Flogging Molly have returned with their fifth studio album, and the first released on their own record label, Thirty Tigers.  Is it a worthy addition to their growing discography of live and studio albums?  Yes.

Ever since I fell in love with Flogging Molly with their first studio album, Swagger, I have approached each album with trepidation.  ”Is this the album where they’ll finally fall apart and I’ll only have good memories to live off of?”  Each album has take two to three listens for me to finally make up my mind, but with Speed of Darkness, I was immediately in love.

The band finally starts to stretch its legs a bit creatively adding in new sounds (piano on ”The Cradle of Humankind”) and finally allowing fiddle player Bridget Regan to sing a duet with her husband, band founder Dave King, on ”A Prayer For Me in Silence.”

This isn’t to say that the entire album is a work of art.  For the first time ever, there may be a song I skip in future listenings entitled “The Heart of the Sea.”  This song sounds like it’s trying to go in too many directions at once, and it can never seem to settle on one.  Considering their body of work, and this is the first time I’ve ever gone, “er … no thanks,” that’s a pretty good batting average.  It may grow on me with time, but for now I suggest leaving it at the bottom of the sea.

One thing that has always been a recurring theme with this band has been the plight of the working man, and this album ratchets that up even a notch further.  It could be because King and Regan now live in Detroit, and in fact, the song “The Power’s Out” is all about the decay that now surrounds them.

There is something that can definitely be said about this album over their previous efforts, and that is that it is possibly their most accessible to the general public.  The sound has been softened slightly, but not to a degree that should anger long standing fans, only enough that I could potentially see new people giving them a try, and that is never a bad ting.

Enjoy their first single, “Don’t Shut ‘Em Down”, and make sure to pick up the album if you get a chance.

I very rarely talk about the music on this site any more, but when I do, you can be pretty sure it’s going to be about the greatest band on the planet, Flogging Molly.

No, I haven’t gone to see them in concert again (though I would love to), but it is about the fact you can now pre-order their new album, Speed of Darkness.  Due for release on May 31st, the new album is the first from their own record label that they have formed named Thirty Tigers.  Why is this exciting?  Because it means the band will make that much higher of a percentage from the sales.  Good for them, they deserve it.

While you can order it from your usual locations, I hope you’ll take a moment to consider ordering it from their own site at FloggingMolly.com.  You can get it on CD, vinyl, MP3 or FLAC format.  You can go as basic as you want or go for various “fan packages” with exclusive bonuses.  (yeah, I went for the $64.99 Super Deluxe CD pack … call me a sucker if you must)

Below is a live performance of the first single from the album, “Don’t Shut ‘Em Down” at this year’s Coachella concert.  While I actually didn’t thrill to this song the first time I heard it, once again Molly has proven you really have to hear their songs in a live performance setting to dig them, and this song immediately grew on me.

In the age of blogs being required to disclose everything, I can tell you I am making absolutely no money from this post, it’s not a paid placement or anything else, but if I can’t take a post to promote my favorite band, what’s the point of having a blog?