If you haven't heard the Dropkick Murphys lately, get your thumb out of your ass and listen, listen, listen! This band is going to go places and thanks to their recent (and unfortunately cut short) tour with the Business, their name has been spread across these beloved United States. For those of you with your heads under stones, the Dropkick Murphys have a pretty heavy sound backing great singalong choruses. Think Stiff Little Fingers and the Clash with the attitude of old Boston hardcore (like SSD and Slapshot) and toss in some traditional Irish melodies for good measure. Speaking of SLF and the Clash, the band have been known to cover the classics "Suspect Device", "Career Opportunities", and "Guns of Brixton.
The band has humble beginnings. In 1996, Ken Casey and Mike McColgan, who had never been in bands before, started joking around with two other friends who had been in bands in the past. Before they knew it, the Dropkick Murphys were opening up for bands such as the Freeze and started making a name for themselves in and around Boston. The lineup solidified with Ken on bass, Mike on vocals, Matt Kelly on drums, and Rick Barton on guitar. Thanks to the great I've Got My Friends : San Francisco vs. Boston compilation, the Dropkick Murphys (along with some other great streetpunk bands) got their music out into the scene outside of Boston and even into the hands of Tim and Lars of Rancid, who asked the boys from Boston to be on Tim's Hellcat record label's compilation Give 'Em the Boot.
Then Micky Fitz and the Business came over to the States for their third American tour and took the Dropkick Murphys along with them, allowing the lads from Boston the maximum exposure they could possibly get outside in the streetpunk scene. With songs like "Barroom Hero" and "Boys on the Docks", the band are just a treat to watch live. With covers such as those mentioned above and others like "TNT" by AC/DC and "When the Boots Go Marching In" by Condemned 84, there's something for everyone, plain and simple. If you can't get excited when the Dropkick Murphys come on, you just plain don't belong at the show. Sadly, the tour was cut short when Ken came down with pneumonia and Mike decided to leave the band because he felt he couldn't give his all and that wasn't fair to the band nor the fans. However, American Oi! legend Al Barr (formerly of the Bruisers) has taken over lead vocals and, man, does he sound great! There's a new full length record in the works to be released by Hellcat Records...it should be out before the fall comes around.
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