Dropkick Murphys and Bad Religion

Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys proudly remain Boston’s rock ‘n’ roll underdogs turned champions. Since 1996, the boys have created the kind of music that’s meant to be chanted at last call, in packed arenas, and during the fourth quarter, third period, or ninth inning of a comeback rally. Their celebrated discography includes four consecutive Billboard top 10 album debuts (Turn Up That Dial, 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory, Signed and Sealed in Blood, Going Out In Style), along with 2005’s Certified-Gold The Warrior’s Code featuring the double platinum classic “I’m Shipping Up To Boston.” Whether you caught a legendary gig at The Rathskeller (The Rat) under Kenmore Square, found the band by taking the T to Newbury Comics to cop Do Or Die in ’98, discovered them in Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award winning The Departed, or saw ‘em throw down at Coachella (or one of hundreds of other festivals), you’ve become a part of their extended family. Dropkick Murphys’ music has generated half-a-billion streams, they’ve quietly moved 8 million-plus units worldwide and the band has sold out gigs on multiple continents. In 2020, the band was one of the first to embrace streaming performances, starting with their Streaming Up From Boston St. Patrick’s Day virtual performance. It was followed by their landmark Streaming Outta Fenway livestream, which drew more than 5.9 million viewers and held the #3 spot on Pollstar’s “Top 2020 Live Streams” chart. Dropkick Murphys St. Patrick’s Day Stream 2021...Still Locked Down, was #1 on Pollstar’s Livestream chart for the week ending March 22, 2021, logging over 1 million views. Dropkick Murphys returned in 2022 with their first-ever all-acoustic album, This Machine Still Kills Fascists (Dummy Luck Music / [PIAS]), and seated theater tour. This Machine Still Kills Fascists--and their follow-up album Okemah Rising--breathe musical life into mostly unpublished lyrics by the legendary Woody Guthrie, curated for the band by Woody's daughter Nora Guthrie. Dropkick Murphys recently released a new single, "Sirens," the first hint of a new album to come in 2025.

Bad Religion

Aside from essentially defining the California half-pipe punk blueprint, Bad Religion has defied the usual trend-shifts or values-ditched ubiquities of the usual punk band storyline and morphed along with challenging album after challenging album amid astoundingly consistent touring, retaining their core audience while roping in subsequent generations of anxiously energetic kids.

The band has long settled into the current lineup who have arguably enacted the most muscular Bad Religion ever to grace a stage: Greg Graffin (vocals) and Jay Bentley (bass) join Brian Baker (guitarist since ’94), guitarist Mike Dimkich, and drummer Jamie Miller.

Bad Religion is in an almost singular position in the history of punk. Having formed right on the heels of the original explosion, they led the west coast arm of hardcore’s birth, adding their melodic riffs, zooming harmonies, and viciously verbose lyrical punch to the basic bash of hardcore. Then the band continued to expand their template through the ‘80s and into the indebted “neo-punk” sound of the early ‘90s, and weathered the questionable dichotomies of the “alternative rock” era by doing what they’ve always done – releasing explosive album after album to consistent acclaim from fans and critics.

And if you’re positive there is no way they could keep doing the same thing all these years, you’d be right. They haven’t. They’ve continued to throw songwriting and production wrenches into the works so’s not to bore themselves or their never-diminishing following. They have released 17 studio albums to their ever-widening audience.

The band’s rep as socially aware thought-provokers can obscure the fact they’ve remained one of the most viscerally powerful live bands on the planet, remembering it’s the beats and riffs that get your ass off the couch in the first place.

Being Bad Religion is what they do best; they see no reason to take their foot off the pedal any time soon.