07 January 2008

Didjits



Didjits were an American punk rock band formed in Mattoon, Illinois in 1983, comprised Rick Sims (a.k.a. Rick Didjit) on guitar/vocals, Doug Evans on bass, and Rick's brother Brad Sims on drums. Didjits was known for the aggressive guitar playing and persona of Rick Sims, who often baited the audience between songs, and took plenty of abuse for it. Moreover, the band also added odd stunts and theatrical bits to some of their stage shows, particularly when playing in Chicago and Champaign.
They released their first album in 1987 on Bam Bam Records and disbanded in 1994. Brad Sims left the band in 1992. Former Scratch Acid drummer Rey Washam filled in for the Little Miss Carriage EP, and Todd Cole eventually took over as the drummer.
The band's following solidified with the release of Hornet Pinata, which equaled, if not bettered, it's predecessors:
1987 Fizzjob (Bam Bam Records)
1988 Hey Judester [includes Fizzjob] (Touch and Go Records)
1989 Fizzjob (T&G) [re-release]
1989 Lovesicle 7" (T&G).

The album was littered with memorable riffs and careening, pile driving rhythms, and perhaps the best set of lyrics on any Didjits record. Whether it was Rick Sims telling the story of a one-legged drug dealer who stored his stash in his peg leg in "Lone Lone Ranger" ("just touch my leg/and Santa Claus'll get you high"), offering a put down in "Evel Knievel" ("it takes a better woman than you baby/to call me a slut") or the pearls of wisdom dripping from "Sweet Sweet Satan" ("c'mon let me tell you my recipe/it takes 10 tons of bullsh*t/for 10 ounces of glory"), the album is a cackling joyride. It leads off with "Killboy Powerhead", later covered by The Offspring on their Smash album, has a worthy cover of The MC5's "Call Me Animal" and sloppy bash through Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady", with Doug Evans on lead vocals. The band shot a video for "Captain Ahab", an excellent midtempo song featuring some of Sims' most memorable guitar lines, which MTV refused to play due to drug references in the lyrics. Nevertheless, a clip of the video was shown on MTV's 120 Minutes show, and the clip contained some of those drug references.
I myself never saw Captain Ahab, but Sweet Sweet Satan video clip, which blew my mind right away. When somebody asks me what is rock I say Didjits.

All of the original members of the band appeared at the Touch and Go 25th anniversary celebration in Chicago, Illinois on September 9, 2006. [1] The next weekend, the band played another reunion show in Champaign. Both shows were extremely well received.
Hear them here:
http://punkoteca.blogspot.com/
http://www.somethingilearned.com/2005/08/the-didjits
buy them here:
http://www.touchandgorecords.com/bands/band.php?id=41
http://www.southern.com/southern/band/DIDJI/

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