Story time. One night in probably 2002, I go see the Minneapolis punk band Dillinger Four at the Ottobar in Baltimore. This is a total whim. I go by myself. I don’t have anything else going on that night — I think it’s a Monday or a Tuesday — and I live a few blocks from the venue. I don’t know the band’s music at all, but I have a vague sense that they’re supposed to be good. They are, in fact, quite good.
Frontman Erik Funk is drunk as shit, or anyway that’s the sense that I get. I’m probably drunk, too, so I could be getting this story all wrong, but this is the best version of it that I remember. At one point, Funk gives the Baltimore crowd a pretty awesome speech on the greatness of Johnny Unitas. Then, when the show is getting close to the end, he announces that they’re about to have a “dance like a drunken hobo” contest, or words to that effect. There’s a balcony next to the stage, so he asks some guy in the balcony to judge it. I’m like, Well, shit, I can do that.
Most of the crowd takes this contest as a challenge to mosh harder. Not me, though. I get right in the middle of the pit and do this weird Popeye shuffle thing. Whenever someone knocks into me, I shake it off and get right back to shuffling. The song ends, and Funk asks the guy in the balcony for his verdict. The guy announces that the winner is the tall guy. That’s me. I’m the tall guy. I win.
Funk jumps down from the stage and runs over to me. He might give me a big bearhug? That part is fuzzy. He’s like, “Come up onstage! We’re singing a duet!” I’m like, “I don’t know any of your music, dude!” He’s like, “It doesn’t matter!” But I guess it’s getting close to closing time at the Ottobar, or maybe the staff is just like “this is a mess, time to end it.” The lights go up, and I silently thank all relevant deities. Funk is like, “Aw, man!” And then he walks me over the merch table.
He’s like, “You don’t know our music, so here’s the good one!” Hands me a CD. “Here’s the one that sucks!” Hands me a copy of another CD, the one that just came out. “Here’s the one for the used record store!” Hands me a second copy of that CD. Tells me to pick a shirt off the wall, too. And then he sends me on my merry way. I never interact with the band again, but I’ve been telling that story for decades, whenever the subject of D4 comes up.
That subject is up today because there’s new Dillinger Four! The band is a beloved institution in Minneapolis, where Funk opened the now-defunct venue known as the Triple Rock Social Club. These days, they’re semi-active. They play occasional shows, especially around Minneapolis, but their last studio album was 2008’s Civil War. There have been lots of compilations, but they haven’t released any music in a long time. Until now.
Today, Dillinger Four return with a new single called “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” It’s not a Bobby McFerrin cover. It fucking rocks. In their Bandcamp-alert email, the band says, “Happy April Fools Day! Our first new track in 18 years is out now! Or is it? It is.” Based on internet research, they may have actually released that song in 2010, under the name Holy Shit!, on a split 7″ with Your Pest Band. But I can’t find that song on the internet, so it’s new to me and probably also to you. This all could be some kind of April Fools prank, I guess. But the song is really good and also I wanted an excuse to tell that story. Listen below.