Daniel G. Harmann – The Lake Effect

Dwarves – Lick It (The Psychedelic Years) / 1999 Recess Records / 34 Songs / http://www.dwarves.de / http://www.recessrecords.com / Reviewed 11 June 2004

Covering the years 1983 to 1986, this mini-discography of the Dwarves sounds extraordinarily good when one considers the age of the recording as well as the general sound of the recording available to the average punk band in that period. Totally holding to the title, tracks like “Don’t Love Me”, with its Doors-like keys show the move in the early eighties to psychedelia by the Dwarves, which is odd considering it was around this period when Bad Religion was experiencing this same move. However, the psychedelic twists add so much to the punk sound of the band – the chaos and Devo-esque guitar elongations of “I’m A Living Sickness” make the track transcendent of time or genre. As there are 34 tracks on the disc, one can logically make the assumption that none of these tracks are too terribly long, and this really works in the Dwarves’ favor – even if the track isn’t up to the high standard of Lick It, it will be over with in less than two or three minutes.

This is truly an unearthed gem, and everyone should thank Recess Records for releasing it. It is only too often that albums or periods of punk bands that show even the least amount of experimentation are met with the ultimate derision by “hardcore” fans. By releasing this, Recess is allowing for the true fans of the band to get something that collects songs that would have previously cost hundreds of dollars to purchase in their original form. The heavy use of the synth in such a new context is something that really adds to the punk sound, and really could be construed as something that would turn out to be extremely influential to the current synth-laden emo movement, and more indirectly, the Nintendo-core legions of bands.

While it may not be the best indicator of the sound of the Dwarves, Lick It is essential for anyone who likes the cutting edge of punk or essential albums, of any period. With killer guitar lines as found in “Love Makes Me A Monster”, how could anyone go wrong with spending the $12 or so to pick up this album? Don’t let the large number of tracks fool you, Lick It is an album that really contains strong threads throughout, and is as much a whole symphony as it is 34 individual movements.

Top Tracks: Schizophrinic X-mas, I’m A Living Sickness

Rating: 8.4/10