Review Summary: The Band That Wouldn't Die, Part 3: F*cking Around- And Having Fun Doing It
Already a move away from the blistering aggression of
Blood, Guts and Pussy, 1991’s
Thank Heaven for Little Girls is still largely cut from the same cloth as its predecessor. The tempos are still up, the guitars are still loud n’ mean, and the lyrics are still offensive. If anything,
Little Girls is a refinement of
Blood, Guts and Pussy, maintaining that album’s spirit while just… sprucing things up a bit.
And spruced up things certainly are here. The guitars sound fuller, the drums have more punch, the melodies are more pronounced, and Blag sounds better than ever. In other words, it’s actually been produced. Some samples (presumably of old horror movies or something) are even snuck in here and there, but they wisely stay out of the way of the actual songs.
And what great songs they are! Aggressive, sneering melodic hardcore, both more tuneful and more varied than anything else they had released up to this point. There’s a neat slide guitar line on “Blood Brother’s Revenge”, and things take a turn for the slower on parts of “Speed Demon” and “Blag the Ripper”, as well as on closer “Dairy Queen”, to surprisingly enjoyable results. The true standout cuts, though, are propelled to greatness by Blag Dahlia’s developing-but-keen ear for insanely catchy hooks- “Lucky Tonight”, “F*ck ‘em All”, “Satan”, and “Three Seconds” are all such concentrated bursts of memorable, headbanging nihilism that it’s almost a shame the lyrics are so unfit for the airwaves. Granted, they may not be “Flesh Tantrum” levels of NSFW, but discussions of intercourse with minors, violence against civilians, and usage of mind-altering substances still abound.
Thank Heaven for Little Girls may have scaled back on many of the things that made
Blood Guts and Pussy such a fun, compelling listen, but The Dwarves’ knack for quality punk songwriting was hardly dulled in the process, and the enhanced recording quality allowed the group’s talent to show through clearly for the first time.
