Sleeveens – National Anthem

A Dublin-born, stylistically-restless but fundamentally punk troubadour, Stefan Murphy emerged in the early 00s under the moniker The Mighty Stef, which became a full-band concern around 2007, wrapped up in 2016, and was followed by a short stint as Count Vaseline. Then, in 2019, Murphy met a gentleman by the name of James Mechan, who happened to be Stiff Little Fingers’ guitar tech. That last part is relevant, as any current convert to the band we’re discussing here can testify. And so is the first part, as Mechan wanted to record Murphy at his Nashville studio. Those plans were derailed by the pandemic but not forgotten when Murphy moved to Nashville in 2022. Work commenced, the pair were joined by Ryan Sweeney (of Cheap Time) on drums and Eli Steele (Sweet Knives) on lead guitar. The result was The Sleeveens, named after an Irish slang for “trixter”… not the earthly type responsible for a plastic Aztec death whistle on your exhaust pipe but rathe