Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 8.0
Production: 8.0
Originality: 8.0
Tracklisting
2. God Willing
3. The State of Massachusetts
4. Tomorrow's Industry
5. Echo's on 'A.' Street
6. Vices and Virtues
7. Surrender
8. Flannigan'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
16. Jailbreak (Bonus Track)
Generally a band known for their intensity and indelible spirit, often the songwriting skills of the Dropkick Murphys get overlooked. On their new record, “The Meanest of Times,” it will be impossible for people to deny that this band can really write songs. Sure, everything on the album is on par with everything they’ve done before: the blend of Celtic and punk music a la The Pogues meet Rancid is as charming and undeniable as ever. The songs are fast and furious, never stopping for air, and even when you think the Dropkick Murphys are going to slow down, they kick right back into gear. But what makes “The Meanest of Times” one of the great punk records of the year is the spirit and life that the band breathes into songs that would otherwise be thrown away.
From the very beginning, there is very little doubt that this is the Dropkick Murphys. “Famous For Nothing” features the band in full swing, with the guitars, banjo and accordion revved up to full strength, the warm, inviting growl of lead singer Al Barr orienting the listener to the whiskey drenched, testosterone charged world the Murphys live in. Harr chants, “Their gang went my way for basketball/ my gang went their way for alcohol,” a line that sticks in your head through the rest of the album and for several days after, possibly the most infectious hook on the album.
The album continues with the fantastic, sentimental “God Willing,” a song that wears its heart on its sleeve without dipping into melodrama. Next comes possibly the best song the Murphys have ever written, both musically and lyrically. “State of Massachusetts” is a dense, almost bard like recounting of broken child hood, with the Celtic sound in full gear moving the tale forward. Harr proclaims, “Billy was the bright one/ Tommy’s off his head/ mother loved them both/ at least that’s what she said,” and at this moment the Dropkick Murphys let the light shine through all their punk, Bostonian, and Irish swagger to show the true artistry at the core of the band.
The Murphys are not content with writing the same punk song over and over again. Sure, the subject matter is often the same, but they always find new perspectives to approach it from, new ways of presenting it. “The Meanest of Times” is easily their best record, fusing everything that’s great about the band into sixteen songs. Not all of the songs are dead on. Some of them try and drop the spirit of the Murphys, going down a more typical punk approach. These songs serve to break up the album, but upon further listens sound a little boring compared to the rest of the record. But on the whole, the majority of the sixteen songs are worthwhile, begging for repeat listens.
If you consider yourself a punk, there is no reason for you not to own this album. It picks the genre up, dusts it off, and breathes a little life into it. The Murphys are not content with simply bringing punk back to what it had been in its hay day, but evolving it, making it smarter, making it stronger. Along with Bad Religion’s fantastic new record this year, the genre seems to been in capable hands.