The co-vocalist took time out in 2022 to take care of his ailing mother, and wasn’t involved with that year’s This Machine Still Kills Fascists<\/em> (reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>) or 2023’s Okemah Rising<\/em> (reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n He only features on one song, The Vultures Circle High<\/em>, but it’s great to hear him trading lines with Ken Casey in his trademark growl. Barr is but one of a host of special guests here (though it’s odd to describe him as that given he’s still officially a member of the band).<\/p>\n\n\n Billy Bragg guests on a cover of Ewan MacColl\u2019s School Days Are Over<\/em>, while The Mary Wallopers – a sort of DKM-light from Dundalk in Ireland – join them on protest song Bury The Bones<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dublin band The Scratch, who blend traditional Irish music with heavy metal, appear on two songs, the accordion-soaked Longshot <\/em>and One Last Goodbye<\/em>, an affectionate tribute to late Pogues singer Shane MacGowan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latter is a fitting end to an album full of the vim and vigour the Murphys built a near-30-year career on before going all acoustic on us for the last couple of records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lead single and opening track Who’ll Stand With Us?<\/em>, powered by a killer riff, is perhaps the best song they’ve written in 10 years. It’s a call for unity, and a look at what \u2013 and who \u2013 is really dividing us – “the bosses and the bankers, who never gave their share, of any blood, of any sweat, of any tears”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"dropkick](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dropkick-Murphys-2025-by-Riley-Vecchione.jpg?resize=640%2C427\")