Even as New York City prepares for the mother of all pride marches this coming Sunday, June 26th, we Memphians are still savoring memories of our own Mid-South Pride Festival on June 4. One eye-catching, prize-winning float in the parade that day was sponsored by Goner Records and was manned by those new musical comedic sensations, The Sissy Dicks.
Actually, they’re not that new, but don’t let that diminish their pride or yours. Memphis Flyer readers may know them from Andria Lisle’s profile in their earliest days, when they were known as the Dixie Dicks. Now re-branded, presumably for more international appeal, The Sissy Dicks soldier on with a new EP released at the top of the month, Gay Prude.
From their band name to the album title, The Sissy Dicks are designed to turn heads, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that they really do make good music. Their hearts are clearly in the country camp, and proof of their earnestness is made plain in the simple fact of their harmonies. Harmony singing is a dying art in some genres, but not in the realm of The Sissy Dicks.
It helps that drumming duties are handled by Charlotte Watson, best known for her work with Nots and Hash Redactor. She’s now been welcomed aboard as a full-fledged member, and, as always, her drumming is powerful and expressive. Indeed, the driving Go-Go’s rhythm of opening track “Circle Jerk” is key to the spirit of fun it conjures. In less than a minute and a half, it’s come and gone, but it certainly clues listeners in to what’s in store.
Some of the bawdy fun is actually based on the group’s own songwriting, but there’s also plenty of Weird Al Yankovic-type fun when the group takes on old bar band warhorses like “Wagon Wheel” (transformed into “Fuck Me Daddy,” a heartwarming tale of two men “out back behind the dumpster in the parking lot”), or “Learning to Fly” (here redone as “Learning to Top”). No matter what your sexual preference, there’s something satisfying in hearing overplayed radio hits transformed into something so deeply radio-unfriendly.
To be fair, they do credit the Old Crow Medicine Show and Tom Petty as the songwriters for the above tracks, and they carry them off musically with aplomb. As Lisle wrote in 2018, “Their musicianship, which harks back to the folksy, bluegrass style re-popularized with the release of 2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou?, is top-notch.” And with Gay Prude, it’s better performed and recorded than any of their previous efforts.
This is partly because Watson is not the only finely-trained ear in the group, which is built around the trio of guitarist Brandon Pugh, percussionist Joel Parsons, and banjo player Brandon Ticer (who plays keyboards for the New York-based rock band Wheatus). The music goes down easy, thanks to their focused playing and well-blended vocals. And their straight delivery makes everything that much funnier.
And so, even as many plan for Pride Night on Tuesday, June 28th, at AutoZone Park, before moving on to the other cis-dominated 11 months of the year, Gay Prude will remain long after June is behind us, always ready keep the gaiety in “gay” with a laugh and a naughty wink.
Watch The Sissy Dicks on the Goner TV Pride Special, Friday, July 1, 8 p.m., at www.gonertv.com.
