The Crock of Gold

Since the Pogues have officially broken up, I supposed that Shane MacGowan and the Popes now officially take the lead as the premier Celtic-roots rock band. Although a case can easily be made that the baton was passed when MacGowan left the Pogues a few years back. He really was the soul of the Pogues. The Crock of Gold is MacGowan's second solo release, but is not quite as good as his first, The Snake. The Crock of Gold has one really solid song after another in the quasi-Celtic folk rock traditional style. The only negative is that there's not too much experimentation on the album. The only real unusual track is "B&I Ferry"", which has a reggae dub style. However, all the songs on the album are exactly what you'd expect from MacGowan. There are songs of lost love, drunken sorrows, loneliness, character portraits, and pride. All contain Shane's gritty and soulful trademark voice (and the vocals actually come off clear on the recordings- always a crapshoot when it comes to MacGowan's pipes). Although it's tough to top the work that MacGowan did with the Pogues, The Crock of Gold is a worthy effort that fans of MacGowan and the Pogues are sure to enjoy. - Rob Martin