Mighty Mighty Bosstones: Knife Boys.

A Jack Knife To A Swan is in stores Monday.

“It's probably one of the darker, harder Bosstones albums,” starts Mighty Mighty Bosstones long-time front man Dicky Barret on the subject of their new album. “I certainly didn't want the album to come off as negative though. It was completely written in the shadows of the aftermath of September 11. That happened at the time we were writing; I don't think that that's about that though but it was definitely part of the spirit when we put this out.”

September 11 changed so many people's views and affected so many people, how did it affect you guys?

“I was really aggravated... nah, just kidding. I'd say it was scary and devastating and I still to this day don't really have... it was such an astronomical enormous tragedy, to watch that many people die on your television set; it's mind blowing. As much as I consider myself a writer and a poet... you know you say the word tragedy and your like... you know, I used that word when my uncle died. It's horrific. The proper words to describe what happen just don't exist. I didn't try to write the September 11 song, other people did and I think those songs sound bad a corny.”

“How did it affect us? I think it's really amazing how the country has moved on and how the world has moved on and it's been a little more since half a year but at the time I thought that this was the end and how can you possibly pick yourself up after that. I don't want to say this too loud but it really has put things into perspective and has been good for the attitude of the United States. We were moving along going we're untouchable and we're unstoppable thinking we can do anything we want... I certainly don't think that the country deserved it though. It smartened us up.”

Some critics have hailed the new album Jack Knife To A Swan as something that people need, something uplifting like receiving postcards from a vacationing friend. Is that how you see the new album?

“Really? That's well put. I wish I would of thought of that. When a Bosstones album comes out it feels like that, like 'ah good the Bosstones are still making music and they're not succumbing to the trends’. It's not a rock rap album they're still making that punk ska stuff I like, but it's also fresh feeling... I may sound like I'm bragging now but that's what we do and I'm proud of that. It's always been kind of keep the course. When people were making heavy metal records we played punk-ska and wore suits and then grunge come along and we still were playing punk-ska and then when punk-ska came along and people started wearing suits well, we were still doing that and now whatever's going on now whatever is popular we're still the Bosstones: postcards from a vacationing friend and we're still wearing suits. Our birthday suits for Christ sakes it's repulsive.”

What's kept the Bosstones together for so long?

“The inability to do anything else. Not having the commonsense to just hang it up and go home. We enjoy doing it and it's nice. I think you could also really credit the fans; I don't really like to use that word though because they mean more to us than just that and to all the people that have supported us over the years. We enjoy what we do and we're going to continue to do it.”

The Bosstones have moved to Side One Dummy Records for this album, why the change in companies?

“It just wasn't a really satisfying experience when we put out Pay Attention, I thought Pay attention was a really good album, it wasn't entirely Island Def Jam's fault that it didn't do as well. I think it was the climate, the musical temperature. What had happened was that we were on Mercury Records probably at that time for eight years and for reasons that I don't even understand we ended up on a label called Island Def Jam, it had to do with mergers and takeovers... we were all of a sudden on a different label. The people we had been working with for some years were no longer there. They were fired and it just wasn't the same place and we were now somewhere we didn't agree to be in the first place. It was just a goodtime for us to move to somewhere else we'd rather be.”

A lot of people have seen you as a role model Dicky, how's that make you feel?

“I think that's cool. It feels really good and it's not that I'm really smart and it's certainly not that I'm musically talented, I'm a nice guy and people like me. I'm really proud of the fact that people like us as people.”