Though Dillinger Four haven’t had a new album out since 2008’s fourth effort, the prophetically titled Civil War, the Minneapolis punk band are still active. What’s more, their catchy, not-quite-pop-punk punk songs remain more relevant than ever. Because while the puerile nature of some of their song titles would make blink-182 blush (“#51 Dick Butkus,” “Honey, I Shit the Hot Tub,” “The Art of Whore”), they’re also a band who have captured the sheer absurdity of the American capitalist paradigm better than most.
This Shit Is Geniuser is a reissue of the band’s 1999 compilation record This Shit Is Genius, which gathered together early material released on EPs and splits between 1995 and 1997, with the addition of a few newer tracks. “When we first released the original version of this collection in 1999 on THD Records, and then No Idea Records, we didn’t include More Songs About Girlfriends and Bubblegum, because it was still available from Mutant Pop,” explains guitarist/vocalist Erik Funk, referring to the band’s EP from 1997. “So that’s what makes this new version genius-er than the first. That, and another bonus song from a little later era. We’re excited to have those songs back out on vinyl again.”
Adding context for the expanded reissue, he continues: “We also had some misunderstandings with No Idea over digital sales, which were pretty new at the time, and later streaming, which didn’t exist at all yet. So in 2016, these songs came down from all digital platforms. We never meant for them to stay that way, but now feels like the right time to put everything back up. It may not be our greatest music, but dammit, this is the one album that we alone own, and it’s nice to have something like that. A lot of bands don’t.”
Ahead of its (re-)release tomorrow, we’re premiering the entire album—check it out below, and find all of the band’s upcoming tour dates here.
