The latest product of this twisted ensemble - which now includes the Fresh Prince of Darkness (guitarist Marc Diamond of Mondo Generator), bassist Clint Torres and drummer Wreck Tom - is the Bob Sexton-produced DVD FEFU. The pop-punk single "Salt Lake City" takes a swipe at the Mormons, as well as the goody-two-shoes straightedge stance to which The Dwarves seem diametrically opposed. On their 2004 Sympathy debut The Dwarves Must Die - featuring cameos from members of The Offspring, Urge Overkill, The Vandals and Me First - they branch out with surprising tidbits of hip hop, death metal and noise, somewhat reminiscent of Rob Zombie. So what does all this hoo-hah sound like on record? The scummy side of The Dwarves owes much to The Stooges and The Cramps, while their melodic punk tendencies scream Ramones. Europe, Japan and Australia aren't quite as afraid of The Dwarves as the American heartland, and neither are the media icons incorporating their music, from the inevitable Playboy, Howard Stern and Viva la Bam to the curious SpongeBob SquarePants (which could screw up kids' brains for life!). So The Dwarves bounced from Epitaph to Reptilian to Recess, and finally to Sympathy Records, meanwhile cementing a fan base that appreciated both their onstage antics and sexist lyrics. (With members of Sub Pop roster bands Unsane and Seven Year Bitch having died for real, the label apparently didn't appreciate the publicity stunt.) And by 1992, The Dwarves were unceremoniously bounced from their home at Sub Pop Records for the death hoax perpetuated by the notorious He Who.
To give you an idea, 1990's notorious Blood, Guts and Pussy - with cover art depicting two blood-soaked naked women, a dwarf and a dead rabbit - was rated by Spin as the most offensive album of all time. Paul Cafaro) and the eternally masked guitarist He Who Cannot Be Named has lasted through unpredictable mayhem and record-label changes. Allin dead and bands like Poison Idea, the Mentors and Antiseen in relative retreat, the time is ripe for the re-ascendancy of the granddaddies of "scum punk" - The Dwarves.įormed in Chicago in the early '80s as the garage band Suburban Nightmare, the partnership of frontman Blag Dahlia (a.k.a. To some purists, punk rock was never meant to be an accessible, commercialized product, but rather the seedy underbelly of bands challenging societal norms with rampant drug use, fornication and a fascination with serial killers.
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