The Currency - The Currency

Unless listless inmates around the world have been ganging together and forming bands, ‘Convict-Core’ could only really come from Australia and it would be safe to assume that it would sound like something of a mish-mash of the influences upon Australia’s history. With these assumptions in hand The Currency’s mix of high octane Celtic folk blended with Anglo Punk will come as no surprise. The Currency’s live shows are legendary, it takes very little time for crowds to be pulled into the melodic maelstrom, grabbing friends and strangers and pulling them into a frenzied mosh pit of flailing limbs and hair, booze flowing freely in all directions. Whilst this debut album lacks the pure energy of the band’s awesome live shows, the inter-twinning battling flutes, fiddles, mandolins and a plethora of other instruments will cause embarrassing toe-tapping, head jiggling and humming on public transport or at your workplace. The energy of the music aside, the stories contained within the songs are enticing and compelling, whilst there may not always be a conventional narrative, you pay attention to and follow the lyrics. By sticking to edgier themes of Australian life such as drought, workers rights, colonialism, the struggles of a young nation and tales of woe and regret The Currency manage to inject just enough ‘Australiana’ into their lyrics without sounding cringworthy or potentially alienating a global audience, maintaining an edgy, dangerous, dark and brooding brand of folk music to drown your sorrows to with beer, whisky and dancing until the early hours of the morning. Don’t buy one copy, buy several and send one to anyone you know overseas and hopefully we’ll inform the rest of the world that we’re not just a nation of bleached-blonde surfers.

Published in Inpress