Frionas is Fuaim. Gaelic punk rock.

Or, a noisy sub-genre of Nos Ur. For me, this is probably my favourite genre, especially in Gaelic. Sadly, Gaelic has become only too associated with history -with death. With punk and despite the skulls and aural terror, there is something alive, vibrant and confident that demands attention.

Oi Polloi at the Falkirk Mòd.

Let's be clear, any 'sub-genre' of any aspect of modern Gaelic culture is not going to be huge. Modern rock bands that sing in Gaelic and compose their own songs can ,to my knowledge, be counted on the fingers of one hand. Narrowing that down to 'punk' means losing more digits until you're left with Oi Polloi, Mill a h-Uile Rud, Atomgewitter. Possibly Là Luain and Na Gathan make it though they may best be described as 'indie'.

There have been adventures though. Oi Polloi are veterans of the Scottish punk scene and when their singer learned Gaelic, he was only too willing to start writing and singing in it. Their first Gaelic offering was the 'Carson?' 7" on old-fashioned black vinyl. They then produced two LPs on CD and vinyl entirely in Gaelic. The first and probably finest is 'Ar Cànan, Ar Ceòl, Ar-A-Mach' which combines some superb melodic punk with tribal Killing Joke-esque anthems as well as raging metallic punk that wouldn't sound out of place on a System of a Down collection. Lyrics deal with many different social and political issues and are in Gaelic though not entirely about Gaelic. The only real 'tradition' on show here is a gay-pride version of  'Fear a' Bhàta'. In recent years there haven't been as many new Gaelic tracks but they do still appear alongside some in English, German and Finnish.

Mill a h-Uile Rud, Leverkusen, Germany,

The most accessible - read 'tuneful' - group was Mill a h-Uile Rud. Great name and great attitude. Most of their songs dealt with sex and were delivered in a US-style melodic poppy hardcore not dissimilar to the likes of Green Day. Gaelic poetry probably hasn't seen such explicit sexual imagery since Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair or the 'In Praise of a Good Penis'.

Both Polloi and MahR toured Europe. They brought Gaelic to a whole new audience in the clubs, squats and autonomous youth centres of Poland ,Germany and the Netherlands. The tour was captured by BBC Alba for a documentary that deserves to be part of the Gaelic-medium curriculum for secondary pupils.

Irish Gael and Scottish Gaidheal at punk gig, Edinburgh.

Lastly, we have Atomgewitter. Another great name and great entertainment. Most of their screaming songs were in English but some such as 'Se Muncaidh a th'Annam' were met with popular acclaim at gigs like the Roc na Gàidhlig 2009 above.

Some of the Gaelic punks are still active in performing music though most are now Gaelic-medium teachers, academics, artists, fathers and mothers. Will we see a new generation of Gaelic noise-merchants? Let's get to work...

Roc na Gàidhlig Gaelic t-shirt