Pressgang Mutiny Promote Good Times with Their “Roll Boys Roll” Music Video [Premiere]

You don’t hear enough sea shanties as part of popular music, so Pressgang Mutiny is here to do something about it. The ensemble of shantymen returns today with the official music video for their latest single, “Roll Boys Roll.” It comes just ahead of the release of their brand new album, Departure, which will officially drop tomorrow via Slammin Media and Believe.

What better environment for a music video for a song such as this than your local tavern? The band read the room correctly, assembling a video featuring the members engaging in a full-on sing-along while the drinks are a-flowing. “Roll Boys Roll” is right in line with the quartet’s mission to revive the raw spirit of sea shanties and maritime work songs. The song is traditional enough, but delivered in the spirit of modern indie music.

Stefan Read comments on the video:

“We shot ‘Roll Boys Roll’ at Castro’s Pub in Toronto’s east end — one of the places where we got our start. A shanty band filming a music video in a pub drinking beer. Groundbreaking stuff!”

The shantymen in Pressgang Mutiny hail from Toronto. They are predominantly a vocal quartet, formed back in 2013. Departure is their third proper full-length, an album rooted in tradition, but made to appeal to a more general audience. Departure features an incredible 20 tracks, tracing the connections between traditional sea songs and other global styles of music that have similar rhythmic and communal elements. The band has taken classic songs and infused them with fresh arrangements and different lyrical variations. The songs have been tailored over a number of years, finetuned based on both research and live performance. They retain their essence and what made them memorable in the first place. But the members of Pressgang Mutiny worked hard to make these versions of these songs distinctive and original.

Once you get fully immersed in Departure, you realize that it is a more elaborate release than you may have expected. There are a number of collaborations on the record, including Carl Harvey of Toots and the Maytals, reggae artist Sunray Grennan, DJ Jasper Gahunia, and Toronto hip-hop artist Matt Somber. Pressgang Mutiny are big believers in the versatility of shanty songs and their ability to be a runway towards cross-cultural musical exchange. Throughout Departure, the band skillfully and gracefully reinforce the greatness, relevance, and adaptability of sea shanties.

Tour Dates:

March 22 – Tranzac (Shanty Sing), Toronto, ON
March 26-28 – Spring Tide Shanty Fest, St. John, NB
March 29 – Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club, London, ON
July 31 – August 7 – Sidmouth Folk Week, Sidmouth, UK
August 15 – Morecambe Maritime Festival, Morecambe, UK
August 21-23 – FolkEast, Suffolk, UK
August 24-28 – Whitby Folk Week, Whitby, UK
August 30-31 – Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Shrewsbury, UK

Pressgang Mutiny ‘Departure’ album artwork