PITTSBURGH — Everything seems to be happening at once for Dropkick Murphys.

The Boston punk band just released a split EP with Haywire, led by the provocative anthem "Citizen I.C.E."

The group is launching its For the People ... in the Pit St. Patrick's Day Tour on Monday and, the night before that, the band's beloved New England Patriots will go for a record seventh Super Bowl, seeking to surpass the Steelers and 49ers.

To prep fans for that, the band played a Super Bowl send-off rally at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Feb. 2, turning "The Boys Are Back" into "The Pats Are Back" and "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" to "I'm Shipping Up to Cali."

"Citizen I.C.E.," released on Wednesday, repurposes the 2005 Dropkick Murphys song "Citizen CIA," with the lyrics:

"Power-hungry scumbags

Apply today

Come celebrate dictatorships and bolster the regime

While abusing helpless immigrants, a bully's wet dream

You've joined the traitors' ranks to play the hand of God

In a dirtbag grifter's kidnapping squad."

"The original version of that song, 'Citizen CIA,' was from 20 years ago," Ken Casey said in an interview Wednesday, "and it was just kind of a mock-recruiting song for the CIA, poking fun at America's history of intervening in other countries' business and [messing] up their worlds and causing global chaos in the name of wealth and power.

"So, we're doing it in Europe a few months back, and I just started to change the words every night, as we went, to make it ICE — and people, even in Europe, seemed to really appreciate the sentiment. It seemed a little more, you know, immediate and impactful. That was all before Minneapolis was happening. It was just in the early stages of the abuse. So, here it is now and it just seems even more timely to have just another anthem that attacks what's happening."

Fans heading out to see them should expect a punk-rock show with a protest-rally vibe.

"Oh, [expletive] yeah," Casey said. "Listen, I always came from the mindset of politics in the lyrics. Our politics have been the same since we started. We've spoken out and we've showed up at picket lines and all this, but we always appreciated when a band didn't soapbox either, and I'm not trying to get up there and soapbox. I'm just trying to get up there and do my part as an American citizen, to stand up for what's right."

As for his Pats going for Super Bowl No. 7, he said, "My kids, who are 16, 21 and 24, grew up their whole lives with winners and then we just went through a down period, so you have to suffer to really appreciate it. Patriots fans getting that short, five-year period of suffering, I think it's had a whole new generation learn to appreciate when the team is good."

Asked about the dueling Super Bowl halftimes with Turning Point USA putting Kid Rock up against the NFL's Bad Bunny, the Murphys singer said, "I think it's [expletive] hilarious. Let's look at the viewership numbers. Let's talk about how well that did when you see the viewership numbers.

"Listen, Bad Bunny is an American. Why is MAGA upset? Bad Bunny's an American. End of story. And he's a global phenomenon. He had me in the palm of his hand the minute I saw him in 'Happy Gilmore 2' — one of the finest acting jobs of our time."

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