Every major holiday has a soundtrack. Christmas, obviously, has its carols. Valentine’s Day can be summarized through a mix CD containing the Three Wise Men of Love: Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Barry White. Halloween has the “Monster Mash”. St. Patrick’s Day belongs to Flogging Molly, the LA-based Irish-punk band whose fourth studio album Float only further solidifies them as the quintessential band to narrate the festivities of March 17th. While Float continues to run in the same musical direction of traditional Irish folk music meets rock and roll that their fans know and love, the album is mellower than their previous efforts. In retrospect, this is exactly what makes the album haunting and almost ghost-like. Slower tempo songs like “The Story So Far” and the title track are the type of epic songs that most musicians strive to create. They are the songs that demand attention but are not brash and overpowering in the process. They are natural and effortless in their execution. Die-hard Flogging Molly fans shouldn’t fret, though. This doesn’t mean that the band has gone soft in search of mainstream success, as if the mainstream would know what to make of the seven-piece band, especially 46-year-old lead singer Dave King. (At their most recent show in Detroit, King described himself as looking like “Elvis Costello on crack”. What’s scary is that he’s kind of right.) Songs like “Requiem for a Dying Song” and “You Won’t Make a Fool Out of Me” still reflect the ferocious spirit that is the essence of Flogging Molly’s being. King’s vocals roar on “Lightning Storm” and “Punch Drunk Grinning Soul” to the point where he’s not so much singing as he is howling. The true beauty of Float is that all eleven tracks are pure and no nonsense. Each one of them are full of heart and hope, no matter how dark the music may get at times. This is not just the perfect soundtrack to St. Patrick’s Day. The album, and Flogging Molly for that matter, is much bigger than one day. This music can be the soundtrack to life.
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