All This and Puppet Stew

by Dickies

Overview

Only their sixth album of original material in 24 years (ahh, the productivity of heroin addiction!), All This and Puppet Stew proves the Dickies are at least incapable of making a bad one. They broke half their formula on the previous two records, dropping the sidesplitting comedy that made their first four LPs ageless gases. They'll never banish the glorious power pop punk that's forever been their hallmark, but the bandmembers now care about making more genial loud guitar pop as scintillating as the stack of 1960s records they cherish. "Marry Me, Ann," "I Did It," and "Huge" all reach back for the hummable, lovable, heart-tug-able greatness of their old Quick cover, "Pretty Please Me." Stan Lee still keeps the fat power riffs coming, and Leonard Phillips wraps his thick, boyish, goofy-sweet voice around the abundant melodies with his voluble charm. There's nothing about hunchbacks, pagodas, Asian TV anchorwomen, gorillas, Sammy Davis, Jr., the Pep Boys, waterslides, cholos, zombies, the Germs' bassist, mole men, talking penises, or even covers of cartoon themes, but there are some clever/funny-dumb songs in "Wack the Dalai Lama," "He's Courtin' Courtney" (ha ha!), and the first-rate "My Pop the Cop." Meanwhile, the Dickies-ized covers this time are "See My Way," "Donut Man," and the Human Beinz hit "Nobody But Me." The next album should be released in, oh....six years, 11 months, 21 days, 17 hours, and nine minutes. (Fans will get that, from the joke Phillips tells about the precise length he's been free of drugs, before saying, "Just kidding!") That they've somehow managed to exist uninterrupted -- however sporadically -- for a quarter century with this sort of quality control in the studio, and that they've done it despite some unfortunate personal habits, is as much a marvel as their LPs are so enjoyable. ~ Jack Rabid

Product Details

Release Date:	05/22/2001
Label:	Fat Wreck Chords
UPC:	0751097060827

Tracks

1. See My Way
2. Keep Watchin' the Skies
3. Free Willy
4. Donut Man
5. Howdy Doody in the Woodshed II
6. Marry Me, Ann
7. Sobriety
8. I Did It
9. Whack the Dalai Lama
10. He's Courtin' Courtney
11. Nobody But Me
12. My Pop the Cop
13. It's Huge

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Dickies   Primary Artist
Leonard Graves Phillips   Keyboards,Vocals
Rick Dasher   Bass,Vocals (Background)
Stan Lee   Guitar
Travis Johnson   Drums

Technical Credits

Don Cameron   Engineer
Ryan Greene   Engineer,Mixing,Producer
John X.   Mixing
Eddy Schreyer   Mastering
Adam Krammer   Producer,Mixing
Donald Cameron   Engineer
Sergie   Layout Design
Ron Sobol   Photography
Stan Lee   Composer
Steve Hufsteter   Composer
Leonard Graves Phillips   Composer