The Cherry Dolls “Viva Los Dolls”

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but what about a band by their name? When we saw the name The Cherry Dolls it conjured up ideas of a glam, punk, sleaze rock n roll band…ie perfect for us! The album title also has Russ Myer connotations so again might suggest a liking for the seedier side of life. All of that left us eager to see what the album would in fact offer.

Opener “COP out” confirms that this is indeed a scuzzy rock n roll album. It’s a snotty, in your face, punk n roller. The next song, “Slave”, offers up more of the same. Maybe, it’s the band’s name but inevitably you start thinking about The New York Dolls. But certainly “Let You Down” comes across as a modern take on that band’s sound, as does the slightly funky style of “Love”. They even find the time to slip into solo Johnny Thunder’s territory on the sloppy acoustic number “Lemon & Lime”.

Although, in truth, songs like “Bottom Of The Well” owe as much to the more recent garage rock revival led by The Strokes as they do to 70’s punk. There’s not as much glam and glitter to The Cherry Dolls as the band’s name might suggest. Indeed, “Hollywood” and “Begging You Please” are still sleazy songs but of a far darker nature and more of a brooding style. That’s contrasted by final track, “Blister” which has a surprisingly general Stones esque restrain.

This is very much a New York scuzzy rock album rather than an LA glam rock album. It has a dirty rock n roll feel that takes the scuzzy sound of the New York Dolls but with a more modern garage rock slant. If it had come out at the same time as “Is This It” they would have been regarded as another band spearheading the revival of garage rock. So, let’s hope that now it can be the start of another resurgence in gritty rock and roll with the necessary level of menace and danger.