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The Dishwashers are a horror/punk band that i first saw at The Star Bar a while back. They put on a great show, so i picked up their 7" after the concert. Nice folks. The music doesn't exactly match the imagery though. What i mean is, the cover of the 7" features the three band members in dark suits with their faces painted white and scads of black eye makeup on, like either a goth band or a black metal act. Instead, The Dishwashers are a standard pop punk act with some talent, who just appear to be obsessed with horror movies. Their stage image is more of an homage to Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney than to The Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, Sepultura, Mayhem, or any of the acts in either of those genres. I say this because in concert, when the band walked out in makeup, i had a sudden fear of pretentious goth rock. Don't let their imagery fool you.
The A side is Frankenstein is Tired, which sounds like early Green Day played by somebody who watches too many late night horror movies on TV. The music is crunchy like Green Day, and very catchy. The Dishwashers can write a happy melody that you just want to pogo to. The recording isn't the best (the voices are a bit too far out front, and the drummer apparently was recorded in a different room altogether), but the song is happy and silly and fun, and that shines through the recording.
The second song is Monsters Are In My Closet, which i remember seeing them play in concert. On this one, the vocalist was jerking around on stage like Jello Biafra, and his somewhat hesitant singing style also emulates that of the original Dead Kennedy's vocalist. In fact, the song really sounds like an early DK tune. The drummer is playing at a breakneck pace while the guitar and the bass grind away in the front. This is another really fun tune, and, although it does suffer from the same recording limitations as the A side, again the fun of the band shines through.
As to the 7" itself, well, it's on translucent pink marbled vinyl, which looks nice. Also, the label printed the speed on the disc, something which i whole heartedly appreciate.
Overall, this is a promising debut, in which a band with good musicianship and songwriting skills triumphs over the adversity of murky production. The songs are fun, and it is obvious that The Dishwashers know what they are doing. Give them some decent production and they could go far.
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