Traditional songs also get model Murphy makeovers 'Spancil Hill' gets Boston-ized into the mournful 'Fairmount Hill,' while 'Lannigan's Ball' takes a nice shot of punk rock adrenaline to turn it into the clamorous romp of '(F)lannigan's Ball,' complete with guest vocals from the Pogues' Spider Stacy and the Dubliners' Ronnie Drew. With such ease, the Murphys combine eyes-wide observation, rough defiance, and emotion rubbed raw into heartfelt songs like the explosive opening duo of 'Famous for Nothing' and 'God Willing,' where elegiac bagpipes coexist with searing guitars and delicate mandolins supplement aggressive drum rolls. But even in its consistency with everything else the Beantown crew has ever released, The Meanest of Times stands tall as the band's tightest and most developed set of songs yet. The record is a dark, passionate, and rousing collection of songs that fit in nicely with the Murphys' unfailing back catalog of gritty beer-soaked punk rock anthems.

Life isn't always easy, and it's in these moments of hardship that many of the tracks on The Meanest of Times find their muse.

Dropkick Murphys are a band closely tied to their roots in Boston, proud products of a working-class neighborhood where kids suffered through Catholic school, grew up to be regulars in the local bar, and watched their friends do the exact same thing.

Top ten dropkick murphys albums