#93
March 1985
D.R.I.
Dealing with It!
Genre: Thrash Punk
4 out of 5
Highlights:
Mad Man
Nursing Home Blues
Argument the War
In 1994 I was a music reviewer for Home Theater Technology. One day an album showed up in my mailbox. It was Full Speed Ahead by Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.) I HATED IT. I noticed, from the amateur packaging and the press kit that it was as independent a release as I could’ve seen. Spike Cassidy was his own producer and promoter, I believe. (He would also produce another record I didn’t like by Acid Bath called When the Kite String Pops).
But I also had a bit of a policy. If you were a small band trying to make it and your music wasn’t my cup of tea or was just plain garbage, it wasn’t my job to slam you. That’s punching down and I just won’t do that. I once gave a stellar review to a local Lancaster band called Woodslide because I liked their album and wanted them to be heard by more. THAT’s the job of a music reviewer. If a shitty album is going to make it, let it do that on it’s own, far be it from me to be the speed bump.
NOW, if a mega band, with a huge label behind them puts out garbage, you can bet Imma slam that shit. And I did.
But, not DRI. Because that would be punching down.
I missed their debut in the 84 Listening Post.
This one…
This is the sound of skaters and snark, frustration and joy, anger and politics. Its in the tradition of Suicidal Tendencies and If I was 15 in 1985, I light’ve loved this. I have no reason for it now and I’m not sure anyone does, either, but I really am glad I heard it.
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