< recordings >
THE DICK PANTHERS WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOUby The Dick Panthers
($4.00 ppd from Dick Panthers / PO Box 419 / Jamaica Plain, MA / 02130 USA. Web:
www.dickpanthers.com)
Review by Ben T. StecklerI knew this would be an interesting listen from the minute it fell out of the envelope. The disc came packaged in a couple of generic zip-lock type baggies, with just a couple of xerographed sheets to serve as liner notes. I figured either Ricko was in need of a spare jewel case, or this band was a true DIY outfit operating on a shoestring budget. Either that, or the band's promoters are also dealing in ganja and they just packaged the disc in extra bags they had lying around their "distribution" center.
Well, if there's any grain of truth to that latter possibility, (and I'm not saying there is, so call off the narcs!) the band members have sampled the product, and it's a good product that fuels the imagination well.
This is a rich blend of lo-fi electronica, twangy cow-punk rock, and experimental punk-funk. The band maintains a shroud of mystery a la the Residents. I have no indication of how many members there are, let alone any names to associate with the project. I hear one distinct voice on the vocals, a single guitar player doing both rhythm and lead, a bass player, a percussionist and a keyboard/sampler artist. This could be a four- or five-piece outfit, or it could be a solo artisan with a four-track recorder in a basement studio in Jamaica Plain, Mass. I'm thinking it's somewhere in the middle, maybe three artists.
Whatever the line-up, it's a fun listen. I love the punked-up cover of the Cindy Lauper/Hooters hit "Time After Time", which comes complete with puking and retching noises dubbed over the instrumental breaks. I always thought the little known Hooters version, with author Rob Hyman singing, sounded better than Lauper's hit. For some reason it seemed to me this was a tune a man should be singing. Now I think the song sounds best with somebody puking during it.
There's a very Flying Lizards-ish track called "Tim Curran" which adds a groove-jam backing track to news footage of the Eagle Scout's press conference about his homosexuality.
"Teach Me To Die" has a sad slow groove intro behind the sounds of a teacher calling role and, noting the absentees, then the keyboards kick in with a celeste effect and an amateurly operatic female voice, like your old Music teacher's voice, repeats the song title over and over and over. Until the song abruptly stops. My guess is that one of the kids pulled out an uzi.
"Town Reviews" runs through a litany of one- or two-liners about a string of towns I guess the band has played in, wants to play in, or regrets having played in. It's kind of an updated "88 Lines About 44 Women", but this time it's about insulting as many towns in America as possible. Clearly this song is a ruse designed to get punks in the audiences across America to shout out "Hell Yeah!" when their town is mentioned. A clever ploy that you will fall victim to. You will. Take it from me. I live in the city that Live called "Shit Towne" in the song of the same name, and they're more popular than ever here.
This is a fun disc that takes risks, and keeps a unique edge. The Dick Panthers get my seal of approval.
[ Link to this review ]
