21 January 2013
By Desmond Ho, Staff Writer
Quincy-born Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys delivers their eighth record with Signed and Sealed in Blood. Very few bands play this brand of Celtic-punk better than Dropkick Murphys, and it shows in their latest effort.
Signed and Sealed in Blood isn’t a huge departure from their signature sound in that it’s still punk music infused with traditional Irish sounds. In this case, the sound is more akin to that of the band’s previous album, Going Out in Style (2011), than of their earlier works. Both Signed and Sealed in Blood and Going Out in Style put slightly more emphasis on the “Celtic” part than the “punk” part. The latter sounded more like The Pogues or Flogging Molly, which is in no way a bad thing, but it wasn’t quite Dropkick Murphys. However, Signed and Sealed in Blood has more of the punk sound than its predecessor; it’s unmistakably a Dropkick Murphys album this time.
The record is generally upbeat as far as the music itself goes, even more so than usual. Themes about fighting from the trenches and revolution are ever-present in songs like “The Battle Rages On” and “Prisoner’s Song.” They mix things up with “Out on the Town,” which sounds more Thin Lizzy-classic rock than The Pogues. There’s even a Christmas song, “The Season’s Upon Us” (which was released as a single in December), about a dysfunctional family getting together for the season. The album ends with the slower “The End of the Night,” which is described by bassist/vocalist Ken Casey as “the closing time, kind of loser’s anthem, about people who don’t want to go home.” The whole album sounds pub-ready; it wouldn’t be a Dropkick Murphys album any other way.
Dropkick Murphys are reliable for fun, energetic, Celtic-rock songs, and while this album hits some of their familiar tropes, the band is at their best. Signed and Sealed in Blood delivers.
8.5/10
Courtesy of highlightmagazine.net