2008 Woodie Awards
New Flogging Molly CD shows softer side
Marissa Dubay
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: A & E
Whether you fancy yourself a swashbuckling pirate or simply revel in musical mishmash, the Celtic punk sound of Flogging Molly could be just the band to appease your taste. The difference is that their newest work, Float, feels more like a breezy ocean liner cruise than the gritty shipwrecked semblance of prior albums.
The motley seven-piece crew returns with a sound still rooted in punk rock, but always branching into blues-folk more often than usual. Fans will either bemoan the absence of Flogging Molly's harsher edge or choose to embrace its softer side. If the band's genre was difficult to define before, clearly they've hammered out the kinks by applying a greater sense of depth and maturity, forsaking a bit of their wild streak in doing so.
Yet the new CD is far from lackluster, with more tavern tunes than you can swig a whiskey, Guinness stout, or what have you to. Lead vocalist Dave King's voice unabashedly oozes Irish pride, varying from barking choruses as in "Requiem For a Dying Song" to a steadfast battle cry like that of "Punch Drunk Grinning Love."
Float remains a hearty kickshaw amid the same old fodder cooked up by less unique artists of our generation. Best of all, it's such a superior soundtrack for this upcoming St. Patrick's Day, it would make one ashamed to forget to don green.
Rating: 3.5/5
The motley seven-piece crew returns with a sound still rooted in punk rock, but always branching into blues-folk more often than usual. Fans will either bemoan the absence of Flogging Molly's harsher edge or choose to embrace its softer side. If the band's genre was difficult to define before, clearly they've hammered out the kinks by applying a greater sense of depth and maturity, forsaking a bit of their wild streak in doing so.
Yet the new CD is far from lackluster, with more tavern tunes than you can swig a whiskey, Guinness stout, or what have you to. Lead vocalist Dave King's voice unabashedly oozes Irish pride, varying from barking choruses as in "Requiem For a Dying Song" to a steadfast battle cry like that of "Punch Drunk Grinning Love."
Float remains a hearty kickshaw amid the same old fodder cooked up by less unique artists of our generation. Best of all, it's such a superior soundtrack for this upcoming St. Patrick's Day, it would make one ashamed to forget to don green.
Rating: 3.5/5
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