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www.thepiratescharles.com

Genre: Pirate rock/folk.
Rating: R
Target Audience: Fans of pirate-rock or rough, swaggering traditional

It wasn’t that long ago that no one had heard of The Pirates Charles – primarily in that they didn’t yet exist. And yet in only a couple short years, they quickly rose from obscurity into what is arguably one of the best known, best loved, and “truest” pirate bands around. The secret is a rare blend of the traditional and new – sea shanties mixed in with just enough rock&roll to, well, rock, but not so much as to wholly modernize their music. Of course, the icing on the cake is that The Pirates Charles both look and sound the parts of true scallywags – an important factor in the evolution from sea songs to pirate songs. [read more »]

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Genre: Contemporary Pirate Folk.
Rating: PG
Target Audience: Sea and pirate-shanty fans

Much like the Department of Naval Intelligence, I’ve been aware of the Brotherhood of Oceanic Mercenaries (B.O.O.M.) for some time – mainly in that yes, a crew called the B.O.O.M. Pirates exists, that they do most of said existing out in the Pacific Northwest, and that they boast some pretty classy pirate garb. But having not yet done any piratin’ myself in that region it was a great treat to finally get a copy of their CD to experience first hand what they’ve been up to from a musical perspective. [read more »]

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Genre: Pirate kid’s songs, poems, and silly stuff
Rating: G
Target Audience: Kids, mostly. But definitely some crossover appeal to adults.

Of all the pirate musical artists it’s the childrens’ entertainers for which I have the lowest expectations. I can’t tell you how many pirate kids’ albums I’ve never even bothered to seek out based on their sample tracks that clearly demonstrate a soft, froofy performance that would be of no interest whatsoever to those over the age of six. Mike Mennard, however, is a different beast entirely. True, children are clearly his target audience. But he also demonstrates remarkable creativity and talent the likes of which can be thoroughly enjoyed by all ages – mostly. [read more »]

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Genre: Celtic Pirate Punk
Rating: PG-13
Target Audience: Anyone looking for a modern Irish-punk spin on traditional and traditional-style shanties

I doubt it comes as a surprise to seasoned Bilgemunky.com readers that I have strong preferences with regards to pirate music. By and large, I want it, well, piratey. Meaning shameless, brazen, and loud. All too often sea shanties are performed in the folk-song manner of your Great Aunt Gertrude (meaning toothless and dry) – or worse yet, a kindergarten teacher just before nap-time. But it’s bands like The Dreadnoughts that show us why traditional sea shanties can still kick ass. [read more »]

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www.themadmaggies.com

Genre: Pirate Folk Jazz
Rating: PG
Target Audience: Adults

With its cover of what appears to be a young pirate girl staring at the sunset through a telescope (terribly unwise, now that I think about it), The Mad Maggies new pirate album “Skull&Magpies” has the appearance of a children’s CD. The inside art, featuring the band in fun, colorful cartoons as well tends to reinforce this notion. But, while it doesn’t really feature any material inappropriate for the young’ns, Skull&Magpies is hardly a children’s CD. Rather, it’s for anyone who loves pirates and has a taste for the eclectic. [read more »]

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www.myspace.com/thekarkadens

Genre: Pirate Rockabilly
Rating: PG
Target Audience: Teens and adults looking for pirate rock with a punk/ska edge

One of my favorite things about Pirate-Core music is when a band takes pirate themes and lyrics and injects them into a musical genre that on its face would seem entirely not-piratey. Sometimes this results in humorous contrasts. Other times, as with the album Sovereign of the Seas, it’s done so flawlessly as to make the combination seem as natural as parrot poop on a captain’s shoulder. [read more »]

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www.thebrigands.com
Genre: Contemporary Pirate Folk.
Rating: X
Target Audience: Adults who enjoy a swarthy jig alongside pirate porn

The cover. My god, the cover. It’s an ass. At first glance, I thought it was a rashed, diseased ass. But no, it’s an ass with a map of the world. I don’t know if that makes me feel better or not. [read more »]

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Genre: Pirate Metal
Rating: PG
Target Audience: Pirate-Core fans, whether they’re metal fans or not

Alestorm’s Captain Morgan’s Revenge every bit appears the standard pirate metal album – the front cover features a skeletal demonic pirate screaming into the eye of a storm, while the back is emblazoned with an original jolly roger over a compass rose and crossed pistols. The packaging is definitely piratey. But as we know, the very nature of metal sometimes make for an album whose cover is the only thing that’s clearly piratey. All too often the typical thrasher growls and yells of “yarrr wahhhh grrrramoad!” could just as easily be “singing” of devil pigs as they might of pirates. This is the crux of pirate metal - but not so with Alestorm. [read more »]

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Genre: Pirate-themed gansta rap
Rating: R+
Target Audience: Immature adults

Where to begin when describing the wonderful oddity that is Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew? By all common sense, such an apparent novelty act should long ago have gone the way of the dodo. But the crew hit the ground with surprising momentum – their first pirate gangsta rap album, Authentic Pirate Hip Hop was a shameless joy to the ears. It seemed an impossible act to follow, and yet, a mere year later, follow it they did with Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariner. But rather than treating us to “more of the same” The Scurvy Crew expanded and developed their hip-hop pirate concept to make for an even better end product. And now, just one year since Rimes, the Scurvy Crew has struck again with their third album, From the Seas to the Streets. [read more »]

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www.noxarcana.com

Genre: Ethereal, ambience, spook.
Rating: G (not meaning it’s for kids, though)
Target Audience: Anyone looking for a taste of atmospheric pirate creepiness

It’s been tried before – wholly instrumental albums of ethereal background music intended to capture images of swashbuckling and high-seas daring-do. The problem, all too often, is that if it weren’t for the album cover featuring a ship, jolly roger, or skeletal pirate, you’d be hard pressed to listen to the music and know it was piracy that inspired the artist, and not dragons, cave-dwelling amazons, or any number of other fantastical entities. [read more »]