Street Dogs
"Back To The World"
DRT Entertainment

When Mike McColgan left the Dropkick Murphy’s in 1998 to become a firefighter in his hometown of Boston, it was one of the more noble things I had heard a guy in a band do. But music is in this guys heart and around 2002, he formed Street Dogs. A very honest punk band that like The Dropkicks, never forgets their roots.

In this punk record, you get 12 very honest songs about the town of Boston, as the band is immensely proud of their hometown. It’s a mixture of where the Dropkicks went after he left the band, only without the bagpipes and the like. It’s just very honest punk rock and that is why it drags me in.
It’s very pop sounding, but not something you’ll be hearing on MTV or the radio anytime soon. They play a form of music that only a few people in this world get.

The self titled track, McColgan talks about a return to his town, where it was everything he left behind. It’s a very blue collar song in that, he realizes he can’t do the change all by himself, that he indeeds need help with it all. As in the lyrics, I’m not a policy maker/Just a sworn in order taker. Very powerful lyrics that instantly maintain a very strong message.

I also don’t think that this band gets trapped into the “well they have a built in fan base” because, most of the Dropkicks fan base was not there when McColgan was in the band. They will work hard for what success they achieve, because of this album. An honest record most working class citizens can relate to.

Reviewed by: Chris Buehler
Reviewed on: September 27, 2005