2008 Woodie Awards
Flogging Molly shows growth with Float
By: Cy Wood
Issue date: 3/18/08 Section: Features
In preparation for St. Patrick's Day, Irish-American punk rockers Flogging Molly released their fourth studio album, Float. This album, their first to be recorded in Ireland and first to be released in nearly four years, currently sits at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 list. The band is known for mixing their traditional Irish instruments with hard guitars and raspy vocals and writing new Irish drinking songs.
The problem for bands that rely so heavily on a specific sound is that they are limited within the sphere of their genre. Flogging Molly is not exempt from this, but there are several things to remember. This band produces great music, and regardless of the similar sound that each song contains, it does not mean the music is not growing creatively. Flogging Molly is clearly growing musically, and seems to have perhaps lessened the hardness of their sound.
Many songs fall more into the genre of punk-ballad, and tend to have a folk-rock sentimentality to them. The song "The Story So Far" almost seems like something that could be heard on modern country radio, yet midway through the song, one can hear the influence of John Lennon's solo work resonating the lyrics and singing.
The album's title track also shows some influence of country music, but this time from Johnny Cash's American Recordings series near the end of his life, like the lone acoustic guitar strumming during the intro to Cash's cover of U2's "One." The lyrics come off as Neil Young: "Don't, don't sink the boat/ that you built to keep afloat."
However, this is not to say that the edge has completely disappeared from the music. "Man With No Country" opens with a distinctly heavy-metal bass riff that runs through the entirety of the song. The whole of the song even has more of an electric guitar lead than is common in many of their songs. The lyrics are pessimistic, with the end repeating: "Still caught in a world that won't stop burning."
With all the talk of change, one might wonder if the band left nothing unchanged. There are songs that are definitely Flogging Molly classics, with one being opener "Requiem for a Dying Song." With the violin, accordion, tin whistle, heavy guitars, banjo and Dave King's raspy vocals, the band opens with a force of familiarity. The very picture of a modern Irish drinking song, the opening of the tune sounds almost like a national anthem, and the lyrics are all about the middle class. King sings, "There's a government whip cracked across your back / Where the order of the day is don't listen, attack / See the blood run down in your blood swept town / Revolution is the gimmick gonna juggle this clown / Where the voice of the ammo for the tax man's gun."
Only having released four albums, the band clearly have room to continue to grow musically, even more so than they have with this album alone. There will always be a demand for new drinking songs, and if the band continues to return to their roots in Ireland, we can definitely hope to see even more great music come from this band. For now, though, even though it is a little late, this album would be a great accompaniment to any St. Patrick's Day Celebration.
The problem for bands that rely so heavily on a specific sound is that they are limited within the sphere of their genre. Flogging Molly is not exempt from this, but there are several things to remember. This band produces great music, and regardless of the similar sound that each song contains, it does not mean the music is not growing creatively. Flogging Molly is clearly growing musically, and seems to have perhaps lessened the hardness of their sound.
Many songs fall more into the genre of punk-ballad, and tend to have a folk-rock sentimentality to them. The song "The Story So Far" almost seems like something that could be heard on modern country radio, yet midway through the song, one can hear the influence of John Lennon's solo work resonating the lyrics and singing.
The album's title track also shows some influence of country music, but this time from Johnny Cash's American Recordings series near the end of his life, like the lone acoustic guitar strumming during the intro to Cash's cover of U2's "One." The lyrics come off as Neil Young: "Don't, don't sink the boat/ that you built to keep afloat."
However, this is not to say that the edge has completely disappeared from the music. "Man With No Country" opens with a distinctly heavy-metal bass riff that runs through the entirety of the song. The whole of the song even has more of an electric guitar lead than is common in many of their songs. The lyrics are pessimistic, with the end repeating: "Still caught in a world that won't stop burning."
With all the talk of change, one might wonder if the band left nothing unchanged. There are songs that are definitely Flogging Molly classics, with one being opener "Requiem for a Dying Song." With the violin, accordion, tin whistle, heavy guitars, banjo and Dave King's raspy vocals, the band opens with a force of familiarity. The very picture of a modern Irish drinking song, the opening of the tune sounds almost like a national anthem, and the lyrics are all about the middle class. King sings, "There's a government whip cracked across your back / Where the order of the day is don't listen, attack / See the blood run down in your blood swept town / Revolution is the gimmick gonna juggle this clown / Where the voice of the ammo for the tax man's gun."
Only having released four albums, the band clearly have room to continue to grow musically, even more so than they have with this album alone. There will always be a demand for new drinking songs, and if the band continues to return to their roots in Ireland, we can definitely hope to see even more great music come from this band. For now, though, even though it is a little late, this album would be a great accompaniment to any St. Patrick's Day Celebration.
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