Enjoying Flogging Molly's latest album, Speed of Darkness

I've been listening to Flogging Molly's latest album, Speed of Darkness, for a couple of months now. I purchased the album in vinyl format and was pleased to find a digital download inside the album jacket.

First of all, this is not an album review. I have done those and don't enjoy it. I always feel crappy if I have something negative to say about an album. Conversely, I feel cheap when I say something positive about and otherwise heinous album. So screw that! No review format here. Just so you know.

The first single released off the album was Don't Shut 'Em Down. When I first heard the song I was concerned. It didn't sound like the Flogging Molly that I have grown to love these last several years. Still, I listened to the song, trying to pick out what it was that I didn't like bout it. After several weeks of this I woke up one morning with the song stuck in my head. Try as I might I couldn't get rid of the song. My brain - as it often is - was stuck on Flogging Molly mode. Guess I like the song after all. And wouldn't you know it, there was the Flogging Molly I love. I just needed to listen.

When the album finally released it was a bittersweet moment for me. Here my new record had arrived in the mail but I was in the middle of moving and had my record player packed up. I didn't even unwrap the record until we were in our new home, unpacked and, for the most part, settled. Finally I was able to give the full album a listen.

Back track
I should state that I was able to listen to another song on the album with the 7-inch release of Don't Shut 'Em Down on Record store Day. The B-side of that album is Saints and Sinners.

Skip ahead
So finally I get to listen to the full record. I was excited. I guess I am a bit of a dork, listening to new music gets me excited. Not in the oh-my-god-I-am-completely-aroused-and-must-deal-with-it-now sort of way. Just excited. A bit like a kid in a candy store.

I was impressed. The opening track, Speed of Darkness, is great, Revolution, is great, Saints and Sinners…great! Power's Out, not so great, but hey, every album has one. Still, I don't skip it.

I guess that's what I like about Flogging Molly. I know what I am going to get. Dave King and the gang have been consistent in the more than a decade they have been together. King writes about what's going on in the world today with a tinge of Irish angst. How can you not like it?

By far, I would have to say the album's title track, Speed of Darkness, is my favorite song. Aydin, my red-headed son, would argue. At 8-years-old he loves Don't Shut 'Em Down. His other favorite song by Flogging Molly, the acoustic version of Drunken Lullaby. A kid after my own heart.