Review: Flogging Molly – “Anthem” (ffo- Flogging Molly, paddy punk)

Rise Records – 09 Sep 2022

Flogging Molly do their best to get back to their roots on their 7th studio album.

It almost seems inevitable. Any band lucky enough to last for 20 years or more will at some point attempt to make a “back to our roots” record. They will put forth a valiant effort to capture their early energy and magic. For Flogging Molly, Anthem is that record. To facilitate this, the Dublin/Los Angeles/Detroit based band reunited with Steve Albini in Chicago. He worked with them on their first two, and most popular albums, Swagger (2000) and Drunken Lullabies (2002). 

Those early records certainly catapulted Flogging Molly to the forefront of the then burgeoning celt-punk scene. They’re still among the giants of the subgenre, but the audience for that music hasn’t really grown. If anything, it’s grown up and moved on. While the band is still a good live draw, the last couple of records have largely been met with indifference. There wasn’t anything wrong with them. They were solid albums with good songs, made by polished musical veterans. They just didn’t create much heat. The unspoken hope for Anthem is that it will generate some renewed excitement for Flogging Molly. 

For Anthem, Flogging Molly worked with an urgency that they never had before. They recorded 14 songs in 14 days, with 11 making the final cut. The result is a batch of songs that maintain a certain rawness, and don’t feel overworked. Opener “These Times Have Got Me Drinking/Falling Up the Stairs” seems destined to become a Flogging Molly classic. It starts off sounding kind of old-timey before it starts gradually picking up steam. It eventually reaches a fever pitch before taking a left turn and becoming an uptempo jig. The songwriting on the rest of Anthem is solid, but it can’t maintain this initial intensity.

The main difference between Anthem and, say, Swagger, is the sound of frontman Dave King’s voice. It has gone through some undeniable changes as he’s aged. He just doesn’t have the same raspy howl that he did in his youth. (If you want to hear some real vocal gymnastics check out Fastway, the ‘80s hair metal band fronted by King that also featured former Motörhead guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke.) It’s not that his voice is bad now. On the contrary. His weatherbeaten singing works really well with the more world weary tracks. The celebratory tracks on the other hand, do not reach the same heights.

All that said, there is a lot to like about Anthem. The duel leads of banjo and crunchy electric guitar on “A Song of Liberty”. The dark lyrical twist of “Not all of us who wander find the way” on “Life Begins and Ends (But Never Fails)”. The traditional balladry of “No Last Goodbye”. The exotic eastern European instrumentation of “Croppy Boys ‘98”. The reflectiveness on “This Road of Mine” contrasting with the defiant “(Try) Keep the Man Down”.

In typical Flogging Molly fashion, the instrumentation on Anthem can be quite lush. The usual guitar/bass/drums are supplemented with more traditional strings like mandolin, banjo and violin, and even some accordion. Reflectiveness is a common theme. “Now is the Time” and the dark, slow burning “These are the Days” both fit into this category. Luckily, they’re divided by the street punk influenced drinking song “Lead the Way”. The hauntingly beautiful “The Parting Wave” wraps things up.

Ultimately, Anthem sounds like a cross between Flogging Molly’s early material and their more recent releases. That’s not a bad thing, and is often the case with “back to our roots” albums. It’s not realistic to expect a band to make the same record in their 50s as they did in their 30s. Even if it takes a little longer to grab you, this will grow on you with repeated listens. If you haven’t been keeping up with the continuing adventures of Flogging Molly, Anthem wouldn’t be a bad place to rejoin the story.

For vinyl fiends: This is the rare release that I reviewed from a digital promo. (I AM THE ANALOG MAN and prefer to hold the wax in my hot little hands.) According to the Rise Records website there are 600 copies of black and gray cornetto (think thick spokes) available, and 300 cream and maroon. There are also a limited but not specified amount of a yellow and tan smush variant in the deluxe box set version of the album, which also comes with a seven inch and a bunch of other goodies.