Incredible Shrinki

The Dickies | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 20, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000008F1L
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,349 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Give It Back

2. Poodle Party

3. Paranoid

4. She

5. Shadow Man

6. Mental Ward

7. Eve of Destruction

8. You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)

9. Waterslide

10. Walk Like an Egg

11. Curb Job

12. Shake and Bake

13. Rondo (The Midget's Revenge)

Editorial Reviews

The L.A. punk legend's debut album. Tracks include, 'Rondo', 'Poodle Party', 'Shadow Man' and 'Mental Ward'. Originally released in 1979. Bonus tracks include 'I'm OK, You're OK', 'Silent Night', 'sounds Of Silence', 'Banana Splits', 'Hideous' and 'Got It At The Store'. 2000 release. Standard jewel case. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NOT just the definative good time party pop punk album....., May 31, 2003

By 

Ian D. Chilton "chilts" (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Incredible Shrinking Dickies (Audio CD)

I dare you to play this album and not feel like a teenager in a fun park.

I was thirteen when I first bought this record in '79, back in punks riotous heyday, it struck us then that something elevated this work from its contemporaries. Behind the marvel comic inspired tom-foolery of L.G.Phillips's lyrics it can be easy to overlook the sheer sonic quality of this album and what a tight if not insane musical unit the Dickies actually were. Take the lavish guitar work on 'You Drive Me Ape' - the layered vocal harmonies on 'Give It Back', the machine gun percussion on 'Shake & Bake' And simply the best covers of 'Paranoid' and 'The Banana Splits' ever recorded.

Not your average seventies punk combo fare here - a punk album with Production! This is what Greenday would aspire to if they lightened up. An album as fresh and eye opening today as it was then.

Classic, three minute, feel good, B movie - pop punk at its very best. I simply don't understand why these guys were not HUGE.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Guilty Pleasure, December 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Incredible Shrinking Dickies (Audio CD)

My face is red. Here I am, a cultivated person who reads Montaigne and adores Bach, yet I like the Dickies. There, I've said it. Yes, their lyrics are puerile. Yes, the lead singer spews those lyrics in a blitzkrieg of nearly incomprehensible mock-schoolboy babble. Yes, the songs are so short, they're often over before you realize what hit you.

What hits you is a kind of power-pop punk reminiscent of the Ramones, only with more production. And the production on tracks like "Give it Back" is glorious, with crisp backing vocals and frenetic snippets of piano accenting the roiling guitar chords. And though the songs say nothing, with most of them clocking in at under two minutes, at least they don't take too long to say it.

You should realize the Dickies, like many punk bands, are decidedly NOT politically correct. Normally, this does not concern me. However, I do have reservations about the blatant if cartoon-like racism in the lyrics of "Shadow Man." This for me comes close to emptying the dance floor if not entirely spoiling the party. Unfortunate for an album that otherwise ranks very high on the Fun Scale, the top rungs of which are occupied by albums like X-Ray Spex "Germfree Adolescents," and the self-titled debut of the B-52s.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It'll Drive You Ape(You Big Gor-ee-ya)!, November 25, 2004

By 

Stanley Runk "Runkdapunk" (Camp North Pines) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Incredible Shrinking Dickies (Audio CD)

How dare you call yourself a punk rock fan if you don't own(or have heard) The Incredible Shrinking Dickies. It's very sad these punk veterans are virtually unknown in the music world, coz I'm sure more people would love them if they knew about them. They really stand out amongst the other punk bands of their day. While most punk bands were throwing politics and anger in your face, The Dickies gave punk rock a much needed humor transplant. The Dickies used the punk genre to make fun of things and spread silliness. They also used some strange sounds and instruments that weren't common to punk rock. Don't be fooled by how juvenile they may act-there was some real talent here. The music is just as fast and furious as any other punk band, and the group is extremely tight. Leonard's vocals seem to be the major complaint amongst critics of the group, but if you think about it, his voice is perfect for their kind of sound. Punk singers usually have a tendency to be kind of whiny and irritating, and Leonard is an overexaggerated, cartoony version of the average punk singer. That makes sense considering they like to do covers of cartoon theme songs(The Banana Splits being this album's cartoon cover). If you're big into the late 70s/early 80s punk bands, this one is a must for your collection-If you don't already have it, that is.