State of Grace is the fourth album by the Street Dogs

Street Dogs

Street Dogs are a punk rock band originally from Boston, Massachusetts. The band's current line-up includes Mike McColgan, former lead singer of Dropkick Murphys, Johnny Rioux, Marcus Hollar, Tobe Bean III and Paul Rucker.-History:...

. It was released on July 8, 2008. It was produced by Ted Hutt

Ted Hutt

Ted Hutt is a British music producer, musician, and song writer residing in Los Angeles, CA. He was the original guitar player and one of the founding members for Flogging Molly...

 and is the band's first album on Hellcat Records

Hellcat Records

Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an off-shoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz carp Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, the latter of whom is generally responsible for...

. It includes a cover of the The Skids

The Skids

Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...

' "Into the Valley

Into the Valley

"Into the Valley" is a 1979 single by Skids, taken off their Scared to Dance album, and is their best known song, appearing on a number of punk rock and Scottish music compilation albums. It reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 24 March 1979...

". The album was released in Japan with an exclusive bonus track.

Track listing

Meanings of Songs

According to McColgan, he always looked up to his uncle and role-model, Kevin O'Toole, who became the subject of "Kevin J. O'Toole."

The song "Two Angry Kids" is reportedly a reminiscing of the times spent with Dropkick Murphys bassist Ken Casey.

"San Patricios

Saint Patrick's Battalion

The Saint Patrick's Battalion , formed and led by Jon Riley, was a unit of 175 to several hundred immigrants and expatriates of European descent who fought as part of the Mexican Army against the United States in the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848. Most of the battalion's members had...

" is about a group of Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 immigrants who defected from the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during the Mexican-American War.

"The General's Boombox" is a song about and dedicated to Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer

John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...

 of The Clash

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

Credits

• Mike McColgan
  Mike McColgan
  Michael "Mike" McColgan is best known as the original lead singer of the Irish American outfit Dropkick Murphys and the current lead singer of the Street Dogs....
  
   – vocals
• Johnny Rioux
  Johnny Rioux
  Johnny Rioux is a Boston-based musician. He is known for playing in and working with many punk rock bands from the Boston area. He currently plays bass guitar with the Street Dogs and has previously played with Roger Miret and the Disasters, The Bruisers and The Kickovers...
  
   – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , backing vocals, mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  , harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  , acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Marcus Hollar – lead guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , backing vocals, dobro
  Dobro
  Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
  
  , pump organ, acoustic guitar
• Tobe Bean III - rhythm guitar
  Rhythm guitar
  Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
  
  , slide guitar
  Slide guitar
  Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
  
  , dobro
• Paul Rucker – drum
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  s
• Ted Hutt
  Ted Hutt
  Ted Hutt is a British music producer, musician, and song writer residing in Los Angeles, CA. He was the original guitar player and one of the founding members for Flogging Molly...
  
   – producing
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• Heather Waters - Vocals on "Elizabeth"
• Rudy Johnson - Vocals on "San Patricios"
• Dram
  Dram
  Dram or DRAM may refer to:As a unit of measure:* Dram , an imperial unit of mass and volume* Armenian dram, a monetary unit* Dirham, a unit of currency in several Arab nationsOther uses:...
  
   - Bagpipes and drums on "Kevin J. O'Toole"
• Lorne Cousin
  Lorne Cousin
  -Overview:Los Angeles based Scottish bagpiper Lorne Cousin has performed with Madonna, Missy Elliott, Stella McCartney, and Brian Cox, among many others.-Trivia:...
  
   - Bagpipes on "State Of Grace"
• Steve Sidelnyk - Marching Snare Drum on "State Of Grace"
• Gavin Watson - Photographer of cover art