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Dropkick Murphys have been a band that I have enjoyed from afar ever since I saw the video for "Ten Years Of Service" many years ago. For some reason I never got a chance to really dig into them though. I loved every video of theirs I saw afterwards too, but for some reason have never seen them live and never bought one of their cds. Being a fan of tech talk show host Patrick Norton I was constantly reminded of the band. Why I never got into them more is a bit of a mystery to be honest. Now I have their newest cd and I really wish I had some of the older material to listen to. I like the fact that the vocals are gritty as hell, but they don't do the cliché growls that everyone else is doing now. They sing, but in a nice gruff way that doesn't sound pussified. The music is very old school punk. No, not hardcore, but true old school punk. They add bag pipes and other traditional Irish elements to give it that extra Celtic vibe. They sing about working class Irish culture pretty much exclusively. So you have the influence of Jameson Whiskey, the Catholic Church, fighting, being a working stiff, and other subjects you would expect in a movie about when unions first started in America. The production here is exactly what you would expect. If it was any more crisp it would lose the raw vibe the band has going. If it was anymore raw it would come off as muddy. So no complaints there. The one complaint I have is that there isn't much diversity on the tempo and the songs kind of blur together even after several listens. The songs are great and have a cool punk rock sing along feel to them, but something seems missing. I have heard that the band used to throw in a few silly songs that were totally upbeat and fun though and that is the only thing I think this cd is missing. Something to keep the cd from dragging. Just something to keep it from all sounding too much of the same thing. This is the only thing negative I can say about this cd! Other than that it is flawless through and through. “(F)Lannigan’s Ball” stuck out more than anything for me though. Even on the first spin I knew there were some vocals on there that were not from the band. Turns out I was right. Spider Spacey from The Pogues and Ronnie Drew from The Dubliners add their touch to this traditional Irish song. If I had to pick a favorite, this would be it. One thing I really like about this cd are the lyrics. Although the songs demand the listener to tap their feet and sing along, the lyrics have a dark story to tell. Musically they are some very up beat tunes, but once you start reading deeper into the lyrics the songs are actually kind of depressing. The contrast between what the notes tell the listener and what the lyrics are trying to say makes up a large part of what I think has made this band so legendary for over a decade. Every song on here brings up images of a bunch of guys hanging out at the pub after a long day at a shitty job trying to drown their sorrows with a few pints and songs with their drinking buddies. Does this cd Rock My Monkey? Yes, it did. I recommend that you buy a Flogging Molly cd to go with it though. That way you can put both the cds on random and get that more light hearted material that is missing from this release. Plus, Flogging Molly can get too light hearted at times, so I think the two would sound good together.
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