Life Is Good Flogging Molly

• 1 There's Nothing Left Pt. 1 02:24
• 2 The Hand Of John L. Sullivan 04:01
• 3 Welcome To Adamstown 03:06
• 4 Reptiles (We Woke Up) 03:43
• 5 The Days We've Yet To Meet 03:42
• 6 Life Is Good 04:04
• 7 The Last Serenade (Sailors And Fishermen) 04:24
• 8 The Guns Of Jericho 04:17
• 9 Crushed (Hostile Nations) 04:23
• 10 Hope 03:27
• 11 The Bride Wore Black 02:59
• 12 Until We Meet Again 03:54
• Total Runtime 44:24

Info for Life Is Good

Brand-new studio album from acclaimed Celtic punk-rock band Flogging Molly, featuring the single 'Reptiles (We Woke Up).' Produced by Grammy Award-winning Joe Chiccarelli (U2, White Stripes, Beck) and recorded in Dublin, Ireland, LIFE IS GOOD marks FLOGGING MOLLY'S first studio album in six years since 2011's highly acclaimed Speed of Darkness.

The social and political awareness that drives Flogging Molly’s music is never more prominent than in their upcoming new release LIFE IS GOOD - a strikingly powerful album and it arrives at a strikingly key time. The sixth studio album by the renowned Celtic-punk rockers now in their 20th year is mature, well crafted, equally polished and almost aggressively topical. It is filled with rousing songs that are timeless in their sentiment, but directly related to today’s most pressing concerns: Politics, the economy, unemployment, planned boomtowns gone bust, immigration policies gone awry, and much more.

For singer and lyricist Dave King, it may be the lyrical couplet contained within the surging “Reptiles (We Woke Up”) that points toward the album’s central theme. “We woke up,” sings King, “And we won’t fall back asleep.”

“The thing is, there are things changing,” says King. “That’s why I wrote that line, ‘Like reptiles, we'll all soon be dust someday.’ It’s quite scary, especially for somebody who has children these days--bringing up family in this environment of who’s welcome and who’s not welcome. I'm talking about the cultures in America and the UK--especially American immigration.

Life Is Good thus serves as a wake-up call to those who have simply stood by while far-reaching political decisions were made that had serious impact on them. And, significantly, it also serves as notice that the time for action is now.

And people are indeed taking action, adds King, which is a crucial point.

“I think especially with things like government--I think we all tend to fall asleep a little bit when it comes to other people that are making decisions for you. I think we should be the ones influencing the government to make these decisions. It’s a great thing that we’re now taking to the streets again. And it’s a positive thing.”

Imagery abounds on Life Is Good, and one of the most memorable images might be found in “Adamstown,” the saga of a planned community west of Dublin that came to a halt in mid-construction a decade ago when the Irish economy crashed--and left little more than a ghost town in its place.

“It had a huge negative connotation to it,” King says of the eerie, unfinished settlement. “But now it’s starting to turn again, people are starting to move there, businesses are starting to open, and there is hope.”

Thematically, hope and inspiration are a major part of “The Hand of John L. Sullivan,” a rollicking track about the legendary “Boston Strong Boy” who was the first ever heavyweight champion of gloved boxing from 1882-1892. Sullivan was a hero to many, and his story has a cultural significance that fits squarely within the story Flogging Molly want to tell with Life Is Good.

“He came from an immigrant family to Boston, and they brought their family over to try to make the best possible world for them,” says King. “We live in an environment right now where that doesn’t seem to be what should be allowed to happen, you know?

Recorded in Ireland and produced by multiple Grammy Award winner Joe Chiccarelli (U2, the White Stripes, Beck), Life Is Good is by any measure a formidable return from Flogging Molly, an assessment with which Dave King fully agrees.

“It’s been a tough few years for a lot of us in the band. Dennis (Casey, guitarist) lost his dad, I lost my mother, and there have been certain issues, pertaining to sentiment, in a lot of the songs. But we just try to do the best we can. We’ve always had fun getting together and coming up with the new songs, and it's still that way.

Here we see what’s uniquely distinctive about Life is Good, as the gravity and weight of these themes never overshadow the sheer fun and exuberance felt in each song. For the message is delivered and built on the backs of boisterous and barreling live touring.

“We're known for our live shows,” says Dave King. Writing albums has always been a vehicle for us -- it's been a means to get people onto the dance floor. And that's kind of the way we’ve always approached it, no matter what.”

“The one thing we are is a positive band,” adds Dave King. “When people come and see our shows, it’s a celebration--of life, of the good and of the bad. And we have to take the good and the bad for it to be a life.”

Dave King, Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bodhran
Bridget Regan, Violin, Tin Whistle
Dennis Casey, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
Bob Schmidt, Banjo, Mandolin
Matt Hensley, Accordion, Piano, Concertina
Nathen Maxwell, Bass Guitar
Mike Alonso, Drums, Percussion

Flogging Molly
What makes a band truly remarkable? Insightful lyrics? Memorable melodies? Blow-your-mind live performances? The truth is that it takes all of those things along with a boundless enthusiasm, an infectious energy and a supreme devotion to the fans. With this rare combination, a band may ascend past „good,“ „or even the record industry?s Holy Grail,“ marketable“ and reach sublime. Drawing on the hardships and joys of their own lives and a musical history ranging from old world Celtic to modern day punk rock, the seven members of Flogging Molly do just that, and they do it with a charm and an ease that makes them one of the most accessible bands performing today.

We’re not a traditional band, explains Dublin born singer/songwriter, Dave King. „We are influenced by traditional music and inspired by it, and we put our own little twist on it.“

Founded in Los Angeles in 1997 by the expatriate King, Flogging Molly got its start and its name from a local bar called Molly Malone?s where the band played and grew and laid down the blueprint for its eventual success. As every member of Flogging Molly will emphatically explain, there were no predetermined expectations for the band?s sound. From night to night playing to a packed house at Molly Malone’s, the sound evolved organically. Traditional Celtic instruments like violin, mandolin and accordion blended seamlessly with grinding guitars and pounding drums. Without consciously attempting it, Flogging Molly merged the music of King’s childhood in Dublin with the music of his adulthood in L.A.

„If it didn?t have mandolin, accordion, fiddle and whistle, it would be punk rock, and if it didn’t have guitar, bass and drums, it would be traditional Irish music,“ King admits.

With a sound anchored in such diverse influences and with band members ranging in age from their 20s to their 40s a decidedly non-MTV-friendly demographical mix, Flogging Molly was not embraced by the mainstream music industry. The band simply didn?t fit any preconceived notions of what a „successful“ band was. Not deterred in the least, Flogging Molly embraced a DIY philosophy. Their amazing work ethic and rapidly growing fan base led them to DIY-style record label, Side One Dummy, and the two fit hand in glove.

In 2000, their Side One Dummy debut, Swagger, featuring the anthemic ?The Likes of You Again? and ?Black Friday Rule? along with the best ode to a hangover yet, „The Worst Day Since Yesterday“ (which later found its way into the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), obliterated initial expectations before Flogging Molly headed back into the studio to record their 2002 follow up, Drunken Lullabies, which included instant classics like the rousing ?Rebels of the Sacred Heart? and the doleful ?The Son Never Shines (on Closed Doors). „2004’s Within a Mile of Home once more showcased the band?s ability to play driving rock and roll on one track then slide effortlessly into lilting, pastoral harmonies on the next and contained a beautiful duet between King and Lucinda Williams on „Factory Girls.“

To date, in the United States alone, Swagger has sold 269,752 copies, Drunken Lullabies is at 428,811 sold, Within A Mile of Home has scanned an impressive 316,435 and Whiskey on a Sunday, the band?s DVD has sold 85,913 copies. The band continues to bring in weekly sales on their back catalogue with numbers well into the thousands.

Flogging Molly?s latest album, Float, recorded in King’s native Ireland, delivers still another iteration of the band?s sonic evolution. More mature yet retaining the immediacy that marks all of their work, Float may find the widest audience acceptance of any Flogging Molly album. Hard charging tunes „Paddy’s Lament and You Won’t Make a Fool Out of Me? give way, as listeners have come to expect, to more sober ruminations on tracks like „Float.“ The overall effect is a symphonic layering of sound that possesses a unique rhythmic flow from boisterous to bereaved and back again. Long time fans and new discoverers will be equally astounded.

First, last and always a live band, Flogging Molly tours quite a bit more than the average group. On the road seemingly at all times, the band is a regular on the Warped Tour. Even still, their fans can?t get enough. People traveled from all over the country to catch them playing with another Celtic-rock powerhouse, Dropkick Murphys, in Philadelphia in September 2007. Flogging Molly’s annual Green 17 Tour begins 2008?s St. Patrick’s Day celebration on February 1st ? because you can never get an early enough start on St. Patrick’s Day and will take the band to 30 cities for a total of 34 shows before it?s over. For Flogging Molly, the contact with their fans is essential.

„I feel as good about meeting [the fans] as they feel about meeting me,“ says bassist Nathen Maxwell, „because they’re just as happy as I am.

Spend 10 minutes in a room with the members of Flogging Molly, and you will have no doubt about their passion for their music. As mandolin and banjo player Bob Schmidt describes it, „We’re deadly serious about what we do. As much as it?s a good time and a fun thing, it’s no joke to us.“ Guitarist Dennis Casey echoes that sentiment, saying, „I just give it all I’ve got because I just believe in it that much.“

Flogging Molly isn?t a mere band, they’re a seven member nuclear family. They are as devoted to one another as they are to the music they create. It’s no wonder their extended family the legion of loyal Flogging Molly fans ? keeps growing every day.

Booklet for Life Is Good