Shane MacGowan screeching into the microphone with two fingers aloft as the squaddies chucked their chips at him. Blood Or Whiskey evoke those sort of memories. The Rum, Sodomy And The Lash era when The Pogues stuck to their punk and traditional origins.
Always a superb live act, Cashed Out On Culture accomplishes that rare feat of capturing Blood Or Whiskey's live energy in a studio recording. The banging on the roof begins with ‘Stuck Together', which sounds like The Ramones with a pissed up Irish man on vocals.
Things begin to go pear shaped though, on ‘Poxy Pub’, which comes off like The Saw Doctors on speed. It’s here where the first hint of Blood Or Whiskey’s central weakness becomes apparent. Songs like ‘Jar’d For Life’ and ‘Ruler Ruler’ are good for a bit of punk paddywhackery but, lyrically, the majority of tracks are poor in this regard. After you’ve jumped up and down a bit there’s no meat to feed on.
Things do get better. ‘A Holy Trinity’ is Cashed Out On Culture’s standout, a stirring dose of Irish punk in the vein of ‘Streams Of Whiskey’, while ‘Shattered Dreams,’ a song about the homeless and the fallen in Dublin, is indicative of the lyrical approach Blood Or Whiskey should continue taking. Good, but could have been better.