Gaza Strippers: Laced Candy

Gaza Strippers: Laced Candy
Label: Man’s Ruin
Release Date:1999
Review Date: 2000

The Didjits are dead. Long Live the Didjits! After five full length releases and an ep the Didjits self destructed. A three headed baby birthed in a chicken shed in rural industrial Illinois, the Didjits were midwest favorites and contemporaries of Naked Raygun and Big Black. They toured nationally, sometimes out of a big blue Buick, and not a van. Local fans who remembered the demo tape days were sad to see them leave central Illinois for the Chicago. Some predicted that robbed of their mojo (the Chicken Shed and Mexican Death Horse) the Didjits would lose their unique style, which was often described as “Jerry Lee Lewis on acid.” Didjits shows were often confrontational and dangerous, and always memorable. Some felt that the longer Rick Sims spent in Chicago, the less dangerous and more like Ziggy Stardust he became. When Doug Didjit went AWOL, Rick brought the Didjits out to the back of the shed, put ’em down and burried them behind the yard next to the skull baby. While the royalties from “Just Fred” ( Ricks stint as hired gun for Fred Schnieder ) weren’t rolling in, The royalties from the Offspring’s uninspired cover of Killboy Powerhead were enough to put a roof over Rick’s head. A short stint as hired gun for the Supersuckers (on their finest record to date, the Sacrilicious Sounds of…) wasn’t enough to hold his interest, and niether was dabbling in live theater. It took the tenacity of a couple of young bucks to cause Rick to dip into his big bag of puns and pull out the Gaza Strippers. Fans who may or may not have been disappointed by Little Miss Carriage will be pleased to know that Laced Candy is all killer and no filler. There’s even a little bit of the Killer’s influence present in the track “Ape.” Rick has fully metamorphosed into rock star mode., and everything rocks hard. The Gaza Strippers have an outlet for psychedelia that the Didjits sometimes hinted at, but never realized to the extent that “Brainwasher” does. Ask Micheal Hutchence how it feels. Discovery Channel rockers will appreciate “Dear Mr Hubble” while pondering life, the universe, and pornography. Laced Candy ends with a sturdy, unexpected cover of “Yin and Yang The Flower Pot Man” by Love and Rockets. I guess enough time has gone by for that to not seem odd at all. You should look for the Strippers EP Electric Bible as well.

Laced Candy: A

Online action: gazastrippers.com
Online Action: mansruin.com