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Dropkick Murphys are a Celtic Punk band formed in the Irish Catholic working
class neighborhoods of South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They practiced in
the basement of a friend's barbershop, blending punk rock, Oi!, Irish folk,
rock, and hardcore into something they could call their own. The sound of
their music is rooted in such outfits like Stiff Little Fingers, The Pogues,
AC/DC, and The Clash. Their name was taken from a local rehab center. They
typically close their concerts with Skinhead on the MBTA, a parody of The
MTA Song.
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Current lineup From left to right: Marc Orell, Tim Brennan, James Lynch, Al
Barr, Ken Casey , Matt Kelly, Scruffy Wallace.Dropkick Murphys were formed
in 1995 by Mike McColgan (vocals), Ken Casey (bass guitar), Rick Barton (formerly
of Boston punk pop act, the Outlets) (guitar). After cycling through a
series of drummers the band settled on Fit For Abuse vocalist, Matt Kelly in
1997. The band put out a series of EPs and were signed by Hellcat Records
releasing their first full length album, Do or Die, in the same year. Soon
after the album's release vocalist Mike McColgan left the band citing his
inability to commit to touring. McColgan was replaced by former Bruisers
singer Al Barr. 1999 saw the release of their follow up album The Gang's All
Here and major changes were on the way. Lars Frederiksen who had produced
Dropkick Murphys' first two albums exited to pursue other interests and Rick
Barton left after getting married. James Lynch from local band Ducky Boys
was picked by Barton to replace him in the group. The band also recruited
another guitarist, Marc Orrell, (also a self-taught accordionist.) as well
as Spicy McHaggis (bagpipes) and Ryan Foltz (mandolin / tin whistle).
Sing Loud Sing Proud Album CoverIn 2001 Dropkick Murphys released the album
Sing Loud Sing Proud. The album show cased the developing sound of the band
and included collaborations with ex-Pogues Shane MacGowan and Cock Sparrer's
Colin McFaull. Their next album Blackout was released in 2003. Prior to the
album's release, Spicy McHaggis left the band "because he was whipped," and
Foltz also left. James "Scruffy" Wallace filled in bagpipe duties, and Tim
Brennan took up mandolin, tin whistle and acoustic guitar. The new album
included the radio hit Walk Away, as well as the song Fields of Athenry
which made its debut on the compilation album Blackout.
In 2005, the Dropkick Murphys released Singles Collection Volume 2,
featuring covers, b-sides and other stuff that didn't make it onto previous
albums. Their latest studio album, The Warrior's Code was released on June
21st of 2005 sporting the singles "Sunshine Highway" and "Tessie." There are
also some rumours of a future album that will most likely be recorded in
2006 and released in 2007. No plans of that statement have been made as of
yet.
The Dropkick Murphys, Rancid and other "street punk" bands have been subject
to criticism from some sections of the punk scene for their avowedly "working
class" allegiance and alleged glorification of violence. The song Tightrope,
recorded by Chicago pop-punk band Screeching Weasel and released on the 1999
b-side compilation, Thank You Very Little, appeared to be directed
specifically at the Dropkick Murphys and Rancid (Ben Weasel writes in the
liner notes that the song is a "sarcastic, accusatory song aimed at the
resurgence of tough-guy, so-called working class or street punk bands"). The
Dropkick Murphys have not issued any public response to the song. Rancid,
however, did note in the liner notes to their 2003 album, Indestructible,
that they have been referred to as a "pack of badgers", one of the lyrics in
Tightrope. |
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DROPKICK MURPHYS PICTURES |
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MOST POPULAR
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