Flogging Molly: Life Is Good [Album Review]

Folk punks Flogging Molly are back with their trademark brand of Celtic rock ‘n’ roll, showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The group have always been fairly consistent in terms of releasing new music, and Life Is Good proves to be no exception to that rule.

This is actually their first full length release since 2011’s Speed Of Darkness, so it’s fair to say that the band’s fans have been waiting quite a long time for this, with breath baited in anticipation. Thankfully it’s a very good record, so long time listeners should find themselves feeling very pleased with Life Is Good. It’s quite common for punk bands to slow down a little after a few releases, which often leads to some questionable musical choices. However, here Flogging Molly seem faster than ever, with a frenetic burst of energy accompanying practically every song. Of course, there are some slow parts (as is often the nature with folk punk), but there’s nothing gimmicky about it, and everything seems to fit together well.

At times things do get a little generic, but that’s the nature of the music that Flogging Molly are playing, and they’re still well ahead of the vast amount of other ageing punk bands that are still somehow clinging onto life. There’s nothing particularly life-changing here, but there doesn’t really need to be, and the band are obviously still a long way off from sounding stale – suggesting that the six year break between albums was very much a good thing.

Life Is Good contains everything you might expect from a Flogging Molly album and more, and is well worth checking out – despite sounding a little predictable at times! Here’s hoping they don’t leave it so long next time round!