Turn Up That Dial starts off with a jaunty rocky accordian and penny whistle led tune which is a slab of prime Celtic Punk. The album title, the font, the ghetto blaster cover (as if lifted straight off Joe’s shoulder): it’s all evocative of The Only Band That Mattered. Aside from being Oirish and proud (remember Boston Irish are more Irish than anyone born on the island) the Dropkick Murphys strong sense of identity has always been entwined with trade unions and the working man.įrom the outset this album is a bit of a love affair with The Clash. Whether or not they were the first no-one will know, but they were the first to be noticed and paved the way for punks with bagpipes. Not the Irish Uilleann pipes but the Scots highland bagpipes.
The Dropkick Murphys had a definite punk and Oi influence (especially on their first album) and at times are quite rocky but alongside the usual guitar, bass and drums, over the years the Dropkicks have brought in more and more traditional irish instruments like tin whistle, accordion, banjo and mandolin. They have been at the helm of the rise of this genre Stateside for the past few decades, having appeared in 1996.
If you ask anyone to provide an example of Celtic Punk then, after The Pogues, many people’s “go to” would be Boston’s Dropkick Murphys – and rightly so. The new album is a welcome return to form says Nathan Brown. Dropkick Murphys pay homage to their influences with tunes that meld punk rock with the sounds of the Irish diaspora.
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