It's strange to think that at one time, Dave King, the lead singer of the pub/punk rock band Flogging Molly once was the frontman to buttrock 80's darlings Fastway. Anyone remember the Trick Or Treat soundtrack? Man did that kick ass or what? You're right, it didn't. But King's latest band of Irish infused lads have been going strong like the way of The Pogues, and American cohorts Dropkick Murphy's and The Real Mckenzies for four years now, and Within A Mile Of Home marks their first album since 2002's Drunken Lullabies.

Within A Mile Of Home is definitely in the same vein as past albums like their fantastically unexpected debut Swagger, but unfortunately Flogging Molly are running out of fresh ideas quicker than Hollywood screenwriters. The sound of the album is decent with its fiddles, accordions, and other essential start-your-own-Irish-band instruments a blazin', but it feels stagnant and all too familiar. There are two songs here that are exceptions to this, and one is good, and one is not so good. The political "Screaming At The Wailing Wall" is a rousing opener, and a surprisingly sober offering from a band of well established party boys. The one track that doesn't work, but you wish to God it would have, is "Factory Girls," a duet with alt-country troubadour Lucinda Williams. Williams is terribly miscast as a singing partner for King, and the entire song just kind of embarrassingly plods along without much to recommend it.
The rest of Within A Mile Of Home though is pretty much what you'd expect from these guys; songs about drinking, pirates, and drunken pirates are all covered in depth respectively. But with 15 songs here, Within A Mile Of Home wears out its welcome long before the home stretch.