Dirk Wears White Soc - Ant, Adam > Reviews > A distinct lack of make up and diddly qua qua

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Stuff you might not have heard
Disadvantages:	Certainly NOT for young people !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Yes, it's a very old album, and probably not everyones cup of tea, especially all these young people these days... Anyway, quite recently they've brought out a re-mastered version. It's actually called "Dirk Wears White Sox", not Soc as Ciao call it.

The original (on vinyl) was released way back in in 1979 on Do It Records label, and was the debut album from Adam & The Ants. The band at this time I think were : Adam Ant, Terri Lee Miall, Merrick, Marco Pirroni and Kevin Mooney. In the 1980's, the album cover changed, and Epic took over. Later still Sony aquired the rights to the album, the cover changed back to it's original artwork....you get the feeling it's been re-released several times with differing track listings. This re-mastered version is what you could call the definitive Dirk Wears White Sox, containing elements from all the previous releases.

Car Trouble (Parts I & II)
Digital Tenderness
Nine Plan Failed
The Day I Met God
Tabletalk
Cleopatra
Catholic Day
Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)
Animals And Men
Family Of Noise
The Idea
Zerox
Whip In My Valise
Kick
Physical
Car Trouble (Parts I & II) [Chris Hughes Mix]
Friends
Cartrouble (Single Version)
Kick (Single Version)

Wow - that's a whole 19 tracks!

The last 8 tracks were not on the original 1979 Do-it release.

For those who are not Ant fans, and only perhaps can name Prince Charming and Stand and Deliver as hits - well Dirk Wears White Sox is a far cry from this later era. There's a distinct lack of make up and diddly qua qua. Essentially what we have is a collection of strange, arty, punky pieces of work. When I say punky, it's not your typical punk sound, but Adam was always difficult to define. The words are easy to hear, but not that it helps you in the songs meanings. Adam was a master of lyrics, but I really find it hard to explain some of these early offering's meanings. I'm sure a lot of it is about religion, and perhaps even sex

The music itself does sound very dated - although it's not always obvious which era it's from - Adam had a very unique style I thought. There's loads of (perhaps rough at times) guitar and a lot of raw sounding drums, and the vocals, well this is very unique too.

The whole album is a lot less theatrical, harder and rawer than any later Adam material. If you didn't catch it all those years ago, or your vinyl has finally had it's day, maybe it's time to shell out some pennies on this glittery new version.