The Big Boys were around at least a year earlier and mined a surprisingly similar sound as the Dicks. But we can all just chalk that up to each group springing from the same scene. Both ensembles felt it necessary to include more than a passing wink and nod to other musical genres – funk being an obvious influence. The Minutemen, a San Pedro based SST group, weren’t too far away from settling on roughly the same conflagration of noise, politics and rhythm – that group, though, also benefited from living in a town not too far away from Los Angeles’ huge scene.
When considering the Dicks and the Big Boys, the latter of sports a more sprawling discography despite not being picked up by a major-indie label or high tailing it outta town, it becomes difficult to understand each group’s current position in punk culture. Given the fact that the Big Boys, as fronted by Randy "Biscuit" Turner, were serious purveyors of queer culture and guitarist Tim Kerr has gone on to a successful career as producer, artist and all around good dude, there should be that yawning gap in popularity. Who doesn’t like fat guys in drag? No one.
Anyway, as the Dicks issued a classic single prior to releasing the iconic Kill From the Heart (even if that song of the same name doesn’t rank as the band’s crowning achievement), the persistence of vision between these folks and Turner’s ensemble is staggering. Even the two singer’s vocals sound the same – and each owe a debt to Jello Biafra.
Attempting to figure which band sported a more sophisticated musicality is moot – that’s not what this stuff was about. But the Dicks including a cover of the Hendrix tune “Purple Haze” should be ample proof that this all wasn’t a tossed off joke.
The answer why the Dicks have wound up occupying a higher echelon of visibility when contrasted with Kerr and company might have to do with some of the plain and overt politicism expressed over the course of Kill From the Heart – “Pigs Run Wild” reads like a call to arms. Again, there’s no real answer, even the move to San Fran should have ensured acclaim. But the Dicks catalog when tossed in with that of the Big Boys represents the tremendous potential punk and hardcore once had. It almost seems as if it’s gone, though. Bunk.