The album starts off with a bang in the form of “Hang ‘Em High”, an ode to war in which Cornelius remembers the struggles of the battlefield. It’s clear that this is more than just a collection of songs to Dropkick Murphys it feels much closer to being their own stories and the stories of their families. The stories feel so real and honest, you’d almost think that Cornelius is an actual buddy of the band – they even went so far as to include an obituary in the linear notes of the album. Over the course of the album, we hear stories of his days at war, his search for love, and the good times he’s spent with his family and friends. The fictional character Cornelius Larkin is just the kind of man you would expect to find on a Dropkick Murphys release: a rough-around-the-edges working-class Irish immigrant who predictably can hold his liquor and knows his way around a good old fashioned brawl. The first thing you need to know about Going Out in Style is that it is a concept album. No, you won’t find anything particularly new or groundbreaking on Going Out in Style, but you will find a band who has been continually honing in on their own sound over the course of the past decade-and-a-half and sounds as comfortable and well-rounded in their own element as anyone else in the punk scene. Everything that you’ve grown to know and love over the years from the Celtic punk band is present on this latest installment – there are bagpipes, mandolins, banjos, accordions, tin whistles, and all the gang vocals you could pack into one album.
If you like Dropkick Murphys, you’re going to like Going Out in Style.
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