Review: Dropkick Murphhys – “Turn Up That Dial”

Born & Bred – 30 April 2021

While not their best album, this record is a fun ride that you’ll want to take again.

On their last album, 11 Short Stories of Pain and Glory, Dropkick Murphys did some experimenting with genres outside of the Celtic punk style that made them household name. While I applauded the effort to branch out and grow, the end result was somewhat uneven. On Turn Up That Dial, Dropkick retreat back to their roots, with every song being either Celtic punk or just straight up punk with no Celtic influence. As much as I usually advocate for expanding one’s style and growing and evolving your sound, I guess there’s something to be said for sticking to what you’re good at, as this album is much more consistent than 11 Stories was.

In a lesson of not judging a book by its cover, the album’s generic title and album cover look more like they belong to an 80’s hip-hop album than a 2021 Celtic punk album. I’m not sure what, if any, connection the cover art has with the title or the contents of the album itself. For the record, I’m fairly certain that the only similarity between 80’s hip-hop and Celtic punk is that both of them, technically, rhyme. Thankfully, the album is much better than its basic title and cover art.

The title track opener is a tribute to punk rock and the personal place it holds for all of us. “L-EE-B-O-Y,” much like “The Spicy McHaggis Jig” off of Sing Loud, Sing Proud, is a tribute to the band’s current bagpipe player, Lee Forshner. “Middle Finger” is a surprisingly relatable song about ruining your life by not being able to keep your anger in check… This song could be my anthem. “Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding” is easily the most fun song they’ve put out in over a decade, with the lyrics and music referencing Mick Jones of The Clash (not to be confused with Mick Jones of Foreigner).

Still, a few songs fall a bit flat. “H.B.D.M.F.,” which I can only assume stands for “Happy Birthday Dumb Mother Fucker,” is an unnecessarily mean spirited song about how adults shouldn’t celebrate their birthdays. While I understand it’s a joke, with the album coming out three days after my birthday that I tend to make a big deal out of, I took some offense. “Chosen Few” tries to be both patriotic and critical of America at the same time, much like The Descendents’ “‘Merica,” but, when the album has multiple songs about rebellion, it becomes really strange to hear a punk band praising America and calling for compromise.

Turn Up That Dial is, at the very least, Dropkick Murphys’ best album in a while. Even though a few of the tracks are skippable, the album as a whole is a really fun time. It’s not their best album, but it’s also far from being their worst. Just like it’s probably not going to be one of my top 10 albums of the year, but it’s certainly a good time, and something I’m going to listen to again.