by Matt CarlsonDwarves began in Chicago as a teen garage rock outfit called the Suburban Nightmare, a sound that was partially carried over into the first Dwarves release, 1986s Horror Stories. After the first album, Dwarves blazed across the country for seven more years, leaving a trail of blood from their own self-inflicted gashes, a trail of drug stories (according to popular myth, bassist XXXXX disappeared in Detroit on a crack binge during a 1992 tour, never to be heard from again), a trail (or tale) of bizarre stage-show sex acts, and a trail of numerous 15-minute-long live shows. Dwarves unsurprisingly self-destructed shortly after a failed hoax, whereby the band issued a press release stating that guitarist He Who Cannot Be Named had died. The album Sugarfix also carried a tribute to the guitarist, who was actually very much alive. Sub Pop was not amused and dropped the band, which later re-formed for 1997s Young and Good Looking. Come Clean followed in early 2000. Four years later the band returned with The Dwarves Must Die, including guests Dexter Holland from the Offspring, Nick Oliveri from Queens of the Stone Age, Nash Kato from Urge Overkill, and voice actor Gary Owens.