New England Forever pairs Boston heavyweights Dropkick Murphys with the up and coming hardcore outfit Haywire, and, more than just a simple collaboration, it feels like these two bands are sharing a generational handshake. The traditional street-punk charm meeting the urgency of modern hardcore in a way that feels strangely joyous.
For Dropkick Murphys, this release lands deep into a long career built on blue-collar anthems (‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’, ‘Which Side Are You On’) and Celtic-punk crossover (‘The Irish Rover’, ‘The Fields Of Athenry’), but it seems that a fire has been lit underneath them for this new record and there’s a real sense of blunt-force urgency to their side of the EP! Kicking off with ‘Citizen I.C.E’ (which is an intensified reworking of their older ‘Citizen C.I.A’), there’s some serious pace to the track and they make good use of gang vocals to really hammer their point home to the listener…this isn’t a lesson in subtlety…it’s brash, ballsy and bloody good fun! They continue in this vein for the remainder of their 10 minutes, powering through new songs ‘Only The Strong’ and ‘Solidarity’ with an edge and intensity that I haven’t heard from them in quite some time!
When it comes time for Haywire to step into the spotlight, they ease the listener in with the more melodic title track ‘New England Forever’ which, honestly, wouldn’t be out of place on any Dropkick Murphys record…I’m still singing it to myself now! But they clearly aren’t afraid to up the stakes on tracks like ‘Hang Up The Telephone’ and ‘The Henchman’, still full of catchy hooks but with enough heft to knock you off your bar stool and cover your neighbours in Guinness. It seems that the future of Boston punk is certainly in safe hands here!
What really makes this split stand out from the crowd though is the pure collaborative nature of it, with each band choosing to cover a track by the other and even joining forces for a couple of them, this whole record feels like it’s driven by a celebration of the Boston punk scene and an honest outpouring of mutual respect for each other…I told you it felt joyous! There’s also a brilliant symbiosis to the relationship here, Dropkick Murphys are clearly investing in the future of their hometown scene and championing up-and-coming artists, but in doing so, Haywire seem to have kickstarted something in their more weathered counterparts…maybe reminding them of just why they got into this game in the first place…The Boys are, indeed, back!
Best Paired with – A pair of Doc Martens, a group hug and a pint of the black stuff.
Reviewed by Bryn
Dropkick Murphys/Haywire ‘New England Forever’ Split EP is out now on Dummy Luck Records.
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