Dropkick Murphys: The Meanest of Times

Dropkick Murphys: The Meanest of Times

2007

Born & Bred Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Famous For Nothing  2. God Willing  3. The State of Massachusetts  4. Tomorrow's Industry  5. Echoes On "A." Street  6. Vices and Virtues  7. Surrender  8. (F)lannigan's Ball  9. I'll Begin Again  10. Fairmount Hill  11. Loyal to No One  12. Shattered  13. Rude Awakenings  14. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya  15. Never Forget



I don't know what inspired me pick this up really...Once again, I skipped a Dropkick Murphys album...

Yup. 2005's "The Warrior's Code." Never heard it. Maybe it was the butt-ugly cover that made me pass it by...Maybe I only want a new Dropkick Murphys album every four years and not every two years...Who knows...I'm sure I'll get around to checking it out eventually...

Anyway,  I was at a Target or something in 2007 and saw a DKM CD and was like, "Y'know...I could listen to some new Dropkick..."

Oddly enough, whenever I put this on and hear the school-bell ring and that country-ish guitar lick, I always kinda wish I would have picked something else to listen to...But then a funny thing happens...When it gets to Al Barr's verse, suddenly the whole band seems to lean into it and the thing starts rocking...By the time I get to that final, "The bells of St. Maaaary's were ringing..." I'm 10,000 percent sold...Fuck yes.

"Mother McGillicutty! It rocks so much!"

Y'know what? I love this album. I didn't think I'd ever say that about a DKM album post-"Do or Die" but these guys have nailed the formula...Al Barr is basically in the role that Ken Casey played on "Do or Die"...The counter-point...The exciting punctuation mark...I love how he's used here and for the first time, I can say with no hesitation that Al is a great addition to the band...The sound seems harder, grittier, and more rocking...They've reached the perfect harmony between hard rock, punk and Celtic music...It doesn't seem as segregated as it once was, where it was like, "Oh here's a hardcore song! Oh, here's an Irish song!" On this album it's hard to pinpoint where one influence ends and another begins...In other words, they've gained their own very distinct style...

  Highlights: "State of Massachusetts." Where you take one look at the title and ready yourself for another "Massachusetts! It's All Here!" tourist-board romp, but they flip your expectations by making it about the State of Massachusetts taking kids away from an unfit mother...And even with that subject matter it's somehow not maudlin or manipulative at all! It's catchy, tough with a "that's life" tone...

 The other big one here is "(F)lannigan's Ball," which is another shoo-in for all-time best Dropkick Murphys song, where they team up with Irish/punk forebears Spider Stacy from the Pogues, and Ronnie Drew from the Dubliners...Man, Ronnie Drew has the best vocal delivery I've ever heard...His voice is so dry, like he hasn't had a drink of water in 50 years...Calm, relaxed but with a skull-rattling deepness...Loud yet subliminal...Love love love his performance here, which I believe was one of his last since he passed away not too long after this...

Very few out-and-out misfires: "Tomorrow's Industry " is just a little awkward, but not actively awful...The only out-and-out awful song is "Shattered" where I can't help but picture Ken Casey as an old gypsy looking into a crystal ball and raising an eybrow, "People aren't always what they...seem..."

I fucking hate his delivery on that song...Still it's a small hiccup and the rest of the album is very enjoyable when I'm the mood for arena-punk...Easily the second best DKM album I've heard, although keep in mind I've only heard half of their albums...They've put out a couple new ones since this, but I haven't checked them out yet...When I do, I'll do posts on them...For the time being, this wraps up the Dropkick Murphys section...

Here's "(F)lannigan's Ball" by Dropkick Murphys...Enjoy...