Dropkick Murphys album charts at #20

The DROPKICK MURPHYS have entered the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at #20 by selling 28,168 copies of their highly anticipated THE MEANEST OF TIMES album in one week. The disc was also the #2 top-selling CD in Boston. THE MEANEST OF TIMES--their sixth full-length--marks the group's HIGHEST CHART DEBUT EVER and the first on their own Born & Bred Records in association with Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group.

THE MEANEST OF TIMES--which follows their breakthrough CD The Warriors Code, which debuted at #48 with 19,667 copies sold--is already garnering major critical praise, as evidenced below:

"Despite gaining mainstream exposure on last year's soundtrack to The Departed, Dropkick Murphys haven't softened their rough edges: The band's sixth album is a massive blast of exhalted noise via shouted, sore-throat choruses and brain crushing beats (along with a hint of bagpipes). But The Meanest of Times moves beyond just connecting the dots between working-class punk and ancient Celtic ditties, with surprisingly thoughtful songs that explore lives shaped by drunken violence and Catholicism--the brute fury of 'Shattered' alone provides reason enough to listen up."--Jon Young, SPIN, October 2007 (four-star review)

"Fiddles, mandolins, tin whistles and bagpipes continue to fight side-by-side with frenzied electric guitar, breathless bass lines, and hard hitting drums in the battle for punk domination. Whiskey, women, and wistfulness remain on the lyrical menu as does the band's familiar theme of family. In that regard, the devastating 'The State of Massachusetts' perfectly encapsulates the demons of parents whose children are placed in state care. Angry, joyous, danceable, gritty and Hub-specific, Meanest is everything you want in a Murphys record and a great inauguration for the band's newly minted indie label, Born & Bred Records." --Sarah Rodman, BOSTON GLOBE, September 25, 2007

"These seven Massachusetts guys know how to make even dire moments sound like a hot party. On their sixth album, fiddle, mandolin and other Gaelic accouterments adorn rave-ups like 'The State of Massachusetts,' reminding you they're a punk band with a Celtic twist. They're also songwriters--and good ones, too, preserving their party-boy reputation while turning out giant, soulful choruses on songs both manicured and memorable: Dig tunefully sotted jams like 'Tomorrow's Industry'..."--Christian Hoard, ROLLING STONE, September 20, 2007

"Nobody does Celtic punk better than the Dropkicks. And the Dropkicks have never done it better. Always competent at composing gutter poetry, hardcore jigs and smart, simple political tirades, this sixth full-length go-around ups both the folkie-Irish banjo picking and the breakneck singalongs. From the 'If I Should Fall From Grace With God'-inspired opener 'Famous For Nothing' to the bagpipe-fired 'Never Forget' there's nary a filler tune."--Jed Gottleib, BOSTON HERALD, September 18, 2007 (A- CD review)

"Dropkick Murphys play gruff punk with some rowdy Irish roots and offer no mercy for posers or phonies." --Jon Pareles, NEW YORK TIMES, September 14, 2007

"On The Meanest of Times they're in fine fettle and fighting trim...For the recording of 'Flanningan's Ball' a hard-charging many versed litany of drinking and dancing and donnybrooks, the band traveled to Ireland to record with the Pogues' Spider Stacey (whose voice is gravelly) and The Dubliners' legendary Ronnie Drew (whose voice sounds like gravel being pureed in a blender). The song is a stunner, which Casey and Barr trading verses with these two titans of Irish music, three generations demolishing Dorchester's Florian Hall from across the broad Atlantic."--Mike Millard, BOSTON PHOENIX, September 7, 2007 (cover story)

"Given that nothing seems to be broken--hell Martin Scorsese, who used their 'I'm Shipping Up To Boston' in his Oscar-winning The Departed, now name checks them in interviews--the Dropkick Murphys don't fuck with a good thing on The Meanest of Times. Famous for blending East Coast hardcore with whiskey-scorched Celtic folk, Beantown's favorite sons predictably make sure both are well represented... Proving the Murphys haven't forgotten their roots, the Gang Green-strength blast of hardcore that is 'Shattered' gives old-schoolers a reason to risk what's left of their teeth in the mosh pit. If anything has changed this time out, it's that the Murphys' Celtic songs sound more traditional than ever. The banjo-and-bagpipes-powered 'Fairmount Hill' practically bleeds unpasteurized Guinness, while the reeling '(F)lannigan's Ball' sounds like Saturday night in Dublin's suds-soaked Temple Bar district. It's all potent enough to make you reconsider your list of things to do before you die. If catching the Murphys in Boston for one of their infamous St. Patrick's Day shows isn't already a Top 10 mission, The Meanest of Times will convince you it's time to reprioritize." --Mike Usinger, ALTERNATIVE PRESS, October 2007 (4 out of 5 stars)

"These Boston punk-folk-sters owe a large musical debt to Irish punk-folksters the Pogues (payable, probably in Guinness). But if that's not a problem for Pogues singer Spider Stacy, who guests on '(F)lannigan's Ball,' then it's fine by us, given the gloriously raucous, hook-heavy nature of that track. Indeed, the bulk of the album consists of frenetic toe-tappers, such as the opener, 'Famous for Nothing,' which also showcases bagpiper Scruffy Wallace. And how can you dislike a band that has a bagpiper named Scruffy?" --Clark Collis, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, September 21, 2007.

"Beantown's favorite Celtic-punk rockers are back with their sixth studio album, "The Meanest of Times," celebrating family, loyalty and remembering where you came from. The band's in fine form, continuing its decade-old tradition of telling plain-speaking stories that don't need interpretation in rousing song. --Maxine Shen, NEW YORK POST, September 18, 2007

Catch the DROPKICK MURPHYS--KEN CASEY (vocals, bass guitar), AL BARR (vocals), MATT KELLY (drums, backing vocals), JAMES LYNCH (guitar, backing vocals), TIM BRENNAN (mandolin, accordion, banjo, bouzouki, tin whistle, and acoustic guitar), MARC ORRELL (guitar, accordion, piano, backing vocals) and SCRUFFY WALLACE (bagpipes)--on the road in the following cities below and go to www.dropkickmurphys.com for additional information.

Upcoming Tour Dates:
Thu 9/27 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
Sun 9/30 Boston, MA The Avalon
Fri 11/2 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern Theater
Sat 11/3 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
Sun 11/4 Chico, CA Senator Theater
Mon 11/5 Eugene, OR McDonald Theater
Tue 11/6 Vancouver, BC Commodore
Thu 11/8 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
Fri 11/9 Edmonton, AB Events Center
Sun 11/11 Minneapolis, MN The Myth
Mon 11/12 Milwaukee, WI The Eagles Club
Tue 11/13 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's
Wed 11/14 Detroit, MI Fillmore @ State Theater
Thu 11/15 Rochester, NY Water Street
Fri 11/16 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
Sat 11/17 Montreal, QC Metropolis
Sun 11/18 Burlington, VT Higher Ground

www.myspace.com/dropkickmurphys