Dropkick Murphys deliver new album in fine form

"Going Out In Style," the newest album by the Dropkick Murphys, is anything but a goodbye album, as the title might imply. Rather, it's a summation and celebration of the themes and musical styles that the band has come to represent over the past decade and a half. The Murphys have used the extra time in the studio (it's been four years since 2007's "The Meanest of Times") to craft their most fully realized, mature work to date. Moreover, they've packaged that work together in a concept album about the life and death of Cornelius Larkin, the embodiment of the blue-collar, beer-swigging everymen the Murphys have always sung about.

The thing about "Going Out In Style", though, is that it doesn't really play like a concept album. You can listen to it as one, piecing together the fragments of Larkin's life, but you don't really need to. Song-for-song, "Blackout" and "The Warrior's Code" have more memorable moments, but this album does sound like it's intended to be their major artistic statement. Reinforcing that idea is the presence of multiple guest singers, most notably NOFX's Fat Mike, and The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, both of whom share the same populist views the Murphys espouse. The same lyrical themes that have pervaded every Murphys album return: life in the working class, pro-union politics, friendship, love and loss, a little silliness and a lot of booze...their rough-and-tumble world comes to life through the fusion of punk rock anthems tinged with traditional Irish sounds.

Of course, that's always been their schtick, and if previous releases didn't convince you, then this one won't either. For newcomers, this is a good, but probably not ideal, place to start (try Blackout). But for longtime fans, this is the band they love in fine form, and definitely a recommended buy.