Fish Records - THE BAD SHEPHERDS - BY HOOK OR BY CROOK

01.	Panic	play pause stop Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.
02.	Sound of the Suburbs	play pause stop Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.
03.	Friday Night Saturday Morning	play pause stop Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.
04.	Ever Fallen In Love With Someone	play pause stop Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.

The Bad Shepherds – By Hook or by Crook

Since forming in 2008, The Bad Shepherds, fronted by alternative comedy legend Ade Edmondson, have, through the quality of their performances moved from an interesting band, to fully signed up regulars on the UK festival scene, topped off with a BBC Folk Award nomination in 2010.

The band is made up of Edmondson (vocals, mandolin & mandola), Troy Donockley (pipes, cittern, whistles, vocals) and Andy Dinan (fiddle), for this album they’re joined by former Steeleye Span member Tim Harries (double bass). Traditional instrumentation and some great players, the unique hook for the band is the material they play, their live repertoire is taken from punk and new wave hits from the mid seventies to the late 90s, so here you can here The Smiths’ ‘Panic’ alongside XTCs ‘Making Plans for Nigel’ and taking in Motorhead and The Ramones along the way.

Being fronted by Edmondson and with the adventurous track listing, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was all part of a comedy act, but these guys take their music seriously, and it shows in the care and attention given to the arrangements and general production values here. Their take on some well known songs often unearth gems that you may well have missed the first time around – taking away some of the pop/punk/metal stylings of the original versions reveals some great songs that feel totally different when presented by the Bad Shepherds.

In true folk tradition, some of the songs are presented with tunes, so while the prospect of the Ramones segueing into trad tunes might sound strange, here it feels totally natural and creates an album that both rewards and surprises in the quality of the performances and choice of material.

1 Anarchy In The UK

2 Sound Of The Suburbs

3 Making Plans For Nigel

4 Friday Night, Saturday Morning

5 Ramones Medley

6 Panic

7 Ace Of Spades

8 Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)

9 White Riot