Dropkick Murphys - Musical Style and Influences

Musical Style and Influences

The bands early influences were 1970s British punk bands like, The Clash, and Sex Pistols, as well as Irish rock band The Pogues

When they wrote their first song, Barroom Hero, they were surprised to hear how much the vocal melody sounded like those from old Irish music they heard as children, something the bandmembers at one time tried to reject. "It dawned on us that Irish music was a bigger influence on all of us than we'd realized," said Ken Casey. "Growing up in Boston, every time you went to a wedding or a wake or your grandparents' house, you heard that music. I went through a phase of hating it just because it's what my (folks) listened to."

While frequently referred to as a Celtic punk band, some of their earlier material has also been classified under other punk rock subgenres like Hardcore punk and Oi!.

They frequently cite AC/DC as an influence to their formula of maintaining a specific style, with Casey once saying "I think our goal is to be the AC/DC of Celtic punk rock. The worst thing we can do to the local fans who have stuck with us is to all of a sudden try to be Fall Out Boy with bagpipes." Al Barr commented "We've always said we're like The Ramones or AC/DC with what we do; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But at the same time, we have to keep challenging ourselves. And if we find that tunes we're putting together for a record are boring us, we're not going to record them."