Lick It

If you are a fan of the Dwarves, Lick It is a bit of an oddity.  If you look at the rest of the band's rather large idiscography, this one stands out as being different.

The band, which has put out releases like Blood Guts & Pussy, and once offered George W. Bush the rights to use its song "River City Rapist" for his presidential campaign, put out this two album (different colored vinyl to boot) release on Recess Records.  For people used to the sounds of Thank Heaven For Little Girls and Free Cocaine, this is a bit of a shock.  It is the band's ... psychedelic years.  Sorta.

This is some psychedelic stuff from the band's early days.  Songs like "Eat My Dinner," "Love Gestapo" and "I'm a Living Sickness" all have moments where you can hear the Dwarves that made such classics as "Demented" and "We Must Have Blood."  The difference is so glaring, however, that when I first bought this set I had a hard time enjoying it.  I'm not into psychedelic music all that much, and the Dwarves I like is the one that sings about Satan and tooling for warm teabags.  "Chocolate River"?  Really?

Now, as I write this, I sit on my couch.  The only light is the computer and a candle.  My fan is going, and Lick It is playing on my crappy turntable, which fits the sound just right.  Since purchasing this around 2000, it has grown on me.  In this atmosphere, after a stressful day of work, another phone call to a lawyer, putting in for writing jobs -- it all comes across as something kind of beautiful in its own weird way.

I don't think many people would find the Dwarves to be stress relief, but this double album works.  Maybe that says all the wrong things about me.  Then again, maybe it says everything that is right.