Benny and the No-Goods – Fistful of Dullards

Benny and the No-Goods
Fistful of Dullards
Independent
★★★★

According to a Fistful of Dullards, Benny NoGood does not want to do the following (taken from his song titles): Hear what you are saying, go outside, or fade away. I am sure this is a short list to a longer conceptual “don’t wannas.” But he does want to go to New Mexico, hop on a UFO and get the hell out of here—the song, “I Wanna Be A Lillington.”

Benny and the No-Goods’ debut release is a snarky escapist punk foray with a dose of power-pop fantasy, like falling inside a ‘70s era Archie comic book series and causing a ruckus out of each and every plot. “Oh, there’s that Benny NoGood guy again. Who does he think he is?” Or, throw in an “I oughta” for good measure. Yet, on this album Benny straddles a line between Reggie, Moose, Jughead and Archie.

Fistful of Dullards is not here to reinvent the wheel. It just happens that Benny NoGood is good at making snappy and fun punk songs. There is a lot of expression in these three minute odes that slap a glorious stain on the Indianapolis punk scene.

Benny and the No Goods – Run Like Hell

“Bandthem” starts out like the Kool-Aid Man busting through the Melody yelling “Oh Yeah!” As Benny yells out that we are going to have a good time, better believe you are going to spin the rest of this album with that mentality. If you are not impressed by the time he counts down the reasons to let go then you might want to stop here.

What sets the tone for the album is the sarcastic “Everything’s Allright.” It lets us know that real life is just on the other side of the fence, and it sucks Work, bills, blah-blah-blah. Maybe that is why he picked the Lilly Allen song “Fuck You” to amp up and cover. But punk is our therapy, and he helps us realize that, even if it is just for a moment.

It’s hard not to be amplified by the adrenaline of “Run Like Hell” or “Operation Suicide.” It ends this album like a dust storm of leather and denim having a pillow fight. Despite (or because of) the cynicism, this is a great punk album to dive into that simply exists based on great musicianship and the knack for writing some solid tunes.