Flogging Molly: 'Life really isn’t good'
Dennis Casey is hopeful that fans will not take at face value the name of the new Flogging Molly album, “Life is Good,” as if it’s meant to share the same positive message with a sticker in the back window of a Subaru wagon.
In fact, what the Celtic-punk band means when they say “life is good,” is that it is not.
Because of that possible point of confusion, Casey, Flogging Molly’s guitarist, pushed back against bandleader Dave King’s suggestion to name the album “Life is Good,” after one of the tracks on it.
“I didn’t see people really looking into it. If you didn’t know the song, I think you could have a different interpretation of what ‘life is good’ means, especially coming from a rock band. I think people think it’s like booze and parties on yachts and that kind of thing. But the title is ironic. Life really isn’t good. It’s both good and bad. Dave’s mother’s passing and my father dying during the writing of it is present in the song and in other songs as well. The title – you have to think a lot about it,” Casey says.
King had a plan to bring the irony to life, visually speaking. The cover art of “Life is Good” features the image of his young nephew – with middle finger extended.
Still, Casey worries that the message might get lost by those who consume music digitally. “When I would go home with a record, I would sit down and look at it and listen to it over and over and think about it,” he says. “I’m sure there’s still people that do that, but overall, if a song comes up on Spotify, I don’t think people are saying, 'Hmm, life is good,’ let me look into what that’s really about.”
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It’s a problem that could be exacerbated by the general notion of what it means to be a band playing Irish-tinged rock. It’s not Flogging Molly’s mission to provide background music for a St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl.
“If people sit down and listen to what Dave is saying, and there are a lot of people who do that, I think it’s very clear that there’s a lot of depth to it. It’s not just get drunk and fall on your face and do it again the next day,” Casey says. “It’s crazy how, all through the industry, there’s the perception where people think you’re just this sort of bar band. That thing has been going on since the beginning of the band.”
That being said, Flogging Molly has enjoyed enough support that they’re now celebrating 20 years since the formation of the band in Los Angeles. Casey joined a year later.
“When we made it to 10 years, I thought that was an unbelievable feat,” he recalls. “Some of my favorite bands, like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, you could name many – didn’t go past 10 years. It’s a huge part of my life. Everybody in the band has families and moved to different places. To me, that is a testament to the love we have for the music and for each other, and I think that’s not easy to do in a rock-band situation. Seven different personalities, none of us are the same age. None of us grew up together. You couldn’t find seven different people and put them in a boat, so to speak, and have it go for 20 years without capsizing.”
IF YOU GO
What: Flogging Molly
When: 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30
Where: Bogart’s, 2621 Vine St., Corryville; 513-872-8801
Tickets: $33