Dirty Fonzy - Here We Go Again

Artist: Dirty Fonzy

Album: Here We Go Again

Label: Enragé Productions

France's Dirty Fonzy immediately resembles a pretty standard streetpunk band - in the vein of Hellcat Records staples Rancid, Time Again, and Left Alone.  But after a few tracks Dirty Fonzy reveal a breadth of influences ranging from third wave ska and traditional reggae, to pop punk and country.  

On their latest album, 2008's generically titled Here We Go Again, the band maintains coherence by building their sound around a firm streetpunk core.  Much like Rancid, the inherent contrast between Dirty Fonzy's two lead vocalists, Johnny Guiltare and Angelo Papas, pleasantly compliments each another.  One has a sloppy "raspyness" much like Tim Armstrong, while the other has a clearer, angrier shout.  The two trade off from chorus to verse, and from line to line, much like their contemporaries, producing memorable sing along street punk anthems and calls to arms.  While obviously not intensional, their French accent helps further differentiate Dirty Fonzy from their North American peers, and while clearly evident, it never hurts a track's listenability or impedes lyric comprehension.

Most tracks have underlying punk rock guitars and fairly bouncy melodies.  But thanks to various cross genre flourishes, every track feels fresh despite sharing a familiar sound.  Tracks like "Radio No. 1" keep things simple but effective by only adding a few trumpet blasts during the beginning of the chorus.  "Loaded Guns" slows things down to traditional reggae tempos and ditches their trumpets after the song's intro.  The similarly reggae influenced "Bad Boy" distances itself from "Loaded Guns" by incorporating a humming background organ and retaining trumpets throughout the entire track.  About half of the album subscribes to very simple guitar driven songs, but because these minimalist tracks each employ different degrees of pop, punk, and rock, the tracks retain distinct personalities.

Content-wise, the band defines itself with playful lyrics about less than revolutionary social issues ranging from personal relationships to government oppression.  Fittingly, the reggae influenced tracks have the heaviest political overtones, with "Loaded Guns" directly referencing Sri Lanka's war torn political instability.

While not as daring or infectiously executed as genre mashing masters Saint Alvia, Dirty Fonzy knows how to stay coherent while drawing upon various influences - and make a pretty solid street punk album in the process.