The Dresden Dolls - TheDresden Dolls

Tue 13th Jul, 2004 in Music Reviews

Boston duo, Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione are a musical match made in heaven. Let’s talk synchronicity: the pair met by chance at a Halloween party several years ago and immediately became enamoured with each other’s musical style. Palmer’s raw lyrics and pounding keyboards were the perfect compliment to Viglione’s mighty Tom rolls and impassioned drumming. Their joint love of the theatrical is obvious and their respect for each other’s musicianship shines through with every note and cheeky aside.

Palmer – who pens the majority of the group’s songs – has found a way into a lyric’s heart. Her words resonate with the insights of the everyday, but are wrapped up in the musicality of Weimar cabaret and old school punk. It’s easy to spot the influences from Weill to PJ to Amos to shanty tunes and Tin Pan Alley theatrics – but the pair lay their own sensibility across each track. From the cheery instantly radio friendly ‘Coin Operated Boy’ to the heart-wrenching ‘Miss Me’, Palmer’s vocal soar then whisper, coercing you into a journey of psychoses, drama and more often than not pain.

There’s always a sense of humour present however, whether it’s in the delivery of a line like – “please excuse her for today, it’s just the way the medication makes her” in ‘Girl Anachronism’ or in her breakup song – ‘The Jeep Song’ in which every black jeep reminds her of an ex.

It’s not often you play a CD or see a band live and think they’re gonna be huge. But trust me – Dresden Dolls are gonna go off. This is a band people are going to be talking about for years.