''Turn Up That Dial'' is the tenth studio album by American band

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

and was released on April 30, 2021, on the band's

Born & Bred Records Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 2022), ...

label. It is the band's first studio album in four years since 2017's '' 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory''.

Background

Co-lead vocalist

Ken Casey Kenneth William Casey Jr. (born April 15, 1969) is an American musician who is the primary songwriter, one of the lead singers and bassist of the Boston Celtic punk group the Dropkick Murphys. Casey was one of the original members, starting ...

explained the album by saying, "On this record, the overall theme is the importance of music, and the bands that made us who we are. We just hope he albumtakes people's minds off their troubles. We're so fortunate and grateful to be in the position to share a little happiness in our own way. Our gratitude levels are off the chart. ..If there's a message to this album, it's, 'Put your fist up and play it loud.' We've all done plenty of lamenting, so the main goal was to keep this fun. The darker the times got, the harder we fought to uplift with this music." Casey said that the previous album, ''11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory'' "came from a darker place and with the new album we wanted to bounce back. Inspiration automatically kicked us in the opposite direction. When the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

hit and things were so down, more than ever, we thought, nobody wants to hear an album about how bad 2020 was in 2021. For the most part, it's onward and upward and let's get out of this thing and have some anthems." "Chosen Few" addresses former

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

's response to the pandemic while "I Wish You Were Here" is a ballad about the death of

Al Barr Alexander Barr (born January 21, 1968) is an American musician. He is best known for his time as the lead singer of the Dropkick Murphys, whom he joined in 1998 and as of 2025, is currently on hiatus from the band. He was also a founder and lea ...

's father. "I could write 37 (expletive) albums about how much I hate (Trump), but he dominated the news for four years, he wasn't going to dominate our record," Casey said. "And the song about Al's dad, well, it's an 11-song album and we thought, 'Here are the 10 songs to put a smile on your face. ... Then we stop and take a moment to acknowledge Al's dad and acknowledge 500,000 plus people lost."

Promotion

The album was preceded by the singles and music videos for "Smash Shit Up", "Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding", "I Wish You Were Here", "Middle Finger" and "Queen of Suffolk County". Music videos were released for the singles "L-EE-B-O-Y" on May 26, 2021, for "H.B.D.M.F." on August 6, 2021, "Good as Gold" on December 8, 2021 and "

We Shall Overcome "We Shall Overcome" is a gospel song that is associated heavily with the U.S. civil rights movement. The origins of the song are unclear; it was thought to have descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day," a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, while t ...

", a bonus track on the expanded edition of the album, on March 15, 2022. On May 1, 2021, the band held a record release party

livestream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

where they performed the album in its entirety along with other songs from previous albums. The band also announced that they would tour in support of ''Turn Up That Dial'' beginning with a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an tour from January to February 2022 with dates in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

expected to follow. In February 2022 it was announced that

was forced to drop off of the band's 2022 St. Patrick’s Day Tour and their 2022 summer tour in

promoting the album to take care of his ailing mother who is battling

Lewy Body Dementia Lewy body dementia (LBD) is an umbrella term for two similar and common subtypes of dementia: dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The ...

. Jesse Ahern, Mikey Rivkees of

The Rumjacks The Rumjacks are a celtic punk band originally formed in Sydney, Australia in 2008. Known for their loud and energetic live shows, the band has released five studio albums, two live albums, and a series of EPs and singles. In 2016, the Rumjac ...

, and Jen Razavi of

The Bombpops The Bombpops are an American punk rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 2007. The band was formed by co-front women Jen Razavi and Poli van Dam; it has had many formation changes since 2007. The band is signed to Fat Wreck Chords. Hist ...

will be assisting on vocals for certain songs in place of Barr with

taking over other vocal duties for Barr.

Expanded edition

The band announced on March 10, 2022, that they would be releasing an expanded edition of ''Turn Up That Dial'' on March 18, 2022. The expanded edition will be a digital-only release and available in stereo and 3-dimensional

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

mixes. It will contain the bonus tracks "The Bonny" (by

Gerry Cinnamon Gerard Crosbie (born 1 October 1984), professionally known as Gerry Cinnamon, is a Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist. In 2020 his second album, ''The Bonny'', reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and became the third bigges ...

) and "

James Connolly James Connolly (; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was a Scottish people, Scottish-born Irish republicanism, Irish republican, socialist, and trade union leader, executed for his part in the Easter Rising, 1916 Easter Rising against British rule i ...

", which were previously released as B-sides, along with their cover of the Civil Rights movement

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. ...

", which was released as a single and music video on March 15, 2022.

Track listing

Personnel

Dropkick Murphys *

– lead vocals *

Tim Brennan Tim Brennan is an American musician who is a lead guitarist, vocalist and one of the primary songwriters of the Boston Celtic punk group Dropkick Murphys. Early life and career Born in West Hartford, Connecticut, Brennan played drums for n ...

– guitar, vocals *

– lead vocals *

Jeff DaRosa Jeffrey DaRosa (born July 31, 1982) is an American musician who is a multi-instrumentalist and a member of the Boston-based Dropkick Murphys. Early life and career Growing up in Watertown, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston) and Somerville, Ma ...

– banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitars, vocals *Matt Kelly – drums, percussion, vocals * James Lynch – guitars, vocals Additional musicians * Lee Forshner – bagpipes * Kevin Rheault – bass guitar

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turn Up That Dial 2021 albums Dropkick Murphys albums Albums produced by Ted Hutt