FLOGGING MOLLY - WITHIN A MILE OF HOME

I wish I could write a review for this album that didn’t make it so obvious that I’m a huge fucking fan of Flogging Molly. In my heart, they can do no wrong. I try not to miss their shows when they come around, because it’s an experience like no other. And I definitely do not miss a new album when they release one.
But I also never expected to be taken aback as much as Within A Mile Of Home took me. For Flogging Molly fans, it’s going to be a noticeable progression from their usual, trademark hybrid of traditional Irish music and good old-fashioned punk rock. This is riddled with traces of additional influences, which has me convinced that this album is for Flogging Molly what London Calling was for The Clash-- a huge musical step forward.
Moments of this new sort of maturity are especially evident on tunes like \"Factory Girls\", which finds singer Dave King doing a darling duet with Miss Lucinda Williams while the band paints a pretty, folk-country backdrop; and the zydeco-kissed, live-life-to-the-fullest anthem, \"Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon\". There’s also plenty of that kick-in-the-pants Flogging Molly Irish punk you’ve come to know and love, on the sea chantey sing-along \"Seven Deadly Sins\", the political call-out \"Screaming At The Wailing Wall\", and the tribute to King’s own emerald homeland, \"To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh)\".
Within A Mile Of Home is 15 of the finest songs they’ve ever produced. Flogging Molly manages to avoid that curse of sounding exactly the same, while at the same time giving their fans an absolute Flogging Molly album if there ever was one. I’m looking forward to every tour they do for it, and can’t wait to see what the next album sounds like.