Dingus are a quartet from Chicago who make rousing pop punk that is part youthful nonchalance and part adolescent anxiety. They released this EP, I Was Never a Boy Scout, back in October, but it wasn’t until Near Mint re-released it on cassette last month that it reached our ears. Fans of pop-punk/garage rock in the vein of Sorority Noise will find plenty to enjoy here.
‘Ha Ha, Then What’ is a desperate pop punk break-up song, with flailing drums and yelping vocals delivering lyrics steeped in defeated nihilism, “i’m not responsible for making you feel anything / we’re fucked and alone / i’m not happy or sad, i’m just not anything”. Follow-up ‘Loser’ springs out of a droning buzz and is another catchy, self-deprecating punk song, a spiky anthem for the legions of lonely teens (“you call me a loser / laugh at my basement skin / i drink alone every night / and tell my friends i’m staying in again”). ‘Jack Campbell (Quick Jammer)’ is perhaps my favourite on the record, the slightly slower verses building into a big heavy chorus:
“on a telephone
pretty sure all my friends r ghosts
watched you walk through the wall
woulda tried to catch ya
didn’t wanna fall”
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‘Trash’ is another pulsating indie rocker, before ‘Puke’ brings a change of pace, an acoustic love song that is still not without the general lack of self worth on the rest of the release “who would want to be with a guy like me / i’m skinny, i’m clumsy, i’m just so embarrassing”. The final track is the song’s sequel, ‘Puke, Part Two’, another slow song about a break-up which, at least lyrically, brings to mind Gleemer’s No Goodbyes. It’s a fitting end to a release which charts the ups and downs of young, of saying “fuck it” to feeling sad before sinking into a sense of doom anyway.
You can get I Was Never a Boy Scout on cassette via Near Mint (most editions have sold out but as of now you can still get the white/grape edition below) or as a name-your-price download via the Dingus Bandcamp page.
