Dillinger Four

C I V I L W A R

[3/5]

Minneapolis-based pop-punk quartet Dillinger Four have inexplicably become exponentially more popular in their six-year absence from the studio since 2002’s good-but-not-great Situationist Comedy. In the interim, the band have probably played less than 100 shows, each with roughly the same setlist. As such, none of the material on C I V I L W A R has been tested in front of an audience-a big reason why the band’s fourth proper full-length isn’t the New Testament of beard-punk that so many Fest attendees want it to be.

C I V I L W A R is an album made by four middle-aged men who’ve spent the past half-decade engaged in “real life” (marriage, children, etc.) instead of being immersed in contemporary punk, and thus, it lacks bite and innovation. The highlights: “Gainesville” (the disc’s best song), ““Contemplate this on the tree of woe.”” (vintage D4, complete with bassist/court jester Patrick Costello’s backing yells) and “Fruity Pebbles,” reminiscent of the Briefs’ midtempo numbers. While the album has bright spots, overall it feels a bit dull and without the spark that made 1998’s Midwestern Songs Of The Americas so fresh and exciting. With the albatross around their neck finally loosened, Dillinger Four have the talent to return with another truly great, defining punk album-hopefully it’ll be before 2014. (FAT WRECK CHORDS) Scott Heisel

ROCKS LIKE:

Dillinger Four’s Situationist Comedy

The Arrivals’ Marvels Of Industry

Pinhead Gunpowder’s Goodbye Ellston Avenue