Can you imagine the meeting with the A&R people?

A&R guy: so, you guys are an Irish punk band? what does that mean? what, are you guys from Ireland or something?

singer: no, it means we play punk and rock and roll and traditional Celtic Folk music all at once.

A&R guy: um, oh, that sounds interesting. (Meanwhile, A&R guy wonders how he got the job of trying to sell this s*it.)

Surely, this melding is not exactly sh*t, in fact, it sounds pretty damn good when it's done right. It started with the Pogues in the mid 1980s. It continued with the Dropkick Murphys in the 1990s, and that band seems to be only getting stronger here in 2002. And now, we have Flogging Molly.

Admittedly I am not nearly familiar enough with the Pogues to make any sort of comparisons with them. But if you've heard the Dropkick Murphys and just said "it's not for me" because you felt the Irish influence wasn't there in enough spades, then rejoice, because Flogging Molly is probably right up your alley.

Formed by former Fastway singer Dave King about five years ago in Los Angeles, Flogging Molly is a seven piece outfit consisting of:

Vocals/acoustic guitar: King
Fiddle/tin whistle: Bridget Regan
Accordian: Matt Hensley
Drums: George Schwindt
Guitar: Dennis Casey
Mandolin/banjo: Robert Schmidt
Bass: Nathen Maxwell

What's most interesting about Flogging Molly is that they don't relegate the traditional Irish instruments to the background, but rather, they more often than not are the lead instruments in the song structures. And it works surprisingly well.

That is clear from the first number, the rollicking Salty Dog. The song is propelled by powerful drum work by Schwindt and the fiddle. What the traditional "punk" instruments do is give the song a strong backbone on which to stand as well as giving the band a more "full" sound. From there, you're thrown into two more powerful numbers, Selfish Man and the wonderfully poignant The Worst Day Since Yesterday.

Singer King has such a perfect voice for this band's sound. He can sing the full range of emotions, from angry to happy drunk to sorrowful. The only reason the Dropkick Murphys fail to work at times is because their singer, Al Barr, doesn't sound convincing on the more Irish influenced songs. But King is perhaps the best fit for a band I've ever heard.

The Likes of You Again starts off as almost a mournful acoustic ballad, but the band kicks in after about a minute, and you almost think it's a reprise of Salty Dog, as the music sounds very familiar. But the band doesn't fall into the trap and they differentiate the two songs greatly by the time The Likes of You Again is over.

As a band, Flogging Molly does not let punk pretenses get in their way. To be honest, the band is more like a combination of American rock and roll with Celtic Folk, but played with a snarling punk attitude. They let their songs go and aren't afraid to wander into five or six minute territory. Because of this, each member of the band is allowed to shine, as I mentioned before, and you get a sense that the band had a smile on their face while they recorded most of these songs.

Furthermore, they have obviously learned to play off each other in the approximately three years they had between forming the band and releasing this album in the spring of 2000. That ability is crucial to the success of this album, as otherwise the songs would come off as sounding forced and disjointed. But the freewheeling spirit is in full view, and is perhaps the biggest reason for this album's overall success.

But in the end, perhaps it's the song with no instrumentation at all, the traditional Irish folk song Grace of God Go I, sung a cappella by King, that takes the cake as the best song on the album.

Flogging Molly is a wonderfully fun band. They aren't afraid of their heritage but they aren't afraid to rock out either. There are a lot of bands who sound like they're having fun on their records. But there are very few where you just know that that was the case. Swagger is one of those records.

No, this isn't Riverdance. It's got twice the heart and is three times as much fun. To be succinct, Swagger is just one of those records that everyone should have in their collection, but not nearly enough do.

Flogging Molly just released their second album, Drunken Lullabies, last month, and are currently touring the US with The Slackers.




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