The Dwarves
Born Again
Greedy (2011)
Back in the pre-internet era I came across a blurb in some metal magazine I read in my adolescent years—I’m guessing it was Rip. In that blurb it mentioned a “real punk” band called the Dwarves, who had just been kicked off the trendy Sub Pop for feigning the death of one of their members. I was intrigued, and I sought out Sugar Fix, the band’s most recent release. Well, just a few things have happened since the early 1990s. Among them, the Dwarves have disbanded, Hewhocannotbenamed has resurrected, and the band continues to thumb its nose at just about everybody—especially punk rock.2011 brings their latest release, The Dwarves Are Born Again, and it sounds much like their other post-reunion albums—the garage influences are toned down, with the production taking a somewhat poppy spin that emphasizes catchy bits and crisp, clean Blag Dahlia vocals, “You’ll Never Take Us Alive” being a perfect example. While the progression since Blood, Guts, and Pussy has been steady, the band has clearly changed sounds in the twenty-five-ish years they’ve been terrorizing audiences. So what’s to say about the record? First, they’ve abandoned the rap-stylings that permeated Must Die and the industrio-punk that defined Come … Read more
