Street dogs.

STREET DOGS are a hard-scrabble street punk band with deep Boston roots. They are lead by the booming voice of Mike McColgan, a war veteran, firefighter and card carrying union man. Before Street Dogs, Mike was a founding member of the Dropkick Murphys and sang on their first record, the classic Do Or Die.

Are you still an active firefighter?

I'm actually still in the union, the International Association of Firefighters. I've still got my union card and get the magazines every month but I haven't been on the job since September 2004. Street Dogs is an all-encompassing thing and a full-time endeavor now, so I don't see myself going back anytime soon to firefighting. But I do miss the guys, and I do miss the job from time to time.

You're a veteran of the first Gulf War.

Yes. I served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

What do you feel about the second phase of our involvement with Iraq?

It's a real complex situation. After leaving the military and seeing the world and becoming more objective, I feel that war is the last thing a man or woman should have to do. Having been in war myself, I can say that it's heinous and devastating. I'm hoping that we can exit Iraq and the Iraqi people can take care of their own country. I feel like the situation in Afghanistan is almost akin to Vietnam. Having served, I've got a lot of sympathy, empathy, and understanding for the troops, so we sing about it and talk about it. That doesn't mean that we're like, "Ra, ra, ra! Go America, kick everybody's ass!" We're not like that at all. War sucks.

Let's get real.

Were you a big fan of the classic hardcore record This Is Boston, Not LA?

Oh yeah. That's a staple in my collection. I listen to that a lot. I really like the Jerry's Kids songs, Gang Green songs, the Proletariats, the Freeze. You could put it on and it's just as in-your-face and fiery as it was the first time you heard it. It knocks you on your ass.

When did you start singing?

I started singing--probably--in the first grade.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

I have this image of you with a big, booming voice as a child.

Yeah. I went to a Catholic school, and when we'd sing I had the strongest voice. I could hit the highest notes on the scale; I had the range. I was the class clown, too, so the nuns really weren't digging on it. Now my voice is a little deeper, obviously, but that's when I knew I could sing. But I didn't really get involved in singing in punk rock until about '95.

How gnarly is Boston? I saw that Boston Beat Down DVD--is it really that tough?

I haven't seen the DVD. 1 think Boston is more unified than it's portrayed to be. All of my experiences have been positive. All that hype and crap, I really don't know much about. I went to shows and we were all taking care of each other and having a good time.

What's your relationship like with Dropkick Murphys at this point?

It's really good. We were at a listening party last night for our new record in Fullerton at the Slide Bar, and A1 Barr, the singer from DKM, and Johnny, our bass player, were texting each other. Me and Kenny stay in touch.

Things have always been cool between Street Dogs and Dropkick Murphys. When we did our record Savin Hill back in '03, Ken and A1 sang a verse on the song "Stand Up." Some want there to be drama, but there never has been.

On the song "Punk Rock and Roll," what inspired you to write the lyric, "They say that punk rock has died away"?

Some people say that it has, and we're saying, "No it hasn't. Where've you been?" It's been kicking since 74 and it's not going anywhere. Just because it's not the hip thing or what socialites are talking about, it's still alive. There's still small clubs filled up and house parties and shows. It's alive and kicking.

It's a weird time to be in a punk band after the '90s got so big, and now the record industry's in the shitter.

Yeah it is, but for us we just do what we love and we're grateful to have a deal and be able to tour and play. We're gonna do it on our own terms. We don't care what's hot and what's not, you know? We just make ourselves happy, and hopefully our fans will be happy, too--and then we'll turn some new people onto it.

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Title Annotation:	ZOUNDS
Author:	Sterling, Ebert
Publication:	Thrasher
Geographic Code:	1U1MA
Date:	Mar 1, 2011
Words:	785
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