The BoilsI can already hear people saying,"They just ripped off The Dropkick Murphy's!" which the band even says in the thank you's, which gave me a good laugh. I still say the Murphy's ripped off the Misfits who wrote a song for the NY Rangers aptly titled "NY Ranger". In my opinion, every city with a hockey team should have a local street-punk band wrote an anthem for their beloved team anyway.
Musically, The Boils changed their sound up just a bit, which is most noticeable in the anthem "The Orange and The Black", where they added an accordion line into the song, which definitely gives it that DKM vibe. There are six songs which range from 1:08 through 2:21, the perfect length for the songs.
You know the lyrics are the shit: "Row homes on the block, blue collar on the clock. Punching in, punching out. Bullies in the bar, bullies with scars. Bullies driving cheap cars. Row homes on the block, blue collar on the clock. Punching in, punching out. Two million Bullies on Broad St. Cheap beer, cheap seats, missing teeth. Bullies in the bar, bullies with scars. Bullies driving cheap cars. Bullies. Broad Street Bullies." -"Bullies" (originally appeared on their full length "The Bleachers". Of the six songs on this EP, 5 of them are hockey anthems. The song "It's The Life For Me" is "dedicated to the basements, warehouses, and dive bars that always been our home stomping grounds". If you've been a Flyers game in the last year you should already know the lyrics to "The Orange and The Black", if not shame on you.
The recording was done at Second Story Sound Studios by Mike Bardzik. Easily the strongest sound the Boils have ever had on a record. The bass tone is loud and proud. The guitar tone rings out in perfect clarity. Great placement with the vocals. The drums are crisp and clean with a really good sounding cymbal tone. And the accordion was mixed in nicely.
I cannot put into words how great this layout is. The front cover has the official Flyers logo with the Boils logo that we've come to love with a fitting orange trim. The drawn hockey figure looks like something that I drew when I was younger, in a good way of course. And the back of the CD has a picture of the band standing on the ice in front of the net, proudly rocking their jerseys. The booklet is two pages, which is plenty to display the lyrics, which are printed over the repeating Flyers logo.
Rating: 5/5
Sections Worthy of Replay: The Orange and The Black and Bullies
Synopsis: Sadly, the Flyers are doing terrible this year so that means "The Orange and The Black" won't be played as much. Hey, hopefully they'll be able to get a good pick that will pay big dividends. As we Philadelphians say, theirs always next year. With that said, this will make a great present for any true, rabid Philadelphia Flyers fan and if you're a Boils fan it's double the pleasure.