spotlight!
3 parts music, 1 part makeup
The
Dresden Dolls
Yes, Virginia...
(Roadrunner, 2006)
By
Megan Carneal
mcarneal@mscd.edu
Many
bands in the past have used visual contrivances to add something
extra to their act. The Dresden Dolls are no different. Groups
from KISS to The Misfits have done this to try and keep the
audience from noticing that, in fact, their music is, well,
really terrible. With their second album Yes, Virginia, The
Dresden Dolls prove that their gimmick works for them, but
in a very unusual way.
The music of The Dresden Dolls is so bizarre it would be impossible to imagine
anyone besides two freaks with mime-like faces dressed in the latest style
for a jazz-age prostitute. Besides their image, they only have three instruments:
a piano, drums and Amanda Palmer’s voice, which is truly the most powerful.
Somehow, with only their skeleton set of tools, they manage to produce an incredibly
powerful sound.
Palmer belts out highly feministic and somewhat offensive lyrics over a chaotic
and dissonant piano. Her manic voice mixes with the cacophonous piano keys
to create a beautiful effect, with just enough tension to keep it from becoming
boring.
They sound like they could have been the band at one of Gatsby’s backyard
parties, but instead of gin the guests would be drinking absinthe mixed with
opium. The Dresden Dolls have managed to capture the carefree attitude and
drama of the flapper era, but they have added their own twist with poetry-infused
lyrics and hints of modern pop progressions on the piano.
Palmer’s voice is all over the place; in one song she will gently cry
in a whisper filled with pain and misery, next she will shout out with apathetic
and disobedient tones, and then she will transform again into a sexy lounge
singer. Whatever style she is emulating there is an underlying bitterness,
possibly from being kicked out of one too many speakeasies after terrifying
the men.
The two best tracks on Yes, Virginia are “Mandy Goes To Med School,” and “My
Alcoholic Friends.” Both songs have fast tempos, singsong vocals and
sarcastic lyrics that showcase Palmer’s range as she flawlessly weaves
back and forth from monotone spoken words to operatic howls.
It’s true, The Dresden Dolls would not be the same without the elaborate
costumes, but only because they have created such a surreal world with their
music that the makeup only adds to the feeling of being lost in another era.
