Flogging Molly – Complete Control Sessions
One Side Dummy (3/13/07; available exclusively on iTunes)
Irish/Folk punk
Ah yes, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day (but not in time for that damned South Side Irish parade), the Irish American Celtic punk ensemble has decided to release an acoustic EP with a bit of new material to get drunk by. Flogging Molly has always been a standout band in the sea of newer punk in that they’ve got the always delightful fiddle, tin whistle, uillean pipes, bodhrán, mandolin, banjo and many more where those came from. Then again, in calling themselves a Celtic punk rock band, they’d better bring the goods.
Complete Control Sessions is more or less a sidebar in the band’s discography, not because it’s only available on iTunes, but more so because the two new tracks (“Requiem for a Dying” and “Float”) and four acoustic versions of older tracks is more like something that would constitute maxi-single status. Then again, this isn’t techno, so I’m sure the maxi-single would never happen.
For what it is, it’s a solid EP, with nice acoustic versions of “Factory Girls” (sans Lucinda Williams), “Tobacco Island”, “Whistles in the Wind”, and my favorite, “Devil’s Dance Floor”, from the band’s breakthrough album, Swagger. “Requiem for a Dying” is the faster, dancier song, while “Float” is a melancholic drinking anthem, which the band has proven they are excellent at supplying. It almost makes me want to be an alcoholic. OK, maybe not.
I’m not sure if iTunes will let you only buy one or two tracks, but “Devil’s Dance Floor” and “Float” are the standout tracks here. For only six bucks, though, this EP is a deal, and unless you’re really stapped for funds, buy the whole thing. And if you’re playing it on St. Paddy’s Day, one should be able to throw down between three and four imperial pints of Smithwick’s in the time it takes to play through. Go nuts.
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