The third Dictators album kicks off as they mean to go on with "Faster and Louder", definitely the right title for one of the most hectic tracks they ever committed to vinyl. After their overproduced "Manifest Destiny" LP, "Blood Brothers" found the band energised by the emerging punk scene, so the LP was recorded mainly 'live in the studio' with minimal effects and overdubs. Ross the Boss (yes, the guy out of Manowar) and Top Ten's guitars have that Keith Richards cassette-compression sound down to a tee on the rhythm lines, with the leads cutting through over the top. Vocalist "Handsome" Dick Manitoba growls out Adny Shernoff's lyrics like he was auditioning for Black Flag. Contrary to the band's reputation as psychotic WWF refugees, Shernoff's lyrics never fail to hit the spot, although the portrayal of Manitoba as a "young artiste, with so much to say" never fails to crack me up. The second cut "Baby Let's Twist" keeps the momentum going, before one of Shernoff's more Beatles-y compositions, "No Tomorrow", with great solos from Ross. A scream of feedback announces "Minnesota Strip", surely the sleaziest cut ever to come out of New York (Dolls included) - "Ten bucks, you go and do it quick, we like young girls on the Minnesota Strip" isn't exactly ambiguous. Maybe persons of a nervous disposition should stick with Montrose. "Stay With Me" is a lighter, uptempo tune with the song again marrying Adny's Beatles fixation with the bands heaviosity. "I Stand Tall" sounds like a follow on to "Two Tub Man" on the Dic's debut album, lyrics like "I get a thrill when I click on my TV, faithfully every night" and the slightly jingoistic tone of the lyrics are leavened with enough humour that they don't stick in your throat. "Borneo Jimmy" is slow Mott-style thrash before the Day Tripper meets methamphetamine intro of "What It Is". "Slow Death" is a surprisingly jaunty closer given the title and lyrical content with intense grinding rhythm guitar and feedback lead. The lyrics suggest the band had some pretty dodgy habits at the time, but they're all still alive so what the hell. That riff is just a classic like the Flamin' Groovies "Texas Border"*, this track is maybe the pick of the album. The Dictators seem like the next in line from the Seeds, MC5, Stooges, Groovies etc. - maybe I should write a book on the subject like that "Godel, Escher, Bach" one. "Saxon, Manitoba, Rollins: An Eternal Golden Braid" doesn't have quite the same ring though.

PS The album has been reissued on CD in a great sounding remaster. See www.thedictators.com for more including details of their forthcoming album. The Dictators still rock out with the same disregard for taste, decency and propriety today, maybe they'll grace the UK with a show sometime this decade?

* Some time after writing this I found out "Slow Death" was actually a cover version of a Groovies song, and thanks to the new edit function on the site I can now reveal my perceptiveness/ignorance.

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