Dillinger Four: Midwestern Songs of the Americas

Dillinger Four: Midwestern Songs of the Americas

1998

Hopeless Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. O.K. F.M. D.O.A  2. #51 Dick Butkus  3. It's a Fine Line Between the Monkey and the Robot  4. Portrait of the Artist As a Fucking Asshole  5. Twenty-One Said Three Times Quickly 6. Super Powers Enable Me to Blend in With Machinery  7. Doublewhiskeycokenoice  8. Supermodels Don't Drink Colt .45  9. Shut Your Little Trap, Inc.  10. Mosh for Jesus  11. Hand Made Hard Times Handed Back  12. "Honey, I Shit the Hot Tub"  13. The Great American Going Out of Business Sale


Wow...Two Hopeless Records bands back to back...First Digger and now Dillinger Four...But these they're about as radically different as two bands that arguably fall under the banner "pop punk" can be...Effectively showcasing  the roster's sonic diversity within the supposedly "narrow" confines of pop-punk...See, we here at the Friday Night Record Party blog like to label our music...

We even have our own Label Maker!! And as catchy as Dillinger Four is, I'd label them more as an absurdly melodic hardcore band than a pop-punk band...And boy, "Midwestern Songs of the Americas" is a freakin' great absurdly melodic hardcore record...

Although, come to think of it, it's always fallen under the category of "albums that have an opening track so blindingly brilliant that the rest of the album cannot hold up" (the Label Maker strike again!)...The record kicks off w/ one of the band's signature scene-setting samples before launching into "O.K. F.M. D.O.A"...
 
And here's where we're introduced to the band's sound...Scratchy vocals that sound like they're being piped in from the world's most blown speakers...Clanging distorted bass...Giant fuzzy punk guitars and maybe the most glorious chorus I've ever heard:

"Move with the rogue set choking out the radio,
A thousand voices booming out in stereo,
From top to bottom knock them down like dominoes..."

As you might've gleaned from the album's title, this isn't some slick Western Coast shit...Or meat-headed, tough-guy New York hardcore...No, this is big, thick, beer-soaked Midwestern hardcore, and I'm telling you, it's just the most amazing shit ever...If you don't listen to "O.K. F.M. D.O.A" at least ten times in a row you're hearing it wrong... Check it out if you don't believe me...

I said earlier that this song was so awe-inspiring that the rest of the album couldn't hold up, but that's not entirely true..."Doublewhiskeycokenoice" is easily one of the band's best tracks...I always hear people say that Green Day ripped off the song for "American Idiot" but my guess is that those folks probably haven't listened to much punk yet..."Doublewhiskeycokenoice"'s choppy little riff is one that turns up all the time in the genre and with good reason...It's a great riff...I think this recurring  accusation speaks more of the sheer power with which D4 wields this particular iteration of the riff...With that "D-4!" chant filling the spaces, they effectively write their name on it, making the riff theirs forevermore...And to top it off they manage to come up with at least 6 other top-notch melodic ideas throughout the song's 2 and a half minutes (not to mention a cameo from the late, great Otis Redding)...A good drinkin' song...

Other highlights include "Super Powers Enable Me to Blend in With Machinery"...If you've ever hung out with a group of people that are familiar with this album, you'll know that it's customary for everyone present to raise their fists in the air (preferably with the neck of a cold beer clenched in said fist) and bellow along, "FUUCK 'EM ALLLLLLLLLL...."  as loudly as possible (If this doesn't happen, change friends immediately)...

Oh yea, My friend Joe used to always say that Erik Funk sounded like he had a deviated septum during the accapella outro of  "It's a Fine Line Between the Monkey and the Robot"...I've always felt that was pretty sound medical advice...

Listening to this again, I can't help but think that maybe Dillinger Four were the last truly great punk rock band...They hit that perfect balance between political outrage and irreverent humor...The songs were always catchy...Always exciting...I'm hoping some fresh, young band will come along and make D4 look like a buncha chumps, but I'm starting to get a little worried that it's not going to happen at this point...I'm officially urging all the kids out there to unplug their Skrillex-y macbooks and plug in some guitars and make some catchy punk rock! (Good luck though...I tried doing it and nobody listened to me)...

Oh well, let's check out "Doublewhiskeycokenoice" by Dillinger Four...Enjoy...

Ah, what the heck...I don't feel ready for bed yet...I think I can listen to another one...



Dillinger Four: This Shit is Genius

1999

TDR (Compact Disc)/No Idea (Vinyl) Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Shotgun Confessional  2. Unemployed  3. Smells Like OK Soda  4. One Trick Pony  5. Open and Shut  6. Sally MacLennane  7. I Coulda Been a Contender  8. Hi-Pro Glow  9. Two Cents  10. He's a Shithead (Yeah, Yeah)  11. Holy Shit  12. Bite the Curb, Bite the Curb  13. You're Not Blank  14. Inquiring Minds (Should Read a Book)

 

Oh, I was just telling a friend of mine that despite hearing them a million times, I don't know the names of most D4 tracks...Sure, "Honey, I Shit the Hot Tub" and a few others stand out, but for the most part I call them "Track 1," "Track 7" etc...I felt weird about this until I recently read that even the band member's themselves have this same problem...So now I don't feel so weird...

 Anyway, "This Shit is Genius"  is a compilation of early Ep's/Compilation Tracks/7-inch singles/12-inch singles/13 inch singles/16-centimeter singles/flexidiscs/inflexidiscs representing the band's earliest material...

The first four tracks come from 1995's "Higher Aspirations: Tempered and Dismantled" EP...It strikes you immediately that this is even more raw than "Midewestern Songs..." which is really saying something...You'll also notice that they had their shit down cold right from the get-go...If you liked "Midwestern Songs..." then there's a 100% chance that you'll love "Shotgun Confessional" and "Unemployed"...Prior to hearing this, I'd always had a bit of a hard time pinpointing the band's influences...They were clearly punk/hardcore but they didn't sound like anyone else, really...But after wrapping my ears around "One Trick Pony" I had to smack myself on top the head and say, "Ohhh yeeeeaaaa....Crimpshrine!" I also find "Smells Like OK Cola" interesting...For one, it's a swinging, mid-tempo rock song...And on top of that it's about OK Cola...A short-lived Daniel Clowes-flavored soft drink...

 1995 also saw the release of the band's split EP with another Midwestern band, the Strike...Their cover of the Pogue's "Sally MacLennane" sounds appropriately wasted and "Open and Shut" rules...When I first heard that clean, funky opening riff I was like, "What the hell?" It was a thing of true beauty...It doesn't last long, eventually giving away to bulldozing hardcore with a chorus that somehow manages to shift things into an even higher gear...

Also included is the 1996's "The Kids Are All Dead" ep...You can hear the band's songwriting get marginally more complex and melodic with "I Coulda Been a Contender" and "Two Cents" is remarkable for sounding abso-fucking-lutely exactly like Crimpshrine right down to an awesome half-time breakdown and Erik emulating Jeff Ott's scortched vocal style...As much as I enjoy "He's a Shithead (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)" I think I enjoy the little low-fi "Dillinger Four" ditty that's attached to the end of the song even more...It's so cute and catchy...Rounding out the EP is "High Pro Glow" which features the hilarious lyric, "High and Mighty, barely nineteen..."

The remainder of the material comes form various comps...The key tracks here include their fantazzackle cover  of "I'm Not Blank" (and I think I've covered how much I like the Dils elsewhere on this site) and "Bite the Curb, Bite the Curb" which is powerful enough to knock you on yer ass, ya big pansy...

Boy...I'm starting to get a bit loopy...I think I better pull the plug...To sum things up, I've always enjoyed this release...Sure, it drives me nuts that the "More Songs About Girlfriends and Bubblegum" EP isn't included and I wouldn't recommend this for newcomers to the band (I've showed this to a friend who loves D4 and even this was a bit raw for him)...Still, there's so many must-have tracks here...

Start elsewhere, but don't miss this, is what I'm trying to say...

Here's "Two Cents" by Dillinger Four...Check it out...