Doublewhiskycokenoice

Dillinger Four
Midwestern Songs of the Americas

First off, an admission of cheating on two fronts. First, I kind of hand selected my initial track to write on. I hit shuffle a couple of times until I was happy with the mix. Even then, I had to skip an untitled track form Love As Laughter to get to this one. Secondly, I am starting this blog a tad prematurely. I am in the process of downloading all of my CDs into my computer. Right now, I am about halfway done, so my range of selctions will be a little handicapped over the next few days/weeks. It happens.


D!4!
Dillinger Four. This band made living in Columbia bearable. I found out about these guys slightly before Avril Lavigne did and, as is often the case, was immediately pissed at myself for not knowing them sooner. The right band at the right time for living in the sweltering mess of midland SC.

D4 seems to like two things: left wing politics and alcohol. Coincidentally, in 2000, I had the same interests. D4 was plenty popular with the punks in town (for those not in the know, Cola had fostered a vibrant punk scene for over a decade by this point), but they tended to run toward the straight-edge side of things. Actually, I think it was more that they never had money to go in to the clubs and pay for themselves. Whatever it was, the affectation for alcoholic nights out by the punks wasn't shared in the same way in Columbia as it was in St. Paul.

This track falls, easily, within the realm of the alcohol-love song. Though it does not start out that way. Girls' (castrated boys?) choirs and punk don't often mix, but in the "found-sound" era of music, many things were mashed together that previously were kept seperate. Well, that's just the intro. The rest of the track falls into typical D4, a pace just short of breakneck with (at least) 1 of 3 guys who don't sing very well handling the vocals. This track also features one of my favorite conventions of punk rock-different guys singing different verses. This is much preferred to the traditional rock style where a group's different songwriters sing their own songs exclusively. I want a band, not a collection of solo artists. D4 gives me this.