The Meanest of Times (Deluxe Edition)

A song like “the State of Massachusetts” is why people listen to Beantown heroes Dropkick Murphys. A careening Irish rhythm set ablaze by brass knuckle guitars and a hellacious stomp, “Massachusetts” is as at home in a Boston dockworkers’ bar as it is in a Warped Tour mosh pit. The Murphys have been plying their blend of Irish and punk styles for ten years, and The Meanest of Times might well be their most consummate work to date. Following their widespread exposure on the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, the Murphys have returned with several new anthems in the same mold as “I’m Shipping Up To Boston,” that film’s centerpiece song. “God Willing,” “Flannigan’s Ball,” and “Never Forget” will be worthy singalongs at the band’s famous St. Patrick’s Day shows, while “Fairmount Hill” might be the most vivid take on the Pogue’s glorious, drunken tale telling that this band has yet attempted. If only one song could be chosen from The Meanest of Times to represent the band’s merger of fighting Irish spirit with punk passion (or is it their fighting punk spirit blended with Irish passion?) it would be “Echoes on ‘A.’ Street.” It’s enough to bring the blood up, even in a Yankees fan.