The Dils - C/D

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Hey gang,

So, despite having only released three singles, I am firmly of the opinion that these guys were one of the great lost bands of the punk rock era. They had a pretty unique, well-formed songwriting style that took the rock format and, while certainly streamlining and simplifying it, also just compacted it into a very dense, jarring, but catchy blast in a way that sounds very distinct.

"You're Not Blank" is one of my absolute favorite punk singles - it sounds just friggin cataclysmic, and the choppy, pounding rhythm that launches headfirst into the chorus is whiplash-inducing. Add in the frenzied guitar solo and some snarky, clever, but passionate lyrics, and aw man, now you're talkin Classic material.

They tend to get a lot of "American Clash" comparisons, but I don't think they're particularly valid, other than that the Dils were "political" and so were the Clash. Songwise I don't buy it.

Anyway, for some reason or another they're way overlooked, though whether that's because of a lack of recorded material (the live stuff extant is interesting for fans but probably not likely to convert on its own strength), or geographic placement (LA pre-hardcore), or something else, like the lameness of the post-Dils Kinman project Rank & File, I do not know.

Anyway, what says ILM?

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Saturday, 20 November 2004 05:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I've only heard one song, I think - "I Hate the Rich" - but it is surely classic.

― nickn (nickn), Saturday, 20 November 2004 06:16 (twenty-one years ago)

fookin' killer.

― kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 20 November 2004 06:19 (twenty-one years ago)

well, i think that the dils are often over-hyped compared to their lesser known contemporaries 'the dilweeds', who deserve another listen without prejudice. i mean, with songs like "we smoke as we shoot the bird", they should be ranked right up there with great pop bands like the disco biscuts and the new deal

― JD from CDepot, Saturday, 20 November 2004 07:48 (twenty-one years ago)

holy fuck did they have a track on a comp of other us punk bands which i think i sold 15 years ago and i can't remember the name so help me here and it was CLASSIC.

― bulbs (bulbs), Saturday, 20 November 2004 07:52 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, they're great. don't know about classic but they're certainly not a dud. "class war" is excellent. i approve. plus, they're from del mar! i think. maybe la jolla. or carlsbad or oceanside or encinitas something. def. north coast san diego. perhaps gygax! can clear this up.

― f ath, Saturday, 20 November 2004 08:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Their stuff is on the Dangerhouse comps as well as the L.A. Punk edition of Rhino's D.I.Y. series. One of those might be what you're thinking of, bulbs.

― Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Saturday, 20 November 2004 08:19 (twenty-one years ago)

They also wrote one of the greatest pop songs ever, for my money: "Sound of the Rain." However, I much prefer the Kinman's later version as Rank & File on the album Long Gone Dead (one of my very favorite 80s albums).
That said, the Dils version clearly is more edgy (i.e. punk) lyrically, if not as pretty musically. The line, "I hate the cops, I wish they all were dead," does not appear in Rank & File's version.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Saturday, 20 November 2004 14:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I think they're about as not-overlooked as a band that only released three singles possibly could be.

Mission of Burma just covered "Class War"...

― Douglas (Douglas), Saturday, 20 November 2004 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Can you find those 3 singles on cd?

― steve-k, Sunday, 21 November 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Uh, sorta...two of them are on a CD called "Dils Dils Dils", and the other one's on "Class War". However, there's a UK disc on Damaged Goods also called "Dils Dils Dils" that has all three of them on one disc. I'm not sure if it's still in print.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Sunday, 21 November 2004 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

i think i personally know like 50% of the posters on this thread. also, the dils fucking rule.

― peter smith (plsmith), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

Always thought there was a lot of opinion about the third single (actually a double seven-inch with three songs) being terrible, but I finally heard it and it's great!

Any opinions on the posthumous live album?

― Tim Ellison, Monday, 30 July 2007 21:01 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

I finally culled the studio tracks from the terribly poor live recordings on the two Dils comps, "Class War" and "Dils Dils Dils". I don't know about you, but really bad sound quality detracts from the experience for me. Anyway, these singles are fantastic and should be more widely available.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 11 March 2010 16:22 (sixteen years ago)

Yeah the live quality isn't great, I managed to find both comps pretty cheap though.

I Hate The Rich/You're Not Blank is one of the best punk 7"s of 1977 if not the 70's IMO.

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 11 March 2010 17:20 (sixteen years ago)

There have been boot 7" vinyl releases. The Dangerhouse situation is screwed up enough that more might not happen easily.

4 classics (in descending order: Blank, War, Rich, Big) and two nice transitional songs (It's not worth it; Sound of the Rain). The rest is filler.

But "You're not blank" is an all-timer. Maybe even as good as the Victims' "Flipped out over you."

― Michael Train, Thursday, 11 March 2010 21:13 (sixteen years ago)

The Dangerhouse situation is screwed up enough that more might not happen easily.

???

guess I should hold on to those singles collections

also, "Flipped Out Over You" is better than almost anything.

― sleeve, Thursday, 11 March 2010 22:14 (sixteen years ago)

Ridiculous that there hasn't been a definitive Dangerhouse collection. (And there should be a VVV compilation too.)

― Michael Train, Thursday, 11 March 2010 22:52 (sixteen years ago)

@_@ <3 my first ilm thread <3 @_@

― pretzel walrus, Friday, 12 March 2010 23:10 (sixteen years ago)

"you're not blank" still maybe my fave punk rock jam

― pretzel walrus, Friday, 12 March 2010 23:14 (sixteen years ago)

eight months pass...

I hate the rich
They should dig the ditch

― I Want to Change My Password... (am0n), Monday, 22 November 2010 19:55 (fifteen years ago)

Isn't there a new LA 77 era punk comp out with a Dils song or 2 on it?

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 04:13 (fifteen years ago)

new trax?

― I Want to Change My Password... (am0n), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 05:06 (fifteen years ago)

No, I don't think so. Jon Savage, author of England's Dreaming, has put together a comp on Domino to school Brits all these years later called "Black Hole- LA Punk 77 to 80" (or something like that)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/nov/14/california-punk

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 13:18 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/jon-savage-on-west-coast-punk

Savage doing a bunch of interviews. Not specifically about the Dils, whose "I Hate Rich" is included.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 13:22 (fifteen years ago)

Sorry to be boring but

I Hate The Rich
You're not Blank
Mr Big ( stuck out like a sore thumb on the 'Saturday Night Pogo' comp., which was the third album that I ever bought, from a second hand shop in Hull for 50p in about '82)
Blow up

Too much filler as you say. Shame.Poorly recorded

Have the first Rank and File somewhere and it's good

― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 20:49 (fifteen years ago)

Love R&F as well. Think I'm the only one who prefers Long Gone Dead, however.

― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 20:54 (fifteen years ago)

Jazzbo- thanks for the tip. Will seek that one out.
Blackbird? Have that somewhere too. Remember trying to like it

― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 21:19 (fifteen years ago)

Sundown is definitely more edgy (and great), but I bought Long Gone Dead first, so that's probably why I like it more. Plus, the title track and the re-make of "Sound of the Rain" are two of my favorite songs ever.
Never heard Blackbird, to be honest.

― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 21:29 (fifteen years ago)

seven years pass...

http://www.laweekly.com/music/cowboy-nations-chip-kinman-has-a-case-of-the-blues-8962087

New band: Ford Madox Ford

― curmudgeon, Friday, 22 December 2017 05:42 (eight years ago)

four months pass...

Ah man -- Tony Kinman has passed on

http://californiarocker.com/2018/05/04/tribute-tony-kinman-dies/

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 4 May 2018 18:51 (eight years ago)

Ah damn, what a unique voice. The last thing I heard from Tony was guest vocals on an Andy Prieboy song, "My Two-Bit Heart". Fantastic, of course.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 4 May 2018 20:37 (eight years ago)

The Dils' three singles constitute one of my favorite discographies of all time. What a great band. A track like "You're Not Blank" has so much musicality to it. I think Tony was one of the great punk singers. His vocals on "Class War" and "It's Not Worth It" are perfect for those songs.

― timellison, Friday, 4 May 2018 23:16 (eight years ago)

Only ever saw him play once - I saw Blackbird! (Opening for fIREHOSE ca. 1989 or so.)

― timellison, Friday, 4 May 2018 23:18 (eight years ago)

Aww cancer. RIP Tony Kinman

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 5 May 2018 05:24 (eight years ago)

three years pass...

Been playing the Dils this morning. This is one of my favorite songs, but it seems to get watered down with each iteration.

Here it is live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmFYvXW7Rd8

Here is when they finally cut in the studio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OriciSl0PY

And here it is revived by the band members' next group, Rank and File:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5-3tnS3dNo

― birdistheword, Sunday, 4 July 2021 20:44 (four years ago)

Dils single version is a longtime fave. Rank & File version is a bit better in theory than practice and should've kept all the same words, but the previous album is the best thing the Kinmans did imo.

― swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 7 July 2021 04:44 (four years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.