Dropkick Murphys

Since their humble beginnings as a Boston pub band in 1996, the Dropkick Murphys have developed into a mighty force to be reckoned with. The group layers raucous punk rock and traditional Irish folk on their albums as smoothly as Black and Tan in a pint glass. Their sixth album, The Meanest of Times, debuted in September at number 20 on Billboard’s Top 200. The commercial success is gratifying, but not the sole aim of the group, said singer Al Barr in a recent chat with Synthesis.net.

    “Getting on the charts is never the ultimate goal,” he said. “The ultimate goal is putting out the best record we can, that our fans will embrace as much as the last record.”

    The Dropkick Murphys have achieved their goal of a quality new record, Barr said.

    “I think that with The Meanest of Times we’ve definitely honed our skills a little more,” he said. “I think we were all happier than we’ve been with any record.”

    Creativity, as well as honed skills, has played a part in the latest album’s quality. With The Meanest of Times, there was a lot of “creative fluidity.” With The Warrior’s Code, the creativity went back and forth.

    “‘There you go, we shat on a plate.’ That doesn’t work with us,” he said. “It either comes or it doesn’t.”

    It doesn’t work to force the creative process, he said.

    “If you put us in a room, gave us a pad of paper and a couple guitars and said, ‘Write a good song,’ you’d probably come in and find a bunch of dudes that’d hung themselves,” Barr joked.

    The Dropkick Murphys have released a full-length album every two years, beginning with Do or Die in 1997. Two years is a good rhythm for putting out new material, Barr said. That’s about how long people take to get tired of an album, and as a working band that’s when it’s time to release something new. Dropkick’s fan base extends beyond punk rock fans, including listeners from many backgrounds and age groups.

    “The 15-year-olds are bringing their parents and their grandparents,” Barr said. “It becomes a real family affair.”

    Both he and bassist/bandleader Ken Casey are fathers. Their own families provided much of the inspiration for the new album.



    “The greatest gift I’ve ever received was when my son was born,” Barr said. “When I held my son in my arms for the first time, that was the greatest feeling. That was the greatest gift that life could ever bestow on a human being.”

    People go through a loss of innocence, and forget the simple things in life that are important, Barr said. Then a son or daughter allows them to see the world through the eyes of a child again.

    “Every single person in the band is very close to their family,” he said. “I think that’s another reason why everyone can relate to that as well.”

    A lot of the themes of the songs are about appreciating your family while they’re alive and living in the moment, Barr said.

    “Knowing the lineage of your family and history, to us is important,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of shallow, shmaltzy shit out there that doesn’t really stick. That’s the state of music, not a lot of content.”

    Dropkick has contributed to the Rock Against Bush compilations, and a number of songs about war appear on several of their albums. Some people are confused about Dropkick’s position against the war, while solidly supporting the troops.

    “It’s the rich white guys that make the fuckin’ war, and it’s the poor and the middle class that go and fight the war,” he said. “You’re gonna beat up on those guys? No, you’re gonna support them.”

    The Meanest of Times is the first album released on Dropkick’s own label, Born and Bred Records. Prior albums were release on Epitaph Records or Hellcat Records.

    “Epitaph, Hellcat were great to us,” Barr said. “They do a good job for their bands.”

    Barr made a point of saying that there was no ill will when they left.



    “We’ve always been our own self-sufficient unit anyways, and we felt it was time for a new chapter in the book of the Dropkick Murphys,” he said. “It’s still pretty early on for us to make any predictions on how it’s gonna go. So far it looks like it was the right move.”

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