The Mary Wallopers - "Crowns of England"

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Photo by Sorcha Frances Ryder

Dundalk, Ireland's finest folk punk band, The Mary Wallopers, are back with a new single. "Crowns of England" is everything we've always loved from the band. It mixes traditional Celtic folk with a punk edge, but the song also sees them moving their sound forward. It's more palatable for a mainstream audience, but without losing the edge and everything that makes them great. This new sound is kind of like a Trojan horse to trick your co-workers into enjoying it. Audibly, "Crowns of England" might be less rough around the edges than we're used to from The Mary Wallopers, but the message and bite certainly isn't.

Charles Hendy says of his band's latest single:

“The song is about being in England and feeling like an outsider in all that colonialism. And it’s about Irish people who move to London and then assimilate by trying to get away from being Irish. That outsider status could apply to immigrants generally, or even people from small towns moving into cities. England remains an archaic place in a lot of ways. There is still a monarchy. Every pub is called The Crown. There are flags everywhere. When we sing rebel songs in England, people don’t know how to react, so you feel like such an alien because it’s geographically so close but culturally there’s a massive gap. I mean, I went to Wembley to see Oasis once and a woman asked me if we had televisions in Ireland...”

You can watch the video for "Crowns of England" below. Paddywhackery is due out September 18 on BC Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on The Mary Wallopers, check out the band's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.


October 13 Edinburgh - Corn Exchange

October 14 Newcastle - O2 City Hall

October 16 Cardiff - University

October 17 Brighton - Centre

October 19 Sheffield - Octagon Centre

October 20 Cambridge - Corn Exchange

October 22 Liverpool - Olympia

October 23 Manchester - O2 Victoria Warehouse

October 26 Nottingham - Rock City

October 27 Leeds - O2 Academy

October 29 Birmingham - O2 Academy

October 30 London - O2 Academy Brixton

December 10 Dublin - 3Arena

December 19 Glasgow - OVO Hydro

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