Dillinger Four
Versus God
Hopeless
I couldn’t wait for this album to come out. I’ve listened to Dillinger Four’s first two albums so much that the plastic discs are decomposing. I’ve listened to their seven inch, More Songs about Girlfriends and Bubblegum, so many times that the grooves of the record is going flat. So when I heard that they were coming out with a new album, I circled the day on my calendar and waited impatiently. When the day finally came, I sat outside the record store like Norm sitting outside of Cheers, waiting for it to open. Waiting to get my fix. With all that excitement, though, I felt like there was no way that I wouldn’t be disappointed. It’s just like everything else, the anticipation is always greater than the moment, right? It’s just like D4 themselves. With all the hype they get, they can’t be this good, right? Well, let me tell you, they are this good, and this album may very well be the perfect punk rock record. It’s got it all: a driving rhythm section, fast and melodic two minute songs, intelligent lyrics, two very good singers alternately screaming, and it’s all catchy as hell. D4 isn’t afraid to take anyone on, from telling the Catholic church, “the joke’s always been on you,” to looking back on their public education and reflecting, “it hurts every time that I think it through/ that we learn to expect to lose.” They even take on punk rockers, and, in the end, you can’t stop singing along. And as for the album title, so far, D4 is winning.
Hopeless Records, P.O. Box 7495, Van Nuys, CA 91409-7495; http://www.hopelessrecords.com
