Dropkick Murphys Biography

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 BIOGRAPHY