:: Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest Of Times

Dropkick Murphys

While their first couple of releases were firmly rooted within the punk realm, it was with their third release ‘Sing Loud, Sing Proud!’ that Boston based act Dropkick Murphys started to really develop and showcase their Irish influences. With the addition of piper Robbie ‘Spicy McHaggis’ Mederios and tin while/mandolin player Ryan Foltz to their line-up, 2003’s ‘Blackout’, saw the band further explore their mix of traditional Irish tunes with punk rock anthems, to high praise. But it was 2005’s ‘The Warrior’s Code’ that the Dropkick Murphys finally perfected their sound, and scored their biggest sales to date. Two years on and the seven piece act are finally back with album number seven, which is the band’s first for their own label Born & Bred Records. As you would expect, ‘The Meanest Of Times’ doesn’t stray too far from the winning formula the Dropkick Murphys have mastered on their last couple of releases. But having said that, would you really want it any other way?

The band gets things off to a riotous start with the catchy and fast paced ‘Famous For Nothing’, which is quickly followed up with the rocking ‘God Willing’ and then anthem like first single ‘The State Of Massachusetts’. Fans will be pleased to find that a touch of the band’s former punk roots creeps in tracks such as the blazing ‘Tomorrow’s Industry’, ‘Promised Land’ (one of the two featured Australian bonus tracks), ‘Shattered’ and ‘I’ll Begin Again’, while on ‘Echoes on “A”. Street’ and ‘Vices And Virtues’ the band finds the perfect medium between hard rock and their Celtic punk roots. The band’s Irish influences are prevalent on the traditional reworking of ‘Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya’, the up-tempo ‘(F)lannigan’s Ball’ (which features guest vocal appearances from Spider Spacey from The Pogues and Ronnie Drew from The Dubliners) and the melancholy ‘Fairmount Hill’, while the tail end of the album (‘Loyal To No One’ and ‘Rude Awakenings’ and ‘Never Forget’) sees the Dropkick Murphys finish up the album with a string of quality beer drinking sing-along anthems fit for any well lubricated audience. Apart from an ill fated cover of Thin Lizzy’s classic ‘Jailbreak’ (which can be forgiven as it’s only a bonus track on the Australian pressing of the album), ‘The Meanest Of Times’ is another stellar effort from the Boston punks.