Citric Dummies – Split With Turnstile

Citric Dummies are everything that makes modern rock n’ roll wonderful. Their energy leaps out of the speakers, their tempos will furrow the brow of any fist-pumping speed purist, and their irreverence dances quite artistically on the line between provocative and antagonistic without ever being juvenile or cruel. Indeed, the Minneapolis power trio flex their jester’s privilege on their new album Split With Turnstile with a tongue that has bored entirely through cheek, and spits just a little bit of blood at you. More than anything, Citric Dummies represent a natural progression from bands like Reagan Youth with snappy, fast, and extremely tight drum parts that work the hell out of the closed hi-hat and fall around the speeds of bands like Generacion Suicida, Dark Thoughts, or even The Ergs! Riff-wise, the band has a lot more in common with Barely Legal-era the Hives, Dwarves, and bits of early Arctic Monkeys, while vocalist/bassist “David Lunch” shouts, bellows, and wails throughout Split With Turnstile; a plain departure from what was described as “pretty much doing a Danzig impersonation,” on their 2023 release Zen and the Arcade of Beating Your Ass. Citric Dummies, however, exude a love of absurdity that none of these bands possess. Their pseudonyms for the other 66% of the band on this album are drummer D.V. Tinner and guitarist David Cronutberger. Produced by Erik Nervous (known for his own project as well as production work with The Spits and Liquids), Zen and The Arcade of Beating Your Ass Is a masterclass in unpretentious and unrelenting party punk. The cover is a clever mockery of Hüsker Dü’s Zen Arcade waving a friendly middle-finger paying homage to the punk heroes of yore. Citric Dummies power through 14 songs in 23 minutes in a psychotic frenzy. The songs conjure chaotic and hilarious glimpses into the everyday life of a hesher self-deprecating, taking copious amounts of illicit substances, and kicking the teeth out of the phonies that step in their way. Sonically, Citric Dummies have honed their knuckle-dragging craft, and sound more unique, more evolved, and more like themselves than ever. The arrangements, riffs and lyrics are meticulous yet effortless, like they’ve practiced so much the music flows through them, spike in vein. Zen and The Arcade of Beating Your Ass is the manifestation of these three droogs stepping off the fleshy escalator and into the gaping void of pure rock n roll elation.” -Sims Hardin (u2isagovernmentdrone)