New discs coming from Dropkick Murphys, Street Dogs

In advance of the release of their new CD/DVD and just around the corner from St. Patrick's Day, Irish punk heroes Dropkick Murphys will be launching their latest U.S. tour with a pair of New Jersey dates on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair and on Thursday, Feb. 25 at the House of Blues in Atlantic City.

March 16 will see the release of "Live on Lansdowne, Boston, MA," on the band's own Born and Bred Records. The record, which was recorded from March 12 to 17, 2009, is a document of the band's annual run of St. Patrick's Day shows which will continue this year from March 12 through 17 at Boston's House of Blues.

The band wrote on its official MySpace blog that it "tried to capture the intensity and camaraderie of our annual hometown St. Patrick's Day shows" on "Lansdowne."

"Live on Lansdowne" will be released in three formats: as a single-disc CD, a deluxe double-disc version with a full-length DVD and a double-gatefold vinyl with a CD. Among the 20 tracks documented on the album is Dropkick's platinum-selling single "I'm Shipping Out to Boston" featuring a guest appearance by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

In related news, original Dropkick Murphys frontman Mike McColgan's band Street Dogs announced on Monday their plans to re-enter the recording studio this month to record their fifth album, the follow-up to the powerful 2008 LP "State of Grace."

The album, which will be the Street Dogs' second for Hellcat Records, will be co-produced by bassist Johnny Rioux and original Dropkick guitarist Rick Barton at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colo., a studio built by members of Descendents, All and Black Flag.

"This record will be more of a rabble-rousing punk record than our previous records and have more of an edge and an attack on it," McColgan said in a news release. "We will work to all of our strengths on this effort and we are very excited to have Rick Barton co-producing the record."

For more on Mike McColgan, check out my interview with him from last March here.