New Music: Chasing Abbey – Greedy Pigs

Ahead of their CYBER CELT album and a worldwide tour, Irish trio Chasing Abbey deliver a timely tale on Greedy Pigs.

Originally from Tullamore, Chasing Abbey – Ronan Bell, Jonathan Byrne, and Ted Conway – have made a global impact with their political punk/post-punk approach to traditional Irish music. Where their songs are often underpinned by melodies and lyrics that evoke a party atmosphere, even when acutely focusing on Irish and global issues, Greedy Pigs is more reflective.

The lyrics, however, are pointed and unvarnished; there is no escaping what the trio are telling us. It’s something that places them alongside CMAT, Madra Salach, and The Mary Wallopers: adapting sounds familiar to an Irish audience and reworking them for the modern day and taking a steady aim at the problems facing not just Ireland but societies everywhere.

“When I was a teenager I worked in a butcher’s,” recalls Conway when talking about the song. “I always noticed there was one pig that bullied the rest and ate the majority of the food. His greed could not be satisfied. Ironically, he was fast-tracking himself to the slaughterhouse, and I watched in terror and amazement as he guaranteed his demise through pure greed.”

“I realised that greed must be a bad thing and no good can come of it; it stuck with me. I see a lot of parallels in today’s world, greed for the sake of it, greed that cannot be satisfied or quenched, and the song draws on those observations.”

For news on CYBER CELT and details of those live dates, make your way to Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram. The album is set for release on the 18th of September, with the tour starting at Dublin’s Vicar Street venue on the 17th of September.