Flogging Molly, Speed Of Darkness

By Magda Underdown-DuBois

Speed of Darkness, the fifth album by Flogging Molly comes in low, Perfect Circle-style, for a full 30 seconds and then crashes into one’s ears like a comet of sound.

Full of working contradiction, the band is a proud member of the new Celtic rock music generation along with The Pogues or The Secret Commonwealth. From their own record label Borstal Beat, Speed of Darkness is a self-professed concept album in an age of MP3s and singles, with the pounding rhythm of punk, but the articulated lyrical message of traditional Irish music.

In the 12 tracks presented, this Los Angeles-originated, yet Irish-led group ambitiously tries to sort out the US economy from the landscape of Detroit, MI, where the album was written. These musicians have never been shy to own their blue-collar roots and look upon executives and big business with the disdain of factory workers and pensioners shoved out of their jobs by lay-offs and pink slips. Their press release explains the past two years’ headlines and the album’s title track: “Then, with virtually no warning, their lives were upturned, lifelong dreams and plans were dashed, and neighbors began to turn on one another because of political disagreement. It all happened with the Speed of Darkness.”

Despite their expressions of anger, such as in “Power’s Out” (The power’s out, like this economy/The power’s out, guess it’s par for the course/Unless you’re a bloodsucking leech CEO), Flogging Molly still rallies the troops to hope in call and response choruses such as “Revolution” or quieter reminders of connectedness in “Cradle of Humankind.” Culturally speaking, people originating from Ireland and Scotland have been known for banding together in times of woe. What if one’s clan of kith and kin becomes the whole world, as globalism is pushing us forward?

Again and again, Flogging Molly calls on their listeners to “remember dust is all we are” and to offer dignity to one’s neighbors. Especially in such songs as “Speed of Darkness,” “Revolution,” “Present State of Grace,” and “Cradle of Humankind,” the word “I” is used as a testimonial in a community of like-minded people, rather than an isolated or lonely plea, while the use of “we” connects the audience to the band and to each other.

Moving through despair, the peak of the album is “So Sail On,” a song dedicated to those who could not survive the harshness of this national disaster. One could believe that death was simply an end and the music could not continue after that finality. In fact, this song could have closed the album appropriately, but obviously the band had another message in mind. By continuing the cycle of music and story and jumping into a raucous song like “Saints & Sinners,” another nod of acknowledgment to not quite broken-spirited loved ones like Over the Rhine‘s “All My Favorite People,” life continues.

Even hope is found through a “Present State of Grace,” a pragmatic view of optimism, which manages to trust in the universe despite all of the wrongness of the world, a attitude reminiscent of “By the Grace of God Go I” from Swagger, but with an addition of rhythmic table—with one’s drinking buddies, relishing in community.

In building this brave, new world, Flogging Molly acknowledges that pain and the difficulty of fighting against human history. In the “Oliver Boy (All of Our Boys)” chorus of Where there’s blood there’s death, not glory one can hear The Clash’s anti-war song. Whether Oliver refers to Cromwell or North, Dave King sings directly to him, You are dead, but listen. You were wrong, but we’re no different.

One cannot judge the past, because the history built the present. And if the people of the world can make the vows of support that King and fiddler Bridget Regan exchange in the short, sweet duet “A Prayer For Me In Silence,” there may be some hope for humanity’s future after all.

The only track that is distinctly not Flogging Molly’s style falls fourth on the track list, “Don’t Shut ‘Em Down,” which the group has released as the first single from Speed of Darkness. The official video is on YouTube and many fans have commented there, wondering whether the vocals were recorded by lead vocalist King or bassist Nathen Maxwell or even if Flogging Molly is sadly stepping away from punk music. With a mainstream melody and style more similar to Maroon 5 or The Wallflowers than Dropkick Murphys, these concerns regarding a softer, gentler band are not unjustified.

Luckily, the rest of the music on Speed of Darkness lifts expectations high and carries on the traditions so cherished by fans of modern Celtic rock.

Speed Of Darkness was released May 31 on Borstal Beat and can be ordered via Amazon and iTunes on Flogging Molly’s website. The band will be playing at the McDonald Theatre in Eugene, OR on June 1, plus appearing at an in-store signing at Skip’s Records & CD World. Check out their website for a full list of tour dates.