D.R.I.
For a band that hasn’t released a proper new album since 1995, D.R.I. is in demand. Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, born in Texas in 1982, keep up a near-constant touring schedule, bringing the mosh to anywhere you are. And why not? With newer bands like Municipal Waste jocking a style originated by D.R.I., why would they stop? Especially when everything old becomes new again and they still hold the original recipe for delivering the goods.
These early adopters of thrash did issue an e.p. in 2016, “But wait…there’s more!” consisting of three new songs paired with re-recordings of D.R.I. standbys “Mad Man” and “Couch Slouch.” It was their biggest burst of activity since the end of a four-year hiatus, 2006-2010, taken in response to founding guitarist Spike Cassidy’s colon cancer. After several bouts of radiation treatment and chemotherapy, and surgery to remove a foot of intestine, Cassidy found a way back to the stage. “I am very happy D.R.I. will be playing again,” he said at the time. “It has been far too long.”
We cringe at clichés like “What doesn’t kill you … “ even before they become needlepoint pillow memes or pop songs. But as D.R.I. regained the breakneck form for which it famous, maybe that urgency sprang from a familiar source. There is an intensity in completing seemingly impossible tasks, such as cancer recovery, that can fuel rebirth. In that light, D.R.I.’s hard-won second act makes sense. It’s as if the band lived to play thrash, saw its purpose for being jeopardized and responded by going harder than before.
Whenever and wherever they play, a rabid fan base awaits. A D.R.I. show is sure to be packed full of heshers and punks and anybody else who wants to get a little rowdy. Thrash is the United Nations of fast, loud music; everybody is welcome to throw elbows, stage dive and let loose. From D.R.I. and Discharge to Motörhead and Suicidal Tendencies, it’s thrash for all.
D.R.I. plays Death Wish, Old Habits and Church Girls, 8pm Dec. 8 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach, $15-$18. dirtyrottenimbeciles.com ~ Tim Moffatt
