“You're either admitting that you're pro-fascist if you're going to take that term,” he says, “like you're angry at Dropkick Murphys for speaking up about fascism.”Ĭasey says he knows the band will lose fans because of their stance on fascism. What confuses Casey, though, is how the word fascism still triggers some people. By using Guthrie’s guitar phrase for their album title, Casey says the band wanted to show that Guthrie's music remains relevant today.

Guthrie was notably anti-fascist, anti-violence and anti-war. Visiting the town allowed Casey and the band to connect with the lyrics and feel like Guthrie was helping them. The band also explored Guthrie’s hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. At this point in their careers, however, the group wanted to try something different and hone into Guthrie’s time period. If the band made the album 20 years ago, Casey says, it would have been Dropkick Murphys’ well-known electric sound. As Casey grew older, artists he was a fan of, like Joe Strummer and Bruce Springsteen, all revered Guthrie. “All along we did have the plan to do a full album of his unpublished lyrics because you feel like you're really helping to bring some history to light because he's got hundreds of pages … He probably had music to them, but nobody knows what it was because he never recorded it.”Įven as far back as grammar school, Casey remembers being taught “This Land is Your Land,” a popular Guthrie song.

“ had this real trust in us with what we've done with the lyrics,” Casey says. Originally, Casey worried Guthrie’s family would reject every idea the band had. (Dropkick Murphys)ĭuring the making of the album, frontman Ken Casey and the band met with Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, and her son, Cole. 'This Machine Still Kills Fascists' album cover. It’s not the only way the band incorporates Woody Guthrie into their new album: They also take a personal spin on some of his previously unreleased songs. “ This Machine Still Kills Fascists” takes its name from a phrase American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie once had painted on his guitars. Dropkick Murphys, TMSKF Group Photo (2022) by Dave StaubleĪ new album from Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys drops on Friday.

Leaked dropkick murphys albums