There ARE Dresden Dolls
E. A Solinas | MD USA | 08/13/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Only a brave band would have a gleeful song about a sex change as the FIRST song of their sophomore album. Well, that says something about the Dresden Dolls.
This wild, Tim-Burtonesque band created a stir with their debut album a few years back, and now the cabaret-rockers are back with "Yes Virginia." It's catchy. It's kitschy. It's dark and cutting, even as the Dresden Dolls refine their signature sound into ever more potent music.
It opens with a rippling piano line, but it slowly grows darker and more twisted... until the drums kick in. Amanda Palmer begins gleefully singing the ode of an apprehensive sex-change patient: "Dear Mr. and/or Mrs. Sender/We're pleased to inform you that your applications been accepted/Starting from the time you get this letter/Your life will be one never-ending 'hope you're feeling better'...."
From there on, the band launches from piano-punk to raucous pop, even trying out the sunny sound, which is belied by the underlying dark lyrics. Fortunately after that they return to the more bombastic, twisted sound that they do best. The best of all would have to be "Dirty Business," with its barbed lyrics ("She's the kind of girl who only asks you over when its raining/Just to make you lie there catching water dripping from the ceiling.")
But the Dolls also explore different kinds of music in this album. Right in the middle they try out some quieter songs, such the sprawling, lazy sound of "My Alcoholic Friends". Not to mention the the lonely prettiness of masturbation ballad "First Orgasm" (not recommended for small children, if the title didn't tip you off).
With face paint and drums'n'piano music, the Dresden Dolls really do come across as a gimmick band. At first. That's before you actually listen to their music.
And instead of running out on themselves the Dolls are getting better all the time, with their signature drums and piano going faster and stronger and wilder than they ever have before. They have a teeny rough edge to keep the music from sounding too polished. A touch of mellotron, organ and bass, and their jagged cabaret punk is complete.
Amanda Palmer's throaty voice is wonderfully flexible. She can be sly, sneering, sweet, and lonely, as the song demands. And she can really rip out those songs, especially when the lyrics are witty: "Lift your hats/Off to the checkout girls with tattooed backs/They'd make an angels skin crawl!" Ouch.
The Dresden Dolls sound a little different -- but hardly dramatically -- in their second album of piano-punk. Wild, weird and twisted. Absolute delight."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1