The Saw Doctors: Takin’ The Train EP Review

saw doctors takin the train
I’ve never been the biggest fan of The Saw Doctors, they always seemed a little too Irish for me. Saying that though, it’s twenty years since the mighty ‘I Useta Love her’ and they’re still going strong.

Taken from the album ‘The Saw Doctors…Further Adventures’, the ‘Takin’ The Train’ EP is a great reintroduction to the band. Lead single, ‘Takin’ The Train’ is a midtempo folk rock track and once the unmistakeable vocals of Davy Carton kick in, you know it’s The Saw Doctors. The band have always seemed to base their tracks on stories of Irish life. This is no different, as the song tells of the confines of living and loving in a small town.

It’s a melodic track with a muted lead guitar sound. They have definitely updated their distinct ‘Saw Doctors’ sound with clever production and a musical break and ‘oh oh’ refrain makes the track sound huge. You’ll hear loads of it on the radio.

The slower tempo-ed, ‘Be Yourself’ is bound to be a great singalong track while the ‘Hazard’ is an upbeat rock track. Although the band could be classed as a folk rock band there are moments throughout the EP where they veer into a more mainstream indie.

‘Last Call’ starts with a drum and piano intro and features thoughtful lyrics and tender vocals. The addition of Eímhín Craddock on drums seems to have given the band a new lease of life. Craddock has three co-writes on the EP and maybe its this new blood that seems to make The Saw Doctors still relevant on the Irish music scene. Either way we’ll be hearing a lot more of them going on these tracks.