Title: D.F.F.D Artist: The Dictators Label: Laughing Outlaw File Under: Old Skool Punk RIYL: Ramones, D.O.A., Descendants I soooo wanted to enjoy this album. After all, The Dictators are one of punk’s survivors, a band together since the late 70s, who played at the now-legendary CBGBs, and who are still playing as hard and fast as they ever did, as evidenced by their recent successful tour of Australia. With reasonably-socially aware lyrics and a DIY attitude to be proud of, they’re also responsible (on the Australian release at least) for hammering out a damn fine version of the classic Dead Boys track “Sonic Reducer”. But... Like the moment in Hard Core Logo where Billy Talent looks at his best friend and band mate Joe Dick and ponders the appropriateness of two guys in their thirties calling themselves by their teenage names, I can’t help but feel underimpressed by a vocalist in his forties calling himself Handsome Dick Manitoba. (Two more weirdly HCL moments - like HCL in the movie, the bassist of the Dictators has no nick name, unlike everyone else. And yes, HCL did a cover of “Sonic Reducer” as well). And said vocalist chanting “What’s it all about, Pussy and money, I ain’t trying to be cute, I ain’t trying to be funny, everybody lies about pussy and money, it’s always gonna be that way”, is more Aerosmith meets The Offspring then Ramones meet Black Flag. It’s a real shame, because bassist and chief song writer Andy Shernoff has a lot of talent - his piss take lyrics on “Moronic Inferno?” taking on a myriad of targets with the dead-shit chorus of “I wanna rock, aha, oh yeah” is pretty impressive. Another song, “Channel Surfing” with a Dick Dale meets Moriccone opening guitar shriek turns into an organ-driven Shadows like instrumental, its theme music influence proudly displayed on its ripped shirt sleeves. In the end I guess The Dictators are targeting their audience, and I have to admit, if I were 16 I’d love this stuff. It’s loud, nasty, and who doesn’t want to sing along to a chorus of “Burn, baby, Burn” with the crappy bedroom stereo cranked to the max? And maybe if it weren’t for the pussy song and the what’s up with that, me vs the world wankery, I’d be a happier listener. The positive - these guys are great at what they do, and if you’re into that, or the bands mentioned above, you’ll have a fine time with this.