WPTS From The Vault
From the Vault: Slick Idiot – DickNity
Timotheus G. Hinton
Welcome to “From the Vault”, a column where we express our thoughts on an older album, all while taking a look back at a previous review of that album from one of our past contributors. After doing some deep digging through the vast archive of music here at WPTS, we found an album and review that is a great pick for this month’s edition: Slick Idiot’s debut studio album, DickNity. But before we get into our thoughts, let’s take a quick look at a previous review of it.
“This is an industrial outfit of KMFDM. Guenter Shultz and En Esch started this band after KMFDM broke up in 1999. It is a unique twist of modern glam-techno, trance, and hip-hop. This album is really good. The singing is really dark and sounds super cool over the music, which is also fantastic. – 11/19/2002
I expected a lot of noise upon listening to this album, and a lot of noise is what I got. Don’t take it the wrong way though, as it’s good noise to listen to. From the very beginning up until the very end, your eardrums are invaded with sounds and noises from various genres. Dance, techno, metal, hard-rock, and rap are just a few that you’ll find on this release. This isn’t because I’m familiar with Slick idiot and its members, because I’m not. Rather, it was because the above review, although short, explains what you’re in store for with this album really well.
For the most part, DickNity is pretty enjoyable. Both on songs and the album as a whole, Slick idiot seamlessly transitions from one genre to the next. Nothing sounds out of place, which is what you want when listening to industrial music. Sonic soundscapes are crafted with care and blend well with the colorful production that is placed all throughout the album. Upon first listen, it may not seem like Slick idiot knew what they were doing. But after a few listens, you may come to enjoy the sudden change from a beautiful guitar melody to crazy, double-time drums.
My main gripe with the album, though, is the vocals behind it. Esch’s voice takes a lot away from the music and the environment that is created with each song. While his voice may add a lot to some tracks (as stated in the review above), many times it’s very overpowering and covers up what is going on behind it. When his voice isn’t overpowering a track, it’s just plain annoying and ugly. While crazy, abnormal vocals are often a characteristic of industrial music (for example, those of Death Grips front man MC Ride), Esch’s are simply too strong for my liking. Often times I found myself grooving to what the band was doing, only to become dissatisfied when Esch came in with the lyrics. Also, most of the tracks on the album overstay their welcome. If I wasn’t dissatisfied when Esch’s voice came in, I was when a track carried on for another 2 minutes. Clocking in at 61 minutes (65 if you listen to the re-release version), DickNity begins to grow a tad boring and loses its pace because of the length of the songs.
Still, the album is a good release. Even if it can grow old at times, it’s got a lot of content packed into it to keep listeners busy. It also contains some pretty interesting vocals, which you may or may not find enjoyable. Industrial music isn’t for everybody, but if it’s for you, give DickNity a listen.
