Defiantly standing on the frontline against propriety since 1986, Dwarves face the greatest challenge of their career – how do you turn heads and inflict metal damage in our current state of despairs? The answer, whether you like it or not, is their latest album Jenkem. Named for the gag-worthy elixir of human fluids (and semi-solids), Jenkem is the poorest man’s hallucinogen…which isn’t a terrible way to describe the listening experience to the band’s 16th album.
Dwarves have always had the ability to hold a filthy mirror up to reality, and what stares back is smudged, distorted, and authentic. Offending the general populous was a much easier task in the 80s, but that didn’t stop Dwarves from finding the line of decency and catapulting themselves way over it – even by today’s standards (or lack thereof). With Jenkem, Dwarves rise to the challenge of dropping infamy-sewing music in a time that nothing appears to be “going too far” or “off limits”. Clocking in just shy of 20 minutes, Jenkem is filled to the brim (sorry, I’ll stop referencing the excrement jug now) with seeds of discourse delivered via the band’s classic high-speed punk style and unhinged delivery.
Listening to Jenkem is an exercise in gauging your own level of morality. Does it make you wince? Laugh? Shake your head with disapproval? Nod with agreement? Dwarves present loud and fast snippets from popular headline fodder, leaving it to the listener to decide how they feel about it. Like the dizzying speed of the news cycle itself, biting lyrics from Jenkem fly in fast, and by the time you process what you think you’ve heard – you’re already being assaulted by the next line.
With almost every release before it, Jenkem exists somewhere between satire, shambolism, sardonic manipulation, and psychotherapy. Whether you write it off as a steam of polluted consciousness or dig into the relevance of each track – Jenkem makes you talk. Dwarves perpetuate this new wave of Punk Prankerism that forces people to talk about the nasty realities that spawned each track as if the song is the real problem, and not what inspired it.
Dwarves are a naturally occurring phenomenon bred out of unnaturally bad circumstances. They exist to expose the underbelly that society generally looks away from, so the band sets many dumpsters on fire to bring attention back to the real issues. Jenkem doesn’t preach change or demand acknowledgement – it leaves your own shameful turd on the doorstep and rings the doorbell.
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The Dwarves Are Still The Best Band Ever.
