Celtic punk, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Punk rock 1974
Three chords, two minutes and zero patience for solos. A full reset of rock, and the second major source of extreme metal.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
Ramones - Ramones. Fourteen songs in twenty-nine minutes, not a wasted note.
Ramones, Ramones (1976) - 3 What you asked about
Celtic punk 1985
Tin whistle, mandolin and accordion over distorted guitar. Irish pub songs turned up to eleven.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
The Pogues - Rum Sodomy & the Lash. Produced by Elvis Costello, and it shows.
The Pogues, Rum Sodomy & the Lash (1985) - 4 Where to go next
Boogie rock 1970
One shuffle riff held until exhaustion. Simple by design and impossible to sit still to.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
AC/DC - Riff Raff. Boogie rock at melting point.
The pick names a track. This is the record the encyclopedia holds by them.
AC/DC, High Voltage (1975)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Celtic punk descends from, in order. Celtic punk has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.