Guitars, Drums, Tones, and Saxophones

The Dresden Dolls - self-titled

As a result of having seen Dresden Dolls songwriter/vocalist/pianist Amanda Palmer’s concert at the Paradise Rock Club in Allston last night, I am compelled to dig up their albums and write about them here. This is in no way because I, like the rest of her fanbase, harbor a tremendous infatuation with Ms. Palmer, not at all! This is a serious blog, and that’s not what serious blogs do.

Moving on, the Dresden Dolls are a self-titled “Brechtian cabaret punk” band, apparently so-called simply in order to avoid being called “goth.” Sure, ok. They hail from Boston, which has spawned a pretty substantial number of great bands. They made a name for themselves with their energetic and visually-stimulating live shows, as well as some really killer music.

Since I’m talking about their debut album, and they’ve gone on to release a second album, plus an album of b-sides and things (a “companion album”) to that second album, I have no issue comparing this to their later work. It might be the tactic of the lazy reviewer, but them’s the breaks.

The songs here date back to before the band formed, and are pretty raw, stripped down affairs. They’re pretty much entirely Amanda’s piano and vocals, and Brian’s powerful drumming- more prevalent on some tracks than on others. The first video from the album, “Girl Anachronism,” is a pounding piano rocker that motors along as Amanda sings about a tumultuous, medicated youth. This song, while lyrically right where Amanda is comfortable, is completely unlike anything else on the album. If this is your first exposure to the band, the “punk” descriptor seems apropos.

The rest of the songs on the album follow more in the vein of opener “Good Day;” often starting slow, with just the piano, building into a powerful chorus or crescendo; “The Perfect Fit” comes immediately to mind. Naturally there are exceptions; the popular “Coin-Operated Boy” is a bouncy cabaret-ish number that has the most wonderful bridge they’ve ever put to record. “Gravity” kicks off with a great groove, and “Bad Habit” has a frantic pace throughout its three minutes.

There’s not a lot of subtlety here, but that doesn’t seem to really be their stock in trade anyway; a live show will see Amanda playing the piano with her fists, wrists, and palms as well as fingers. Here the songs seem primarily focused on laying out the raw emotions- often hurt and devastation and heartbreak/heartache- of one Ms. Amanda Palmer, and the building turmoil that her piano and Brian’s drums creates over the course of the songs only serves to reinforce her points. The album is an extremely personal document, and each song contains an emotional core that most can relate to, even if the specifics aren’t applicable.

All in all, the Dresden Dolls came out of the gate with a magnificent debut record, one that laid the blueprint for what was to come. It’s powerful, raw, and will work its way into your head, and you’ll love every second of it.

Tags: the dresden dolls