Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (often abbreviated and referred to as D.R.I.) are an American crossover thrash band that formed in Houston, Texas in 1982 and would later relocate to San Francisco, California. The band is currently composed of two of its founding members, lead vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, as well as bassist Greg Orr and drummer Danny Walker.
D.R.I. never gained a mainstream audience, but the integration of their hardcore punk roots with thrash metal influences was a stylistic catalyst for their contemporaries – most notably Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity, Stormtroopers of Death, the Cro-Mags, Nuclear Assault, Adrenalin O.D., and Cryptic Slaughter – alongside whom they are considered to be one of the major pioneers of what would later be called "crossover thrash". These bands had a heavy influence on modern thrash metal.
Dirty Rotten EP/LP is the 1983 debut release by the crossover thrash band Dirty Rotten Imbeciles. The album has a very gritty sound, and is considered one of the first thrashcore albums.
D.R.I. had only existed for about four months, in which time they practiced every night and played a few shows in the Houston area. Dirty Rotten was recorded and produced by the band in the Brecht's parents' home which had a room walled with egg cartons as soundproofing where the band practiced. The original cover was a photo of the back of drummer Eric Brecht's head. The record was originally released by the band on their own record label, also called Dirty Rotten. The original pressing was a 7", played at 33 RPM, titled Dirty Rotten EP.
The Dirty Rotten EP sold out quickly and has since then been reissued many times with various track listings and bonus songs. Later in 1983 it was released as a 12" LP (with the two upper arms of EP in the album's title hastily scribbled out to make it Dirty Rotten LP) with the help of R Radical Records, fellow Houston punk band MDC's label. It was later remixed and re-released with new cover art, and with the songs that originally appeared on side one appearing on side two and vice versa, these would become the track listing and cover art for most subsequent re-releases. This album would also be combined with all four songs from their 1984 Violent Pacification EP. The Dirty Rotten LP was re-released yet again in 2003 as the Dirty Rotten CD, with 22 bonus tracks.
The Dirty Rotten CD closes with two radio appearances by the band from around the time they recorded Dirty Rotten EP, when they were still known as U.S.D.R.I. In these appearances they discuss upcoming shows with The Dead Kennedys and Chron Gen as well as play some of their demos. The CD ends with the band chiding the DJ for playing music that is "not thrash," while he puts on Einstürzende Neubauten.
Spin called the album, "A great mud puddle of a sound with noisy droning guitar and ranted vocals. What made the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles more than the sum of their sledgehammering were their unexpected forays into gentle, lulling music and their sudden, hundred-chord-a-second assaults on that deceptively alluring calm."
Tracklist:
- I Don't Need Society 01:15
- Commuter Man 00:56
- Plastique 00:23
- Why 00:18
- Balance of Terror 00:39
- My Fate to Hate 00:26
- Who Am I 00:45
- Money Stinks 00:43
- Human Waste 00:19
- Yes Ma'am 00:48
- Dennis' Problem 00:51
- Closet Punk 00:31
- Reaganomics 00:40
- Running Around 00:55
- Couch Slouch 01:23
- To Open Closed Doors 00:29
- Sad to Be 02:11
- War Crimes 01:11
- Busted 00:46
- Draft Me 00:19
- F.R.D.C. 00:21
- Capitalists Suck 00:35
- Misery Loves Company 00:33
- No Sense 01:16
- Blockhead 00:55
- Violent Pacification 02:54
- Snap 01:10
- The Explorer 01:38
Time: 25:10
Recording information:
Recorded on November 6th-7th, 1982 at Wooden Studios in Houston, Texas.