The Dinner is Ruined Band
A Maggot in Their Heads
Sonic Unyon

The Dinner is Ruined are bad. I want to get that out of the way right off the bat. They are a very bad, very self-indulgent band. That said, I really like them. Somehow they get away with it, somehow I find myself lost in the copious clanging and moaning they expel from my CD player. The lyrics aren't exactly what I'd call 'witty' but they are definitely charming and poetic. A pun here, a twisted word, a melted meaning everywhere and it's sucking me in pretty fast. Little quirky, almost stupid repeated theme lines tinkling and groaning seem to float by like little clouds. Then they throw in some guitar fuzz, and get a little more aggressive all of a sudden. But this is only brief, and then we are thrown into some just plain noise, and then the world is silent again.

I guess this album (TDIR's second on the Unyon) works because although it may be pretty bad, it's always changing. like you are in some kind of vortex that's tumbling you around. Some other world that is suddenly violent and then the violence just stops in an eerie calmness. If that is the intention, and I'm quite sure it is, it's very effective. I could just sit here drinking coffee and losing myself in the scratching and tinkling, feeble moaning and subtle lilting all day. I have no complaints. But this album is not for everyone, you have to like bad music, you can't be picky about your vocals, and you have to appreciate total chaos.

Copyright © 1999 Laura Bowman