Kick(Start) Their Crotch: Glitter Dick's Sparkling Richard

Glitter Dick's Sparkling Richard

\ Oct 25, 2012

2 min read

With lyrics about smack, tea bagging and automanipulation, Glitter Dick don’t take themselves too seriously. That’s clear from the band name alone, but on this debut album—aside from a few eight-track tape singles—it’s shoved right in your face. So to speak.

However, the band is serious about fundraising for an album release. Glitter Dick is using Kickstarter, that online fundraising site where artists make a pitch and contributors get some goodies in return. Happily, tote bags are not part of their rewards. Depending on donation level, there’s everything from a download to the old public television ploy of listing your name in the credits. Then again, having your name publicly associated with Glitter Dick may not sweeten the deal for everyone. For maniacal donators, there’s even a private show perk for you and your friends—not that kind of show, a rock and roll show, you perv. Sparkling Richard has already been recorded and mastered, so there’s no chance of your donation being thrown away on strippers. This is merely a way to get a hard—no pun intended—copy out on the streets by December.

The band’s motto, “Play like Berry / Act like Iggy / Look like Bowie,” says it all. With a pounding beat, ripping leads and cheesy organ right out of the gate, the album is a refreshing bad taste antidote to the major-chord, woe-is-me trend of today’s indie “rock” world. These days, it’s pretty easy for any garage band to catch a few comparisons to Iggy or the Dolls, but this release actually earns the nod with some slow struts similar to The Stooges and big, round, bendy leads à la Johnny Thunders. There’s also some early Patti Smith Group raucousness, a bit of Dead Boys’ insolence and a heaping helping of Turbonegro’s ugly sneer. These 10 tracks can also be taken as a low-concept rock opera about a surfing glitter kid that moves to New York to join the scene, where he meets his femme fatale. Me, I’ll look into that when I stop dancing around the living room.

Check out the Kickstarter at: tinyurl.com/glitterdickkick