Dresden Dolls

Dresden Dolls

http://www.dresdendolls.com
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Biography

Amanda Palmer - Piano/Vox
Brian Viglione - Drums

With songs reminiscent of Kurt Weill infused with pure rock n' roll energy, this Boston-based duo's home lies somewhere between a Weimar-era cabaret and CBGB's. Just as their name suggests both the utter devastation of a firebombed German city and the delicate femininity and innocence of a porcelain figure, The Dolls' sound ranges from seductive whisper to full-on assault.

Consisting of songwriter Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano) and Brian Viglione (drums, guitar), The Dresden Dolls' confessional story-songs offer listeners the bruised intimacy of a torch singer with all the fury and grit of rock. Palmer's thunderous and shimmering piano style rests on the shoulders of Jerry Lee Lewis and Nina Simone. Viglione's drumming is sophisticated yet primal, providing in turns a delicate cradle of rhythm and a piercing bed of nails onto which Palmer lays her raw, tragicomic lyrics.

The star-crossed duo met on Halloween night of 2000 when Viglione saw Palmer playing solo at a Boston loft party. Amazed by the open-wound honesty and intensity of Palmer's songs and delivery, Viglione knew that he had found his musical soulmate.

They began by building on Palmer's deep roots in the Boston arts community, rehearsing and performing in the artists' collective where Palmer still lives (also home to filmmaker Michael Pope who directs the band's music videos, comedienne Zea Baker who assists the band with costumes and artwork and The Martin Brothers who designed the band's award-winning website). Palmer supported the band by performing around the world as a whitewashed living statue dubbed “The Eight Foot Bride”, now a legendary part of Cambridge's artistic lore. Circumventing the local club scene, the band paid its early dues in galleries, lofts and salons in Boston and New York, with Palmer often playing impresario at their own multi-media events.

With their fanbase steadily burgeoning, they were ultimately brought to the attention of Boston's rock community when they won the WBCN Rock n' Roll Rumble in May 2003. “That blew the top off of it,” says Palmer. “We were a little unsure about what the real world would make of us, but the music is not difficult to grasp. We sing about the universal themes that resonate with most people – love, pain, fear, childhood…”

Propelled by the critically acclaimed release of their eponymous CD (on Palmer's own Eight Foot Records) in April 2004, the band is now blowing up worldwide – their following rapidly expanding with each riveting live show. "Live, The Dresden Dolls are pretty much unbelievable," says Slug Magazine. Improvisational costumes (Viglione occasionally shows up in drag) and unexpected antics are de rigeur, and audiences are inevitably moved by the intense on-stage chemistry between Palmer and Viglione, which allows them to play with both spontaneity and precision. Viglione often stops stock-still, waiting for a cue from Palmer's fingers on the piano and comes crashing in with the drama and accuracy of a knife-thrower. But he is far from a puppet on Palmer's strings the conductor is often ambiguous and fans are often rapt in whiplash as they gleefully absorb this musical Wimbledon.

Indeed, even as they gather more mainstream fans, the band has retained an eclectic following of artists and oddballs. The all-encompassing demographic at a Dolls' show is apt to resemble Pepperland from “Yellow Submarine”, with tweed intellectuals swizzling cocktails alongside trash-and-vaudeville teens. It's not rare to spy multiple generations showing up for the experience - daughters and sons will often come with mothers or fathers in tow and vice versa. The shows are becoming legendary not only for the Dolls' passionate stage performances, but for the rag-tag ensemble of performers who have responded to the band's own call for “extra entertainers”. Known as “The Brigade”, this consortium of amateur-to-pro performers has risen to the challenge and installed themselves as “living statues” outside venue doors as fans wait for tickets, hidden in bathrooms and assaulted patrons with saxophone and violin solos, handed out countless pieces of original artwork and roses salvaged from generous florists, set up nutella-tasting stations, walked on glass, swallowed swords and generally left the average attendee reeling with confusion as to what EXACTLY they just witnessed. More often than not, the band will arrange for local burlesque dancers, magicians, theater troupes and other stage performers to strutt their stuff on stage between acts. The band has also called on their audience to register to vote and politically educate themselves by partnering with local Music for America volunteers whenever they tour Stateside, and are currently planning an ongoing weekly benefit night in Boston to raise money for the victims of the conflict in the Sudan. Inspired by their artistic ancestors of the old school Cabaret, the Dolls believe that bridging the gap between theater, music and politics is as desperately needed as ever.

Like their live set, the Dolls' debut CD – produced by Martin Bisi (Swans, Sonic Youth) – alternately seethes and explodes, often within the same song. A prime example is the current single “Coin-Operated Boy”, whose skewed nursery-rhyme melody moves from despondent resignation to a desperate plea for true love. “The narrator tries to come off as flippant and blasé, but by the bridge she can't stand it any longer,” explains Palmer. “Human beings are complicated little things. I try to present them that way in my songs”. First played outside of Boston on KCRW by the legendary DJ Nic Harcourt, “Coin-Operated Boy” reacted amazingly well, quickly resonated with the listeners causing other stations around the country to add the single en masse. Twelve stations including WLIR (NY), WEDJ (Phoenix), KCNL (San Francisco), KXRK (Salt Lake City), WEQX (Albany), WBRU (Providence), WROX (Norfolk), KRBZ (Kansas City), WWCD (Columbus) played the single and within a few spins the song was the No. 1 “most called about” song on the station, while close to 25 other stations saw the song climb into the top three, increasing album and ticket sales dramatically all within weeks of the first spin.

The song's complexity, however, cannot undermine its clever wordplay and ridiculously catchy melody, which has audiences singing along by the end of the second verse. Equally infectious is “Girl Anachronism”, an eight-to-the-bar rampage that promises to become an anthem for a generation of neurotic females in the same way that Radiohead's “Creep” spoke for a generation of boys with low self-esteem. Even the standard break-up song falls victim to Palmer's lyrical twists. In “The Jeep Song”, a girl-group parody that drips with Phil Spector charm, Palmer finds herself haunted by her ex-boyfriend's '96 Cherokee, while the heartwrenching “Truce” casts ex-lovers as opposing generals negotiating the terms of a treaty.

Having already done extensive headlining touring on their own (no less than 120 gigs in 2004), the Dolls have seen crowds from coast to coast multiply exponentially with each visit. As they continue to travel far and wide in support of the debut record, (which has since been re-released by Roadrunner Records), recent months have seen them selling out an entire tour of Australia and New Zealand (where the national radio station, Triple J, has fallen head over heels), selling out headlining gigs all over Europe and the States (including New York's Bowery Ballroom and L.A.'s El Rey Theatre) and winning the love of alt-rock elder statesmen Perry Farrell, who asked the Dolls to join in on the (sadly) cancelled 2004 Lollapalooza festival, and Trent Reznor, who has invited the band to open for Nine Inch Nails on the upcoming North American tour in 2005. The band plans to soon begin work on their second album with legendary Boston producers Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie (Radiohead, Hole, The Pixies) and also intends to release a DVD in the coming months.

Like most of the artists who have given pop music a refreshing kick in the pants, The Dresden Dolls' aesthetic may initially raise some eyebrows, especially since it is missing rock's usual antenna to the gods: The Guitar. But it seems not to matter. The Dolls continue to attract fans of every musical persuasion, all hungry for music that is authentic, original and emotionally honest.
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