At first, people raise an eyebrow when they hear about the splice of Traditional Irish Folk and punk which is Flogging Molly. The mixture is not as strange as it sounds. In fact it makes sense. The fast pounding drumbeat brings the already heart racing music to a whole new level. Flogging Molly has brought Irish Folk Music out of country pubs in Ireland to punk clubs all over the world.
Flogging Molly is a group of Irish-Americans from Boston. Their love of old Irish Drudges and punk music fused together to form the fantastic songs on one of their best-selling CDs Drunken Lullabies which was released 2002. All of the songs feature, at the very least, guitar, bass and drums, but additional instruments including flutes, accordions, fiddles, mandolin and other apparently not-so-punk-rock instruments.
This band is truly original. It is like Rancid playing Irish folk songs. They sound fantastic and are even better when they perform live. Their songs vary from the fast moving “Rebels of the Sacred Heart” and “Another Bag of Bricks” to the mournful “What’s Left of the Flag” and the slow and sweet “Death Valley Queen.” The lyrics are intelligent and memorable. A few lines from “What’s Left of the Flag” are, For there are many ways to kill a man… But son, a bullet from a shapeless guise Leaves but the shell of a Thompson gun.
Flogging Molly first released Swagger in 2000. After Drunken Lullabies they went on to produce Alive Behind the Green Door and Within a Mile of Home, both in 2004. It is a rumor that their single, “Drunken Lullabies” was pulled off the radio after a year by the band because they didn’t want to sell out. Now that is commitment to art.
The band has been on the Warped Tour and the Green 17 Tour. They have performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and have toured nationwide with the ska/punk sensation the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. More information can be collected from their official website
www.floggingmolly.com. Check them out for yourself.
