On Dirty Weapons, the Killer Dwarfs incorporate more range and diversity in their sound, and the album was a worthy follow-up to Big Deal. The image they portrayed was less goofball than on the previous two albums. But the seriousness that was always a part of their lyrics remained.
The eponymous album opener, “Dirty Weapons,” signals where the Dwarfs are headed. The hard-driving drums and thick guitar riffs underlay lyrics that focus on trust and mistrust in an age of decaying alliances and new technology.
The video matches that dissonance, with overtly edited images that look like cut-and-paste propaganda. (As well as the de rigeur late-80s heavy-industrial/post-apocalyptic set.)
That’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of range throughout the album, too. The heavy, grinding “Comin’ Through,” has a chorus with a screaming admonition to “Get outta my way.” In a similarly fast vein, the relentless riff-heavy “Nothin’ Gets Nothin’” sprints from start to finish.
But on the other hand, “Doesn’t Matter,” one of the album’s other singles, is more low-key, anchored by acoustic guitar riffs, meant for anyone feeling beaten down by circumstances. “It doesn’t matter at all/Where you’ve been or what you’re going through/We’ll make it through somehow,” sings Russ Graham, giving Jon Bon Jovi a run for his money in encouraging his listeners to buck up.
Many of the other songs show a lot of swagger, like the stomping, cocky “Appeal,” or the nimble, layered “Not Foolin’.”
Like other heavy metal bands at the end of the ’80s, the Killer Dwarfs showed a mastery of a big, commercial sound and pushed at the edges of the genre. Of course, with the explosion in popularity of grunge in 1991, gems like Dirty Weapons often get overlooked in hindsight.
Dirty Weapons
- Killer Dwarfs
- Sony, 1990
- Four stars out of five
