Boston's
Dropkick Murphys
turn in another collection of Irish-tinged punk rock on
The Warrior's Code
. The tempos are breakneck for the most part, and the energy is accentuated by the alternating lead vocals, a tag team of rage and bravado. That the group doesn't take itself too seriously is demonstrated on
"Wicked Sensitive Crew,"
in which the singers discuss how they've been misunderstood as they've toured the world, when in fact they are "touchy feely sensitive guys." As if to demonstrate their sensitivity (sentimentality is more like it), they cover
Eric Bogle
's
"The Green Fields of France (No Man's Land),"
a reflection on the loss of a soldier in World War I and the general futility of war that is taken at a ballad tempo and even begins with a piano. They have also been to the
Woody Guthrie
archive of unpublished lyrics, and come away with
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston,"
a goofy song they set to typically blistering rock. (In 2006, the song was given greater exposure when it was used in
Martin Scorsese
's Academy Award-winning film The Departed.) The theme of war dead is brought up to date with the closing track,
"Last Letter Home,"
the epistolary true story of a
fan who died in Iraq; the band played at his funeral. It is here that the punk rage seems to find a purpose. [The bonus track version of the album adds
"Tessie,"
a song hopefully recorded in June 2004 anticipating a World Series championship for the Boston Red Sox that, amazingly, actually occurred a few months later for the first time in 86 years. It's an appropriate anthem for a band that often recalls British soccer chants in its songs and no doubt goes down well in bars all over New England, even if the New York Yankees -- shocked by the Red Sox in the 2004 American League championship series by four straight losses after being up three games to none -- won't much appreciate it, and neither will the other 28 major league teams and their fans.] ~ William Ruhlmann