Dave King, singer and primary songwriter for L.A. Celt-punk sensations Flogging Molly, is an Irishman who hasn"t lived in his home country for a decade. It"s not that he vastly prefers the American lifestyle — even a brief telephone conversation with the man conveys a wistful desire for both the spiritual and the literal Ireland. But it"s been said that creators will endure all manner of suffering in the name of their art, and for King, this voluntary distance provides a necessary and inspiring perspective."I had an opportunity to go back to Ireland, and I didn"t go. I stayed here, and for me, as a writer, it was the best move I could have made," says the vocalist. "You definitely need separation to be able to long for something, to remember something differently, as if you were there instead of actually being there."
Flogging Molly"s music fairly sweats that inimitable juxtaposition of beery, no-decorum pub fun and thoughtful, earthy poesy that has come to be considered archetypically Irish. And it does so without sounding like a commercial for some American product with a "Mc" or an "O"" at the front of its name.
At no point during a trip through either of the septet"s two full-lengths does one get the idea that they"re "working the Celtic thing;" presumably, this is because one is busy trying to pogo around one"s apartment without spilling too much of one"s beer. By fusing traditional Irish themes and instrumentation to an approach that"s far more punk than pop, Flogging Molly retain a compelling purity more in line with The Pogues or Dropkick Murphys than, say, Seven Nations.
"It all came from the acoustic guitar, and it"s about the simplest songwriting instrument there is," King says. "It lends itself to that straightforward approach. The songs have that energy whether they"re played soft or loud."
The entire band (drummer George Schwindt, mandolin/banjo player Bob Schmidt, bassist Nathen Maxwell, accordionist Matt Hensley, guitarist Dennis Casey, and fiddle/tin whistle/violin player Bridget Regan) fleshes out the stark, rootsy tunes with disparate instrumentation and a rollicking execution.
They honed a comfortably energetic and inclusive vibe during an extended house-band gig at downtown Los Angeles Irish pub Molly Malone"s, where the bulk of the band originally got together in 1999, and in whose honor the unit is named. King, a music-biz veteran formerly best known as the frontman for ex-Motorhead guitarist "Fast Eddie" Clark"s band Fastway, claims no careerist predilections when he began writing what eventually became Flogging Molly tunes.
"When we started getting this band together, I"d gone through so much bullshit, gone through so many record companies," he says. "I"d been involved with that too much, and I wasn"t geared up to let myself down. This time I was just gonna write songs for myself, play in a band I love and have a good time."
Sometimes that works, apparently, because Flogging Molly were signed to eclectic punk imprint SideOneDummy and toured hard in support of their debut studio disc Swagger before spring sprang in 2000. While some of Swagger"s high-rpm live "n" raw aesthetic comes courtesy of noted engineer Steve Albini, most of it can be attributed to the band"s enthusiastic bent.
Already tight from their Molly Malone"s rite of passage, Flogging Molly nonetheless hit the road an unknown, idiosyncratic new contender on the underground circuit. Over the course of a year or so, the band went from opening for their friends and fans in The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to headlining those same theaters, emerging from the fray a heavily buzzed Band To Watch getting ready to drop their all-important sophomore effort, this year"s Drunken Lullabies.
Lullabies, again recorded by Albini, picks up exactly where Swagger left off, delivering another round of rowdy, heartfelt blasts and ballads. The new disc has delighted those critics and fans who live where the independent meets the mainstream (i.e. those who don"t really notice a rising new act until the second-album hype). Though the new disc doesn"t exactly find the band careening off into experimental new territory, it showcases an outfit that"s more confident than the last time, and chomping at the bit to deliver the goods.
"We"re definitely gelling more as a band," agrees King. "Touring on Swagger, which we"d never done before, really helped define where our sound was headed — (Drunken Lullabies is) a much more cohesive album, more of a band effort."
If the prospect of a band prominently featuring acoustic guitar, mandolin, accordion and recorder winning over crowds from old-school hardcore clubs and the Warped Tour strikes you as dubious, then you obviously haven"t yet been exposed to Flogging Molly"s manic, shoutalong live set. Like the best punk, roadhouse and gospel acts, the septet eagerly and effortlessly transcends the gap between performer and audience, creating a celebratory communal vibe. Their anthems of love, loss and faith resonate with all — of course it also never hurts to deliver them in loud-ass, joyfully sweaty style.
"That, for us, goes without saying," King says. "We feel very privileged to be doing what we"re doing. There was always that atmosphere when we played, no matter where we played. The music is no-bullshit. It"s from the heart, and it"s played from the heart. Everybody"s got a heart."
Music critic Scott Harrell can be reached at 813-248-8888, ext. 109, or at scott.harrell@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2002.