Album Review: Dropkick Murphys’ New LP “Signed and Sealed in Blood” Rocks Hard But Lacks In Freshness

By: Adam Harrison –

While we’ll get a taste of St. Patty’s Day two months early this year with the release of Dropkick Murphys’ eighth studio album, Signed and Sealed in Blood, the Celtic punk rock band from Quincy, Massachusetts brings us yet another volume of now superfluous drinking songs that make the listener want to give their liver a break.

Although they’ve been on the punk scene since 1996, they didn’t make a global impact until their fifth and sixth albums, The Warrior’s Code and The Meanest of Times, which brought us mega hits like “The State of Massachusetts” and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” These albums presented something fresh to our ears, with raunchy vocals and blistering guitar accompanied by sweet Irish melodies. However, while we’re still drinking along, the beer has since gone stale.

Signed presents us with another twelve tracks of sweaty, mosh inspiring, hard hitting, in-your-face punk songs and a few arm joining, beer spilling, bar anthems. Surprisingly, it’s more of the latter that stand out this time around. Signed, which follows up their 2011 effort, Going Out in Style, is a much different model. Style was a concept album featuring the tales of a fictional character named Cornelius Larkin. Whereas Signed is a hearty, fun, and back to basics kind of project.

The first single, “Rose Tattoo” is the standout track. It’s one of the slower tracks on the album, but features Dropkick Murphys’ signature, catchy mandolin riff. The song highlights the story of a pirate and bears an instrumental similarity to fellow Celtic punkers The Pogues.

Despite being a month too late and having little to do with the rest of the album, the album also features a Christmas song titled “The Season’s Upon Us.” But this is not your traditional Christmas song. This jingle bell rock is about going home to visit your dysfunctional family. It’s rude, crude and absolutely hilarious. It include lyrics like “My nephew’s a horrible wise little twit, He once gave me a nice gift wrapped box full of shit” and “He likes to pelt carolers with icy snowballs, I’d like to take him out back and deck more than the halls.”

The final track on the album, “End of the Night” is a ballad about closing time and wanting to stay within the inviting confines of the pub’s warm glow. It’s another comical tune that certainly takes inspiration from their notorious, sing-a-long, loser’s anthem “Kiss me, I’m Shitfaced”

What made Dropkick Murphys stand out in the past was their connection to traditional Irish melodies. It’s their sticktoitiveness to their blue-collar roots that drew people to them. Having said that, instead of further exploring the ideas that were presented on Style, Dropkick Murphys have fallen back into a comfortable territory. Maybe it’s best not to mess up the works, but eight albums later, the originality has undoubtedly vanished.

If you want a fun, sing-a-long with your mates type of album, Signed and Sealed in Blood is your top pick, but how many more frantic drinking songs can one handle before they pass out in an alley in a puddle of their own vomit? Dropkick Murphys are a bit like that friend we all have, he’s always a riot when you’re out with the boys, but maybe it’s time for some musical AA.

Essential Tracks: “Rose Tattoo,” “The Boys Are Back,” and “End of the Night.”