Dropkick Murphys * Blood Or Whiskey * Bryan McPherson

Dropkick Murphys come out swinging on their eighth full-length album, "SIGNED and SEALED in BLOOD" [Born & Bred Records/ADA]. This time around, everything has been cranked up past 10. The guitars are ballsier, the gang vocals are louder, the hooks are catchier, the lyrics stop you in your tracks. The brashest moments of "SIGNED and SEALED in BLOOD" feel like the last 30 seconds of a Stanley Cup hockey game: frenetic, on the edge, dangerous. The softest songs are testaments to the values that pump through the Dropkicks' veins: family, neighborhoods, honor, respect, roots and remembering those who are gone. Every second of "SIGNED and SEALED in BLOOD" is evidence of one thing: Dropkick Murphys aren't just loud and brash, they're at the top of their game as songwriters.