Black 47's new album Iraq is one of those rare feats-a political album you want to listen to over and over. Listening to it, you think of Bob Dylan's protest-era songs ("Masters of War" comes to mind) or some of the more trenchant Ramones work, like "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg." Black 47 is definitely taking a risk with this angry, political album, and they carry it off beautifully. According to the band, many of the songs reflect the experiences of their fans who have served in the Iraq war.

The album opens with the rocker "Stars and Stripes," written to the tune of "Sloop John B." This is a great way to hook the listener, since the song is instantly familiar and sad, but filled with the brutality of war at the same time: "The Hummer took the bend at forty plus and then / The IED cut the door and the driver to pieces / Nothin' to do but squeeze a picture of you / And pray to god you're still waitin' when I get home."

"Downtown Baghdad Blues" sounds more like the kind of rock Black 47 has played over the years-hard driving and unmistakably Irish, complete with pipes. It's a searing, beautiful song, again told from the point of view of a young man who would rather be home: "I wish I was back home rootin' for the Padres / 'Stead of dodgin' bullets from Mookie El Sadr."

There is clearly a larger political message to these songs. "Mission Accomplished," the soldier says bitterly, concluding, "All the chickenhawks down in DC betray thee." He imagines peace in Iraq as a McDonald's on the corner.

"Sunrise on Brooklyn" is another song told from the point of view of a homesick soldier. "I hope I see sunrise in your eyes again," he sings, sounding not at all sure that he will. "Southside Chicago Waltz," with its sorrowful lyrics and plaintive pipes, is so moving that it is difficult to listen to in the way that great Irish folk songs tend to be: "I wish I was back in the arms of my family / On Memorial Day Sunday, all ready to party / When the band hits the stage down in Gaelic Park / With my brothers beside me and you, the queen of my heart."

I've been lucky enough to see Black 47 several times over the years, and it has always been a rollicking pleasure. They are getting better with age. This is one of the best albums any band in the U.S. has put out in years.

When I finished listening to Iraq I thought of Kurt Vonnegut's introduction to Slaughterhouse Five. He mentions how a particularly cynical critic of his work compared writing an anti-war book to writing an anti-glacier book. As Vonnegut says, "What he meant, of course, was that there would always be wars, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers."

I'm glad Black 47 wrote this anti-glacier album. Someone needed to.