For our next review, let’s ship off to Boston, shall we?
Disc 1853 is…Okemah Rising
Artist: Dropkick Murphys
Year of Release: 2023
What’s up with the Cover? Someone has left a perfectly good guitar laying on the railroad tracks. Or has this a guitar just had enough and thrown itself there, intent on ending it all. It’s final thoughts likely, “No – I won’t play one more Liona Boyd song. I won’t do it. I’d rather die here on the tracks!”
Apologies to Liona Boyd fans but hey – you got mentioned. Take the win.
How I Came To Know It: I’m a longtime fan of the Dropkick Murphys. I fell away from them for a bit, but in recent years I’ve caught up on their music and I’m back in the swing of it. I bought this one when it came out.
How It Stacks Up: I have 10 Dropkick Murphys albums which is not all of them, but is a lot of them. I put “Okemah Rising in at #8. I still liked it, but not as much as seven other ones, I suppose. If you are looking up previously reviewed Dropkick Murphy albums for comparison, it won’t work. I reviewed those when I only had seven, so things have shifted a bit. You’ll just have to wait until I review the final one and recap.
But I digress…
Ratings: 3 stars
The Dropkick Murphys perfected the art of the sing-along decades ago. On “Okemah Rising” they are once again paired with sloganeer and folk anthem writer Woody Guthrie’s lyrics and the result is predictable: a good time had by all.
In recent years the Murphys brand of Irish folk/punk has veered a bit closer to Irish folk over punk, and that trend accelerates on he acoustic “Okemah Rising”. Expect plenty of penny whistle and singing in unison. If you don’t find yourself with an insane desire to sway in a barroom, pint in hand, then I suggest you turn the record up. You’re missing it.
You may also be missing co-lead vocalist Al Barr, who is on hiatus from the band for this one. Fortunately we still have the rich and raunchy tone of fellow long-time Murphy Ken Casey. While I like the combination of the two of them, Casey holds things down just fine, and they bring in some guest vocalists here and there to keep it interesting.
The best of these is the ever-brilliant Jaime Wyatt, who shows up for the final verse of “Bring It Home”. “Bring It Home” is merely an OK song to this point, veering toward full kitsch as it tells the tale of a man bringing home appliances for his wife until he comes home one day he’s been replaced by the neighbour.
Fun but unremarkable and then Wyatt’s vocals kick in and stop the world with rich, sumptuous, evocative power. Sure, she’s tasked with singing the punchline of the joke, but never was a joke more sublime to hear.
The album’s biggest advantage is yet more songs where the lyrics are by folk master Woodie Guthrie. Guthrie had a fun time writing “Bring it Home” but for the most part he cleaves to what he knows best – class struggle, defence of the working man, and a general celebration of the blue collar, stained with sweat and proud of it.
Guthrie also takes it to the fascists directly, with “Run, Hitler Run” a song about chasing down Hitler with justified ill intent. It may have been 80 years ago, but this song proves that dissing Hitler just never gets old, and I enjoyed wishing him harm just as much as if it were 1945 again.
For all the fun, this record suffers by comparison to “This Machine Still Kills Fascists” (which landed at #5 on my “Best of 2022” list for that year). That record is a late-career classic. It is also fuelled by Woody Guthrie’s lyrics, and I got the overall impression the Murphys used the best of Guthrie’s stuff on the previous album.
However, even a second-tier iteration of “This Machine…” still makes for a record that is solid, raucous, and upbeat, and every bit a worthy celebration of Woody Guthrie, the Dropkick Murphys and the staying power of both acts. I had a great time, even as I wished for the songs to be just a bit more creative and varied.
Minor quibbles. The album still kills fascists - literally in the case of “Run, Hitler, Run” - and it has a nice mix of social commentary, celebratory revelry, or a combination of both. Not the best the band ever did, but a damn fine time all the same.
Best tracks: My Eyes Are Gonna Shine, Watchin’ The World Go By, Bring It Home, Run Hitler Run
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