Dino Lee
Anthology Vol. 1 (Poly Fab)Dino Lee was white trash when white trash wasn’t cool. While it’s certainly possible to celebrate this reissue of his mid-Eighties waxings as a defiant dildo in the face of the New Sincerity nonmovement, a city that birthed the Uranium Savages was already well-lubricated for a White Trash Revue. At heart, Lee’s strength was his (ahem) sincere dedication to full-bodied showmanship. Even back then, there was always a hint of Mr. Fabulous beneath the naughty lyrics and onstage antics. Backed by a formidable band, Lee’s musical arsenal runs the gamut from soul-stomping sing-alongs like “Beer Party” and “Everybody Get Some” to steroidal cow-punk throwdowns like “Stud Pony.” In between, Lee busts out a Tex-Mex-fueled “Rosa Maria” and an extra-twisted rendition of the honky-tonk heartbreaker, “A Good Year for the Roses.” This celebration of bad taste reaches an apex with the anti-overpopulation anthem, “If U Can’t Feed Em, Baby Don’t Breed Em” and slithers down the other side with “Wayne Newton Is a Dyke?” Once an image like that worms its way into your brain, you’ll never shake it out.
This article appears in Richard Suttle.
