Never listened to Dillinger Four before because my friend heard them at some barn party and he mentioned that you, “Can’t even square dance to their music,” so I blew them off. But, whatever, that guy’s an asshole, and this CD came to me with an enthusiastic recommendation from Todd Taylor. Definitely, I trust Todd’s taste in music because I went to Fest this year never having heard more than four of the bands that were playing, so I just went by who had been featured in Razorcake, and I heard more great music that weekend than I had found by myself in years. Listening to Civil War adds to that credibility in my mind, because this CD has quickly found a place in my heart and the rotation on my CD player. The urgent feeling of this album is what makes listening to it exciting: the music is driving and the vocals are raspy and almost whispered, so it’s like the singer has to hold back or he’ll fucking explode. And then reading through the lyrics and seeing the depth of these perfect, catchy three-minute songs is kind of mind-blowing. “The Classical Arrangement” is an obvious standout, but I don’t want to call any one song a favorite, because I want you to understand that pretty much everything on here is gold. I don’t give a fuck about what anyone else in this one-horse town thinks when I blast this CD on full volume at five AM when I wake up to milk the cows.
–Lauren Trout (Fat)