Fact 3 – THE DWARVES began in the 1980’s as an Illinois punk garage band, covering everything from the Seeds and Moving Sidewalks to Gang of Four and Devo. They still have skinny ties and tight pants to prove it.
The LP’s Thank Heaven For Little Girls (1991) and
Sugarfix (1993) solidified the basic lineup of vocalist Blag Jesus, bassist Sgt. Saltpeter and drummer Vadge Moore.
Following the death of guitarist HeWhoCanNotBeNamed, the Dwarves made singles for Recess and Man’s Ruin, then signed
to Epitaph and proceeded to do for pop-punk what they had done for grunge and garage, making The Dwarves Are Young & Good Looking (1997) and The Dwarves Come Clean (2000) definitive LPs of the skateboard punk era.
By the turn of the century, the Dwarves had toured Europe, Canada and the US extensively as well as Japan and Australia.
Appearances on television and radio and dozens of song placements in film and TV solidified their legendary status. In 2005, The Dwarves Must Die (Sympathy) was hailed as their most eclectic album yet, with producer Eric Valentine and a cast of underground notables featured in cameos that had the dying recording industry buzzing. 2011 saw the release of The Dwarves Are Born Again (MVD), returning to the punk ferocity
of yesteryear, but continuing the genre-defying experiments their fans now demanded.
2014 brought The Dwarves Invented Rock & Roll on DIY punk label Recess and the Gentleman Blag 7” on Fat Wreck Chords. 2015 produced Radio Free Dwarves, featuring live European radio
performances that capture the Dwarves at their fire-breathing, old school best.
A slew of reissues and unreleased gems produced by Blag Dahlia followed on the Greedy Media imprint, including the glam punk Penetration Moon, retro girl pop Candy Now and even the bluegrass Earl Lee Grace LP’s reissued by Burger. The Dwarves early garage, noise punk and unreleased sides were repackaged as the double LPs Lick It and Free Cocaine and the masters of mayhem returned in 2018 with The Dwarves Take
Back the Night LP (Burger) and Julio 7,” featuring a supergroup of past and future Dwarves, including HeWhoCanNotBeNamed, The Fresh Prince of Darkness, Rex Everything, Nick Oliveri, Hunter Down, Andy Now, and Black Josh Freese.
Once again, the Dwarves delivered the goods on wax skewering garage, punk, hardcore, electronica, doo-wop and noise music.
In 2022 Blag authored his third novel Highland Falls (Rare Bird) and released his first full length solo record, Introducing Ralph Champagne, showcasing his retro crooner alter ego.
As 2022 draws to a close, an avalanche of reissues brings back the entire Dwarves catalog on wax through Greedy/MVD and a double LP’s worth of brand new Dwarves material is slated for release in autumn 2023!
The relentless middle finger drive, catchy songwriting and deft production that set the Dwarves apart have never sounded better and with way over a thousand shows to their credit, there’s really only one punk band left that matters! Catch the Dwarves soon at a theater, nightclub or crack house near you, and check out our groundbreaking LPs online or at your local record store.
THE DWARVES ARE ROCK LEGENDS!
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