Review
The Dwarves
Gentleman Blag

I know what you’re thinking? Why has it already been five months without a new Dwarves release? Never fear, the long-running goodtime smutlovers are back, this time with a 4-song EP on Fat Wreck Chords. Gentleman Blag pulls its title track from their latest, The Dwarves Invented Rock & Roll, as the band is prone to putting out already released songs on the 7” format, but the half of the cuts here are all new, all Dwarves.

Opening with the lines “I get around from town to town/ Always got my cock out, pants down,” the record wastes no time in establishing that well known Dwarves tone: lewd, self-aware, narcissistic, and 100% true. “Even sometimes I must refrain.” A gentleman, indeed. It’s got a bit of a chugga-chugga chord progression before it hits the chorus, which features a super clean harmony, all while telling how Blag the Ripper has progressed toward gentleman status.

While the titular number and “Kings of the World” (also off Invented Rock & Roll) are melody based, they take a more coarse arrangement for the unreleased songs, using other vocalists on Blag’s vinyl, with a screamier delivery. The songs remain pop structured, but with hoarse and angry vocals that carry a harder edge. The standout of the new jams is the Rex Everything led “Stuck in a Void,” with a driving beat and big chords that tie in stoner jams and a touch of hardcore past, while the harmonized chorus brings it back into melodic territory every now and again. The final movement in the 2:49 song is heavy and plotting, working that stoner angle without betraying the energy, as it’s only a matter of time before a brilliant guitar line and a final circle through the pit to close it out. It’s also a great choice to end an EP, pacing itself and ending with a final hard push of energy that renews the spirit of the record.

It may just be an off-cycle EP, but Gentleman Blag runs at 7 minutes, making it almost qualify as a full-length by the band’s short-play standards. The new songs, “Trisexual” and “Stuck in the Void” are both keepers, but they’re also not the band’s best either. This record is one for the collectors.