The pandemic is the gift that keeps on giving, musically-speaking. When the whole world shut down, musicians went and did what they were born to do: make music. Some of that music was released instantly, and some of it was saved for physical releases which have been making their way into the world over the past few years. The self-titled EP from The Dee Thees is a pandemic project that finally sees the light of day nearly four years after it was recorded. It's a collaboration between four friends who were bored under lockdown and wanted something fun to do. The Dee Thees are The Alien and The Cola from the SUCK along with Andrea from Ratbones and drummer Derek Smith. The concept was to home-record covers of songs these guys loved. In the end, it turned out well enough to merit an official release on cassette tape and compact disc. Knowing the way the SUCK sell out records, I figured it was important to get this review out there while physical copies were still available for purchase. Now this EP doesn't exactly sound like the SUCK, but it doesn't necessarily not sound like the SUCK. The Cola could sing the phone book, and I would probably give it a positive review. But he's not singing the phonebook here. He's singing The Primitives' "Crash," The Spazzys' "Action City," and The Go-Go's' "The Whole World Has Lost Its Head" (which certainly fit the tenor of the times in 2020!). The fourth cover is a rendition of the Brock Tyler/Justin Trudeau pandemic hit "Speaking Moisty." The idea of covering "Speaking Moistly" will sound either incredibly stupid or positively genius depending on your point of view. Obviously I lean more towards the latter. Of all these tracks, "Speaking Moistly" is the most SUCKy sounding.
The fact that this Dee Thees EP was recorded as a pandemic project but holds up well enough to merit release in 2024 is a testament to the talent and impeccable musical taste of the band members. This EP, as it was created to be, is a whole lot of fun. If you're a fan of the SUCK and Ratbones or just love lo-fi poppy punk, you are sure to dig this release. It's available from Bandcamp via Space Race Records (now there's the answer to a trivia question "Which record label did I review in 1995 and 2024?") in digital and cassette formats. You can also purchase a limited CD or tape version from the Mom's Basement Records store. Don't mess around on this one!
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