Meisce - Shipwrecked in a Bottle

Fistolo Records

A trip to Ireland turned out to be one of my favorite vacations, and when listening to Meisce, I felt for a moment that I was back there. The band consists of seven guys who sound like a mix of Irish folk music and punk rock. The songs are upbeat and make me wish I was in a pub drinking a beer. Although the band is from Seattle, Washington the sounds is so authentic that I banked on them being Irish, but boy was I wrong. Even the titles of the songs sound like Celtic folktales, which perfectly accompany the lead singer’s Irish brogue. The sounds of the guitar, fiddle, and mandolin are prevalent throughout the album and give a feel good vibe to Meisce’s music.

Not only does the band boasts on its website about its devotion to drinking and alcoholic beverages, but songs like “Sean Reilly” are dedicated to it, and is the perfect drinking song if I’ve ever heard one. From what I could find, the band gets its name for the word for “drunk” in Irish/Gaelic, and it is definitely appropriate.

Unfortunately, the bio section doesn’t give much information on the band, which seems like a really cool collection of guys. One of my favorite songs on the album is “Lock me in the Nick,” which expresses the band’s love for freedom of speech by exercising it in the song. Behind all of the amazing instrumentals are lyrics with political messages - such as the song “When the Guns Have All Been Fired.” The song expresses the problems with violence and war without making the listener mellow and depressed. The only ballad is the title song “Shipwrecked in a Bottle,” which isn’t as fast as the others and expresses the loneliness of a man drowning his heartbreak at a bar. As much as I enjoyed listening to the album, I have a feeling this band is best enjoyed live.

Review by Julianne DiBenedetto