The Dickies What Once Was CD Review
Cleopatra Records has been on an absolute rampage lately, storming through the vaults like Indiana Jones with a mohawk and a studded leather jacket, unearthing vintage Punk Rock. Or let’s just call them what they really are: legendary releases from legends. Their latest Punk Rock resurrection comes from one of the most gloriously unhinged bands of my youth, The Dickies!
Now, I can’t quite remember which cassette I got first, “The Incredible Shrinking Dickies” or “Dawn of the Dickies”, but whichever one it was, it hit me like a glitter bomb of pogo-stick chaos. The Dickies weren’t your typical sneering, safety-pinned punkers. No, these guys were like Saturday morning cartoons got into your Pixy Stix stash and formed a band. Imagine bubblegum Punk with a giant goofy grin and maybe some googly eyes glued on for effect. The only other band that even sniffed their level of joyful absurdity was The Dead Milkmen, and I will fistfight the internet on that opinion if I must.
What really certified the band’s greatness for me was their contribution to the cinematic magnum opus “Killer Klowns From Outer Space”. I mean come on, if you can write a Punk theme song for homicidal alien clowns and somehow make it badass, you’re basically Punk Rock royalty in my book. That song still lives rent-free in my head, and it pays in cotton candy and anarchy.
So now, in true Cleopatra fashion, they've pulled another gem from the time capsule, a live show titled “What Once Was” that’s never seen the light of day (to my knowledge or the collective memory of Punk nerds on the internet). This set comes from a 1980 show at the Euphoria Tavern in Portland, Oregon, a name so Punk Rock vague it sounds like a place you’d go to find enlightenment and cheap beer in equal measure. I’m sure there were few locals that showed up that night who got pissed that they couldn’t sit and drink their Schlitz in peace.
And what a glorious racket it is. The Dickies tear through tracks from their first two albums and toss in a handful of covers because, well, that’s what The Dickies do. The audio quality? Let’s just say it’s got that charming “rescued-from-a-box-under-the-bass-player’s-bed” vibe. Yes, there are volume dips here and there, but nothing that’ll scare off anyone who’s ever shouted “Oi!” at a gig while dodging a flying Doc Marten. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s Punk as hell.
Now let’s talk about those covers. These aren’t just tossed-off novelties; these are glorious Punk Rock crime scenes. Their version of “Nights in White Satin” completely rips the stuffing out of the original, no more mopey mood lighting and heartbreak, just a turbo-charged blitzkrieg with zero time for feelings. “The Sound of Silence” - More like “The Sound of Carnival Mayhem”, the keyboards sound like a merry-go-round on meth, and Leonard Graves’s vocals are the demented cherry on top.
And then there’s their cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” I did a double take when I heard it, this thing goes so hard it might accidentally summon Ozzy himself through your turntable. It’s chaotic, messy, beautiful - everything a good Punked up Sabbath cover should be. And let’s not forget “Eve of Destruction,” a song so frequently covered it might as well come with a free guitar tab tattoo. Yet somehow, The Dickies still manage to make it feel fresh, manic, and totally theirs.
Sure, the sound has its limitations, but that just adds to the charm. This isn’t some glossy, over polished, reverb-drenched affair. It’s a time capsule of a band that was clearly having the time of their lives, and we’re lucky to get to tag along. I was five years old in 1980, and even if I’d lived in Portland, there’s no way the bouncer at Euphoria Tavern was letting me in with my Scooby-Doo lunchbox. So yeah, this release is necessary!
If you’re a Dickies fan, or even just someone who thinks Punk should be fun and unhinged, grab this on vinyl. Drop the needle, crank it up, and relive the glorious, goofy chaos. You’ll laugh, you’ll pogo, and you might even throb a little bit here and there…