Street Dogs

Boston's Street Dogs makes music that's fit for throwing back pints, raising sturdy fists into the air and singing along to working-class battle-cry pub anthems. Founded by vocalist Mike McColgan (an ex-firefighter who's also a former lead singer of Dropkick Murphys and a Gulf War vet), the band carries a stomp-and-mosh ska-punk debauchery style similar to other seasoned artists like Rancid and Flogging Molly. Saturated with loads of Bostonian pride (and healthy doses of bagpipes and acoustic guitars), the group's Celtic-minded songs usually address politics and society. The recent LP State of Grace tackles topics such as wayward junkies, war protests, kids and guns, rebellion and ordinary struggles while paying homage to the deceased — specifically McColgan's uncle, grandmother and Clash vocalist Joe Strummer.