Flogging Molly: Speed of Darkness

Flogging Molly
Speed of Darkness
Thirty Tigers; 2011

On Speed of Darkness, their latest release, Flogging Molly take a hard look at the collapse of the economy and the American dream. Amidst pink slips and the crushing despair of unfulfilled promises, the band unleash their anger and resentment through the course of 12 unforgiving songs. “Speed of Darkness” opens the album at a breakneck pace, but it’s with track two, “Revolution,” that the themes of loss are established, with lines like this: “I spent 27 years in this factory/Now the boss man says, ‘Hey, you’re not what we need’/The penguins in the suits they know nothing but greed/It’s a solitary life when you’ve mouths to feed/But who cares about us?” “Saints and Sinners” is another remarkable song that manages to avoid being another Irish punk rock cliché, but “Oliver Boy (All of Our Boys)” ably contemplates the fate of every mother’s son who ever carried a gun in the name of God and country. This standout track is delivered by someone who no longer cares about who’s wrong or who’s right, but is tired of seeing young men buried far too soon. “A Prayer for Me In Silence,” a duet between frontman Dave King and his wife Bridget Regan, is reminiscent of the Pogues, but without the dark humor. The best part of the album though, is that the band keep things mixed up enough to avoid falling into a repetitive pattern, making it an enjoyable and fresh listen. — M.A. Rivera