Citric Dummies

Citric Dummies Zen and the Arcade of Beating Your Ass LP

Killer LP from Minneapolis punks CITRIC DUMMIES, who sound like an amphetamine-fueled MISFITS. I mean it, the singer is pretty much doing a DANZIG impersonation here. Don’t ask me how, but it works. Throughout fourteen tracks, CITRIC DUMMIES stick to their successful formula of straightforward, rabid punk with an occasional pop of color, like the saxophone on “Drugs in the Snow” and the keyboards on “My True Love is Depression” and “Doing Dope at Chucky Cheese.” Overall I recommend it, especially if you need something to play at your next kegger.

• Reviewer Eric Anderson
• Label Feel It
• Issue MRR #487 • December 2023

Citric Dummies Die Nasty cassette

There needs to be a few CITRIC DUMMIES-type bands around at any given time, otherwise punk might collapse in on itself and lose its intrinsic ability to revel in the theatre of the absurd, or something like that. By “CITRIC DUMMIES-type bands,” I mean ones who write energetic bangers (that aren’t really hardcore or skate punk or garage or KBD-type stuff, although if any of those things are your jam you might like this), with genuinely funny, obnoxious lyrics (that aren’t “anti-PC” or somesuch). BRUTAL KNIGHTS were probably the last band to bat a comparable average on this front to these guys from Minneapolis, and although Die Nasty doesn’t have any lines that have induced actual belly laughter Á  la “I H8 Birds” or “Where the Fuck Were You?” from previous DUMMIES outings, it’s as ribald as a tape with an opening song called “Your Ex-Girlfriend is Dating a Nazi” oughta be. For some reason you have to download it and/or play the actual tape to hear it mixed properly, and it intentionally sounds like shit if you just stream it, although no doubt some people will prefer that version.

• Reviewer Noel Gardner
• Label Another Label
• Issue MRR #453 • February 2021