Immaginatevi i Cheap Trick al doppio della frenesia...
Immaginatevi i Devo dopo un'asportazione di neuroni...
Immaginatevi i Ramones che si azzardano a prendere in mano strumenti diversi dai soliti tre e a provare di tanto in tanto qualche altro effetto sulla chitarra oltre alla solita distorsione... 
Immaginatevi gli USA, come li avete sempre visti in TV, nelle soap e nei telefilm...

Pensate a tutta quella plastica, tutte quelle spiagge, tutti quei roller-coaster, tutte quelle ingenue illusioni... pensate alla California, non a quella degli hippies né a quella degli skaters, ma a quella di Baywatch... gli skaters però, a pensarci bene, qualcosa c'entrano, visto che "I'm A Chollo" è un "half pipe riding" in piena regola e la sensazione è la stessa che ci hanno regalato, in epoche differenti, il Joey più deciso, gli Screeching Weasels più ispirati, i Dead Milkmen più espansivi...

Quello dei Dickies è uno dei punk più demenziali, divertenti e stravaganti di fine anni 70... è una satira al vetriolo della civiltà a stelle e strisce, dei suoi aspetti più cartooneschi... un approccio così caricaturale fa venire in mente referenti visivi del calibro di Matt Groening e John Waters...

"Night In White Satin" non sfigurerebbe in "Are We Not Men" e si concede pure il lusso di una parentesi orientale... "Stuck In A Pagoda" sovrappone invece stupidissimi falsetti beat ("eh-de-de-de-di-bi-du-daaa") a un tema da operetta cinese...

Profuma di anni 70 questo disco, ma non li celebra, li rivolta come un guanto... l'effetto ridicolo che generano queste canzoni  è paragonabile a quella delle gaffe di un presidente USA: sono le stupid-songs ai tempi di Jimmy Carter...

Non tutto quadra: "Splitting Headache" non sa di niente...ma d'altra parte si sa: mica tutte le gag funzionano... "Attack Of The Mole Man" tenta la carta dell'epica grottesca e dà la merda ai coevi Stranglers... "She Loves Me Not" parla ancora una volta la lingua dei Devo e le lesioni cerebrali si sprecano... Con "Gigantor" e "Bowling With Bedrock Barney" si ha l'approdo definitivo all'universo deformato dei cartoni animati: episodi deboli, forse un po' fini a se stessi, troppo programmatici nella loro studiata pompa...

I Dickies, nonostante i limiti, i semplicismi, il black humour all'acqua di rose, restano un capitolo importante nella storia del rock satirico; difficile resistere alle loro barzellette e, in fin della fiera, il loro pugno di brani d'antologia ce lo hanno lasciato...

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   Where Did His Eye Go? (03:40)

02   Fan Mail (03:05)

Dear sirs,
To whom this may concern
there’s facts Id like to learn
so many things I wanna know
especially trivial info paraphernalia badges and regalia
please send me everything
cuz I
am interested in you
and every thing you do
I find myself at all your shows
could you tell me where you buy your clothes
could you sign my little sisters face
put your signature any place and please send me a bio

Cuz we’ve got fan mail
we really really read it
Fan mail
we really really need it

I sent you my letter now I want a reply
you don’t know any better than you won't take your time with my
Fan Mail

So I would like to know just if and when
you’ll be in town again
so that I could meet with you
and brag at my friends at school
have you been all around the world
have you seen every kind of girl
or are you from the other side

cause you
you can't believe everything that you read
with the hypocrysy and the greed
the papers all the things that they say
they don't tell me anything anyway
that's why I've gotta get it straight from you
concerning your situation
without an obligation

Break
My Fan mail(Oohs and Aahs)

What's this I find to my surprise
those bands that I idolized
no longer seem to exist
now tell what can be the cause of this
perhaps it could be their egos
I tell you heaven only knows
I didn't even get a newsletter

Fan Mail Send it out to me
Fan Mail Special delivery

03   Manny, Moe & Jack (02:50)

When your on the road
And your car wont pull that load
And your wheels aren't feeling fine
Well i know of this joint
Where they'll check your plugs and points
I know these guys they're three good friends of mine

Manny moe and jack
They know what i'm after
Manny moe and jack
They know what i'm after
They're manny moe and jack

Once your inside
They wont take you for a ride
They got a good deal for you and your automobile
For the right price
They will sell you fuzzy dice
And leather hand grips for your steering whee-al

Chorus

If its tires you want they got a lot for you
Dunlop, firestone, pirelli too

(8x)many moe and jack!
They know what i'm after

04   Infidel Zombie (03:03)

(Phillips, Lee, Kaballero, Ainsworth)

Well I've been running for a while
and I know that I'm next in line
she's been gettin trigger happy
and I've heard so far that she's killed 9

well it's a complicated tale
with a price on my head
and a sharp looking agent who
wants to find me certified dead

She's an infidel zombie
she gets depressed with duress
a love that cannot find me

Let me tell you
I don't believe it
There's a bullet with my name on it now

They caught me once while I was out messin around
they put me in cemented wedges but I didn't drown
I'm back on the streets and running for my life again
but I know they'll tear it down and they're gonna start
to close in

Chorus

05   I'm a Chollo (03:45)

06   Nights in White Satin (02:54)

nights in white satin
never reaching the end
letters i've written him
never meaning to send
beauty i've always missed
with these eyes before
just what the truth is
i can't say anymore

cos i love you yes i love you...

gazing at people
some hand in hand
just what i'm going through
they can't understand
some try to tell me
thoughts they cannot defend
just what you want to be
you will be in the end

07   (I'm Stuck in a Pagoda With) Tricia Toyota (02:53)

I came home one night tuned my T.V. in
my favorite show was about to begin
as I was scanning across the dial
I saw her read the news with delectable style
Then I was sure that within a while

I was Stuck
Stuck in a pagoda
with Tricia Toyota
I'm Stuck
We were watching Abe Vigoda
then every thing will be fine

Later that night we went for a drive
and I can say I never felt more alive
taking in the sights of old Tokyo
with Tricia by my side and money to blow
I knew then I never wanted to let her go

[Chorus]

[Lead]

[Chorus]

Always in a daze Always in a dream
Always find that things are not what they seem
A little Asian Goddess came from up above
I thank you NBC for sending my love
And Tricia is the one I've been dreaming of

[Chorus]

08   I've Got a Splitting Hedachi (02:28)

09   Attack of the Mole Men (03:40)

in the land of atlantis where the sun don't shine
it gets darker down there every day
that's when two explorers fell into a mine
and that's the price they have to pay


they carry their clubs upon their back
mole man mole man
they climb up on ground and then attack
beware of the head moleman jack

they're the slavery labour of the underground
their masters make them suffer and work
if you listen you're sure to hear the terrible sound
of mole men crawling out of the dirt

10   She Loves Me Not (01:12)

Carico i commenti...  con calma