Another Planet Entertainment

Dropkick Murphys have become ambassadors for their city. In Boston, it seems like everybody knows someone connected to the band whether by blood, friendship, or the time they shared a brew at a Bruins game. They’ve built a legacy that does Beantown proud. Since their 1996 formation, they’ve sold a staggering 4 million albums worldwide with 2005’s The Warrior’s Code achieving an RIAA Gold certification and its smash single “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” nearing double platinum and appearing during a key moment of Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning The Departed. Most recently, 2013’s Signed And Sealed In Blood netted their second consecutive Top 10 debut on the Billboard Top 200, and debuted at number 6 in Germany. The album spawned standout tracks “The Boys Are Back,” “Out Of Our Heads,” “Prisoner’s Song,” and “Rose Tattoo,” a fan favorite that has accumulated 24 million views on YouTube – without the aid of being a radio hit. A special version of this song featuring the band’s buddy Bruce Springsteen was released as a benefit for the Boston Marathon bombing victims. They’ve hosted sold out concerts at most of the city’s landmarks, including Fenway Park, TD Garden, the Boston Pops, and even the last voyage of the USS Constitution. They updated the Boston Red Sox anthem “Tessie” in 2004, which may or may not have had something to do with the team’s first World Series win in 86 years…

The social and political awareness that drives Flogging Molly’s music is never more prominent than in their upcoming new release LIFE IS GOOD – a strikingly powerful album and it arrives at a strikingly key time. The sixth studio album by the renowned Celtic-punk rockers now in their 20th year is mature, well crafted, equally polished and almost aggressively topical. It is filled with rousing songs that are timeless in their sentiment, but directly related to today’s most pressing concerns: Politics, the economy, unemployment, planned boomtowns gone bust, immigration policies gone awry, and much more.

For singer and lyricist Dave King, it may be the lyrical couplet contained within the surging “Reptiles (We Woke Up”) that points toward the album’s central theme. “We woke up,” sings King, “And we won’t fall back asleep.” “The thing is, there are things changing,” says King. “That’s why I wrote that line, ‘Like reptiles, we’ll all soon be dust someday.’ It’s quite scary, especially for somebody who has children these days–bringing up family in this environment of who’s welcome and who’s not welcome. I’m talking about the cultures in America and the UK–especially American immigration.

Life Is Good thus serves as a wake-up call to those who have simply stood by while far-reaching political decisions were made that had serious impact on them. And, significantly, it also serves as notice that the time for action is now. And people are indeed taking action, adds King, which is a crucial point. “I think especially with things like government–I think we all tend to fall asleep a little bit when it comes to other people that are making decisions for you. I think we should be the ones influencing the government to make these decisions. It’s a great thing that we’re now taking to the streets again. And it’s a positive thing.”

Here we see what’s uniquely distinctive about Life is Good, as the gravity and weight of these themes never overshadow the sheer fun and exuberance felt in each song. For the message is delivered and built on the backs of boisterous and barreling live touring. “We’re known for our live shows,” says Dave King. Writing albums has always been a vehicle for us — it’s been a means to get people onto the dance floor. And that’s kind of the way we’ve always approached it, no matter what.” “The one thing we are is a positive band,” adds Dave King. “When people come and see our shows, it’s a celebration–of life, of the good and of the bad. And we have to take the good and the bad for it to be a life.”

Shouty bloke with a guitar at the front of that bunch of old punk rockers, Stiff Little Fingers.