My walk home from work is a bit
longer these days and as a result I get a chance to immerse myself that much
more fully in my albums. This next album didn’t grab me halfway through the
first listen, but by the end of the third had really grown on me.
Disc 830 is….Do or Die
Artist: Dropkick
Murphys
Year of Release: 1997
What’s up with the Cover? A bunch of labourers. They’re a
jolly bunch by the looks of them.
How I Came To Know It: Although this is actually the Dropkick
Murphys’ debut album I bought it fairly late. It was just me digging through
their collection and getting the albums I didn’t have already. I’m like that.
How It Stacks Up: I have seven Dropkick Murphys albums (that’s
all of them with the exception of 2011’s “Going Out in Style” which didn’t grab
me). I only recently bought my seventh, which I like quite a bit. “Do or Die” isn’t
quite that good, but it did surprise me a bit. I’m going to bump it ahead of “The
Warrior’s Code” into fifth. “The Warrior’s Code” actually falls two spots
to sixth because of the aforementioned new album, but I’ll talk about that when
I roll it.
Ratings: 3 stars
If you like your Dropkick Murphys more punk and less
folk, then their debut album, “Do or Die” is the album for you.
Sure this record starts off with bagpipes playing “Scotland
the Brave” but it isn’t too long before the punk rock crashes down around you.
In fact, after the title track gets going on the second song I don’t believe the
pipes ever return. It is a damned shame.
“Do Or Die” is a hard hitting album, crusty and
angry and hard to love at first. However, if you open your heart (and ears) to
it, it will grow on you. The boys play with a wild abandon but they never lose
the song in their exuberance. This record exudes energy – mostly of the
rebellious kind. These are songs about fighting, drinking and the plight of the
working man.
This is Murphys’ debut album and the only one to
feature original frontman Mike McColgan. All the other records feature Al Barr
as lead vocalist. In Iron Maiden parlance, McColgan is the Paul Di’Anno to Barr’s
Bruce Dickinson. Barr has the better voice, but McColgan is rawer.
Unfortunately, McColgan overdoes it at times, and can end up sounding out of
breath. In McColgan’s defence it happens because he sings with such a wild
abandon. If he didn’t overdo it, he wouldn’t be doing it the same. Because I
like my Murphys just a smidge more lyrical and Celtic I prefer Barr overall,
but McColgan is the right voice for this particular record.
The album is 16 tracks, which should be too many, but
because the Murphys faithfully stick to the punk aesthetic of very short songs
(only one even breaks the three minute mark) it goes by in a blur.
As noted there is plenty of grimy Boston underbelly
exposed here. We’ve got drunks with catheters, and Karaoke-inspired brawls. The
heroes are as likely to be from the barroom as from the battlefield. The most
notable villain on the record is a landlord. Although the record is twenty
years removed from the beginnings of the punk movement it is faithful to its
roots, while still embodying the energy of more current times.
At first I thought I would be worn down by
relentless pace of the songs, but because they switch one to another so quickly
they just feed the energy. Also once your ear adjusts to the onslaught you
start picking out the melodies.
“Do or Die” is not a complicated album, but it is an
honest one that is played with skill and enthusiasm. I’ve enjoyed watching the
Murphys grow their sound over the almost twenty years they’ve been putting out
records, and even if “Do or Die” is not their crowning achievement it helped me
appreciate their roots. If you like traditional punk music, you’ll like this
record.
Best
tracks: Get Up, Caught in a Jar, Fightstarter Karaoke,
Barroom Hero, Tenant Enemy #1, Skinhead on the MBTA
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