Album Review: Dropkick Murphys, Okemah Rising

With co-singer and firebrand frontman Al Barr still sitting on the subs’ bench while he takes care of his family, the remaining members of the Dropkick Murphys continue to explore their folk side on their 12th LP. Serving as a sequel to last year’s This Machine Still Kills Fascists, the boys are once again armed with unpublished lyrics penned by Woody Guthrie, and over the course of 10 tracks, they go to war on behalf of the working class.

Okemah Rising is the better record of the two, and they sound more comfortable with the amps turned off this time around. Barr’s absence remains a huge loss, but they’ve roped in a few guest stars to paper over the cracks, including Violent Femmes (‘Gotta Get To Peekskill’), Jesse Ahern (‘Rippin Up The Boundary Line’) and Jaime Wyatt (‘Bring It Home’).

The cinematic, cow-punk flavoured ‘Hear The Curfew Blowin’ is a welcome curveball, while ‘I Know How It Feels’ is an old-school Murphys’ mosher that’s destined to go down a storm live. While the Dropkicks remain at their best when they’re going for the jugular, there’s still plenty of blood and thunder from Ken Casey’s vocals and Woody’s words to appease the faithful.

7/10

Out now