New York Dolls
“One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even
This”
ROAD RUNNER RECORDS
(Out Of 5)
After 30 years, a revamped lineup of the New York Dolls has
released a third studio album, “One Day It Will Please Us To
Remember Even This,” an effort that puts to rest omnipresent
accusations of the band’s poor musicianship but fails to
capture the attitude that made the Dolls icons.
The new New York Dolls, born out of a reunion at London’s
Meltdown Festival in 2004, features only two original members
““ singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain.
Johansen’s vocals aren’t as high-pitched as they
used to be and there isn’t much in the way of shock value,
but the group ““ a self-proclaimed “dancing, singing
work of art” ““ has come out with a solid album of
vintage rock.
With the exception of two ballads, most of the album is
straight-ahead three-chord rock ‘n’ roll, heavy on
harmonica and shout-along choruses.
Lyrically ranging from the serious to the absurd, “Dance
Like A Monkey” addresses the evolutionist/creationist battle
but avoids getting bogged down in philosophy ““ Johansen tells
us to “Stomp your hands / And clap your feet,”
snatching its opening riff from Iggy Pop’s “Lust for
Life.”
Pop makes a guest appearance on the vocals of “Gimme Luv
& Turn on the Light,” the closest the album gets to punk,
though the song is driven more by Johansen’s blues harmonica
than pounding percussion.
However, there is something missing from the album. Perhaps the
anarchy of punk rock or the decadence of hair metal has made us
jaded, but this album doesn’t have the edginess of the
’70s albums. The
I-may-wear-makeup-but-I’ll-still-cut-you attitude of original
guitarist Johnny Thunders has been replaced with the Day-Glo
cartooniness of aging glam punks who require more wrinkle cream
than eyeliner.
Poppy, punky ““ call it what you like, “One
Day” is fun and catchy rock ‘n’ roll. But it was
never the music that made the Dolls famous: It was the
attitude.