DAG NASTY
Minority of One (Revelation Records)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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Dave Smalley is an endowment to just about any band smart enough to enlist him. He refined the caffeinated sound of All with just enough style to make you almost-but-never-quite forget about Milo, and then he went off with Down By Law. He's returned after a decade to Dag Nasty with Brian Baker (the guitarist in just about every punk band in history, with the exception of Crispy Ambulance and Vaginal Blood Fart).

Minority of One actually gets off to a somewhat prescribed beginning ("Ghosts"), but the deeper you go the more it picks up, and repeated listening reveals traits disloyal to the more obstinate of the holy roller McPunk crowd, most of whom will be selling this at indie shops in a year's time when they've found something trendy and new for that moment.

"Your Words", and "Bottle This" were among my favorites. "You've got a new tattoo, and the same old face."

Recommended as a history lesson, Baker, Marbury, Sears, and Smalley still do it better than this week's crew. If Dag Nasty waits another decade to follow this up perhaps punk will suddenly be "in." Yet again.

8/10

© 2002 - Jason Thornberry