The Dictators
Faster - Louder:
The Dictators' Best 1975 - 2001
(Raven Records)

Australian specialty label Raven Records issued this compilation of tracks from the Bronx group's four studio LPs. Their debut came a year before the Ramones'. A unique melange of guitar-centered, primordial punk, pop cult grounding, and wiseass voicings. Power chords with punchlines. Smarter than so many.

(Trivia note: The cover photo depicts drummer Mel Anderson, second from right. He filled in, between Stu Boy King and Richie Teeter. He doesn't play on any tracks - I'm unsure why he made the cover.)



Recommended: "The Next Big Thing," "Master Race Rock," "California Sun," "Two Tub Man ," "Weekend," "(I Live For) Cars and Girls," "Exposed," "Science Gone Too Far," "Young, Fast, Scientific," "Search and Destroy," "Faster and Louder," "Baby Let's Twist," "The Minnesota Strip," "Stay With Me," "Slow Death," "Who Will Save Rock and Roll," "I Am Right," "Moronic Inferno," "The Savage Beat," "Burn Baby Burn."

Video: "The Next Big Thing,": "Exposed," "Faster and Louder," "I Am Right."