By By Mike Fordham

You’d think that the Tossers would be a fierce punk group. The skeletons on the album cover and the title of the troupe’s latest release, The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death, infer an intense outing. A listen to the album, however, indicates otherwise.

The Tossers are yet another band that can be filed under the label “Celtic punk.” They follow a long pedigree, which includes more recent acts like Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys, as well as veterans such as Black 47 and the Pogues. To be fair, the Tossers have been at it for awhile, The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death is their fifth release.

The seven-piece act really feels like a Celtic band at heart. The album contains a fair dose of punk rock, just not enough to truly deem it (and the band) punk. Rather, the Tossers at times incorporate punk into their repertoire, much like Black 47. The band prefers to churn out ballads instead, which are the album’s bread and butter. Songs such as “Late,” “The Crock Of Gold” and “Drinking In The Day” (an homage to Irish balladeer Ronnie Drew co-written by Bono) showcase the Tossers’ stellar ability for creating emotional, heartfelt ballads. A listener would be hard pressed to disagree with “No Loot, No Booze, No Fun,” or at least the latter part of the title, as mandolins and banjos reflect their sorrow.

However, the more punk rock oriented material here sounds fairly limp. “Out On The Road,” “Goodmornin’ Da” and “A Criminal Of Me” are much more relaxed and safe than a punk band should be. The Tossers get it right, though, on “I’ve Pursued Nothing” and “Preab San Ol,” successfully fusing Irish music and punk.

As a punk album, The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death is weak and disappointing. As a Celtic album, the release is wonderful. Thus, the strain between two genres, along with the difficulty of blending them together, equates into a decent album. Other contemporaries do not have this issue making the Tossers appear as also-rans. The group should really opt for one genre and stick to it.