In amongst The Killers, Colplays and all the other U2 wanabees it was a debut which sounded like it really mattered. Most people who heard it loved it - except the guy at my work who thought it was Tori Amos. The crazy fool. The kind of idiosyncratic, single minded album that few other bands would have the guts or the inclination to produce - Mark E. Smith comes to mind - and although they were never going to sell a million, it was a treat in amongst the usual suspects and the mediocrity (Razorlight take a bow!).

I dunno, maybe I just like this kind of stuff. And while this hasn’t got anything to match the sheer fury of ‘Girl Anachronism’, it’s a much more confident and aggressive whole . It brings to mind Sparks and all the post punk eccentrics who sounded like they were doing whatever the hell they wanted. There aren’t many bands who could make a spiteful rant like ’Backstabber’ sound so amusing (in fact Palmer manages to have a laugh herself at the ‘shit lover/ off brusher / jaded little joy crusher’ of the title . Or maybe it‘s ironic). There’s a humour and brutal honesty to this which lifts it high above the po-faced rawk and death merchants they’re often lumped in with. In fact, if you’re reading this web site you’re probably going to like it.

As with the first album, most of the songs are concerned with the darker side of love / sex / relationships blah blah blah. Mostly it works and sometimes, like on ‘First Orgasm’ it all sounds too bit teenage and self indulgent (you know the kind of thing, fucking in italics, maiden aunts telling you how much they enjoy SEX), but it’s life affirming stuff.

Maybe that’s it. The Dresden Dolls sound alive, like the lovely Scissor Sisters murderous evil twins. They don’t sound like they’re going through the motions or have one eye on the charts, they’re just making the music they need to make. And the last time something like that came along it was The Libertines.

This time around the additional instrumentation which muddied their debut has been stripped away, and it‘s the better for it. Why bother with the augmentation when everything sounds so full of confidence. I’m not going to go through this song by song (actually at a total of 13 it’s maybe a couple too many) but it’s exuberant and firing shots all over the place. They retain the Weimar influences but the songs are expanding outwards through 40‘s Hollywood, thrash and burlesque, and in ‘Sing’ they’ve got a beautiful lonely hearts anthem lined up for the live shows.

I’m biased, but from the driving piano riff of ‘Sex Changes’ onwards, this is another marvellous, honest piece of work. Regardless of the craft involved, that’s art, isn’t it? Chris Martin please take note.

Stuart Blackwood is 30 (odd), was born in Newarthill and lives in Glasgow. He supports Motherwell FC, has an MA in Economics and Philosophy and likes William Bell (the singer), Bukowski & Fante, Eric Arthur Blair, Negativeland, Eric Hobsbawm, politics, philosophy and ambiguity. He dislikes Alan Bloom and Francis Fukuyama, U2, categorization and Violence.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.