The Sleeveens “National Anthem”

sfilzen — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:50:02 +0000

The Sleeveens “National Anthem” 2026. Goner Records, limited edition white vinyl variant. The latest from Dublin/Nashville punks – love these guys! We’ve been fans since even before their debut LP (on Dirtnap Records) was released having gotten the inside scoop from Dirtnap Ken back in late 2023 or early 2024. National Anthem is a raucous garage soaked good time, reminiscent of the 70s punk sound (The Clash, Ramones, Buzzcocks and Stiff Little Fingers — I think two of the Nashville-based band members still do tech for SLF tours – here’s a photo of Sleeven bassist, who also recorded and mixed National Anthem – doing guitar tech before the Stiff Little Fingers set at Punk Rock Bowling in 2024 ): fun, melodic and a bit snotty. There’s even a bit 60s-style girl group energy (which is of course also like the Ramones) meets jangly power pop (think early Elvis Costello) on “My Pretend Girlfriend” and some country twang on the title track “National Anthem” (though it is sarcastic AF). As usual, my top tracks are the bangers like the opener “If I Was a Casual,” “Six Counties Punk” and the snappy “Cowboy Queen.” Despite the album’s name, there’s just one song that I’d describe having an anthemic sound: the hypnotic, driving “Town of Horseheads” that definitely leans into heavy garage psych territory. There’s just one cover on National Anthem – “The Rat” originally by The Walkmen (2004) and since I’m not familiar with that indie rock band I’ll just go ahead and say The Sleeveens version is great.

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The Sleeveens “The Sleeveens”

sfilzen — Sat, 17 Feb 2024 19:29:49 +0000

The Sleeveens “The Sleeveens” 2024. Dirtnap Records, yellow vinyl Green Noise Records exclusive. Released just about a week ago, The Sleeveens is the debut from Nashville/Dublin pub-punk rockers and we had the extreme pleasure of catching them last night at Last Rites here in Milwaukee. The show was blistering good fun, nonstop ass-shaking as they blasted through most of the tracks from the LP. Most tracks are short, sharp, a bit snotty and absolutely ripping. I was able to catch my favorite song from The Sleeveens on video, the Sex Pistolish “Tales From the Megaplex”

They also played their single “Give My Regards to the Dancing Girls,” the 60’s style garagey “Looking for Porno?” which weirdly is a total ear worm (I woke up with it playing in my head this morning), the anthemic “Dry Cider,” the rager “Full Dollar,” and “Haunted Neighborhood” plus a slew of other hard pub rockers.

Their bio from their Bandcamp: “When Irish-born Count Vaseline/The Mighty Stef songwriter Stef Murphy met Stiff Little Fingers guitar tech Jamie Mechan in Nashville, Tennessee, it began a musical partnership of the highest order. After cranking out a few tunes at Mechan’s fledgling studio, 302 Sound, the duo started recruiting other musicians. The band was rounded out by drummer Ryan Sweeney (Cheap Time) and Eli Steele (Sweet Knives.) Dubbing themselves The Sleeveens, an Irish term for a trixter, the band got to work. After recording and releasing their highly-touted “Give My Regards To The Dancing Girls” 45rpm single on Sweeney’s Sweet Time Records, they finished off their 11 track debut LP. The quartet were soon approached by longrunning punk label Dirtnap Records (Marked Men, Exploding Hearts) for the album’s 2024 release. The resulting LP is an homage to the kind of classic punk Chiswick, New Rose and Stiff Records were releasing 45 years before The Sleeveens existed. With earworm melodies and screaming guitars, the foursome have crafted one of the best albums of the year. Murphy’s penchant for charmingly brilliant, matter-of-fact lyricism has a similar poetic quality as Mark E. Smith or Jonathan Richman. With expert mastering by Jim Diamond (The White Stripes, The Dirtbombs) to put the finishing touches on the sound, The Sleeveens is a record that is simultaneously uncompromisingly raw and thoughtfully crafted.”

I got a chance to chat with Ryan Sweeney and James Mechan before the show – both super-nice guys! – mostly about touring the Midwest in February (them – “Milwaukee is cold!”) and Nashville (me – “there’s a great yoga studio there!”) (all of us – “the gangs of bachelorettes are the worst!”). We nabbed a couple of t-shirts and stuffed some bills in the pitcher passed around by the green mohawked owner(?)/bartender: Last Rites doesn’t sell tickets or collect at the door (at least not for this show). I hope The Sleeveens had a great time in Milwaukee and come back again soon – they totally rock!

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The Sleeveens “National Anthem”

The Sleeveens “The Sleeveens”