The Dickies

The Dickies were the clown princes of L.A. punk, not to mention surprisingly long-standing veterans of the scene. In fact, by the new millennium, they'd become the oldest surviving punk band still recording new material. In contrast to the snotty, intentionally offensive humor of many comically inclined punk bands, the Dickies were most often goofy, inspired mostly by trashy movies and other pop culture camp, especially on their 1979 debut, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies. Their covers were just as ridiculous as their originals, transforming arena rock anthems ("Nights in White Satin") and bubblegum pop chestnuts alike ("The Tra-La-La Song") into loud, speed-blur punk-pop -- suggesting the Ramones crossed with L.A. hardcore -- that was their musical stock in trade. As the band got older, their music slowed down little by little, as on 1989's Second Coming, but their sound and their sense of humor stayed largely the same, and they were an avowed influence on new-school punkers like Green Day and the Offspring. From 2000 onward, studio recordings from the Dickies were rare, but touring and live albums kept their name alive, and a pair of singles, 2021's A Gary Glitter Getaway and 2022's Blink 183, confirmed they still had new tricks to share.

From 🇺🇸 United States