Dollyrot; fatal disease discovered at Toys 'R' Us...Barbie confirmed dead... Rock & roll, whisky, safety pins...ticking all the right boxes here, (I suddenly have an urge to listen to the SEX PISTOLS)...Popsicle's...wait, what? Long walks on the beach...hold up, where the actual fuck is this going? Did I mistakenly click on a link for Match.com? This is less a band bio and more of an application form to be on Blind Date with Cilla Black...yet...it is exactly how THE DOLLYROTS present themselves. They formed in L.A. back in 2001 (presumably in a sweet shop) quite literally consisting of a couple of pop-punks, (bassist/vocalist Kelly Ogden and guitarist Luis Cabezas are together with child) and in all fairness they have done themselves proud over the course of their career. Despite a very independent, DIY ethic they have still managed to find themselves in the Billboard charts and have a fairly consistent work rate despite being a touring family...which was summed up on last years "Family Vacation" live album...2017 see's them return with a brand new studio recording entitled "Whiplash Splash"...has BILLY IDOL taken up diving? Let's find out...
We begin with "I Do" and I do regret to inform you it's not necessarily the best start. It's got an incredibly up-beat, happy-go-lucky charm to it and, essentially it's a fun little track which musically finds itself slotted somewhere between THE DONNAS (who have been an influence on this pair) and CYNDI LAUPER in certain aspects...the chorus though. It is SO repetitive and unimaginative....I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do....DON'T! The chorus honestly is absolutely horrific and spoils this opening track completely.
"Mermaid" provides an early album highlight musically and in parts does sound like it carries with a little more bite and a touch of attitude, the chorus here a vast improvement and fans of KILL HANNAH might gravitate towards this one, it's got a little more substance behind it overall and it benefits them greatly. Likewise with "Dance Like A Maniac", which again, utilizing more punk rock swagger and even referencing Idol here in the lyrics, provides a much better listen, but the real album highlight is quite frankly unexpected. "Jump Start This Heart" is a wonderfully sweet synth-lead pop ballad, leaning again to Kill Hannah-esque tones in places but it's softness really stands out, it's a superb pop record...speaking of which, the inclusion of KATRINA & THE WAVES cover "Walking On Sunshine" always brings a smile, it's such a positive song and here they pull it off well, giving the track a fresh lease of life with it's more modern sound production.
The trouble really though, is the bands overwhelmingly sickly diet pop-rock sound; "Saturday Morning" and "Pack Of Smokes", the latter in particular, really does sound like a weak version of BOWLING FOR SOUP, while "Just Because I'm Blonde" simply speaks for itself without even requiring a listen...however I did listen and proved myself right. It's meant to come across as empowering with a middle finger to stereotypes but, honestly, who cares? The spoken word content is just cringe-worthy too...all in all, while there are aspects of this that do work, ultimately The Dollyrots are the pop-punk equivalent of that family pack of Haribo's you just ate...bright, colourful with WAY too much sugar...only in this instance it's not your teeth that'll rot, just your eardrums. [4]
We begin with "I Do" and I do regret to inform you it's not necessarily the best start. It's got an incredibly up-beat, happy-go-lucky charm to it and, essentially it's a fun little track which musically finds itself slotted somewhere between THE DONNAS (who have been an influence on this pair) and CYNDI LAUPER in certain aspects...the chorus though. It is SO repetitive and unimaginative....I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do....DON'T! The chorus honestly is absolutely horrific and spoils this opening track completely.
"Mermaid" provides an early album highlight musically and in parts does sound like it carries with a little more bite and a touch of attitude, the chorus here a vast improvement and fans of KILL HANNAH might gravitate towards this one, it's got a little more substance behind it overall and it benefits them greatly. Likewise with "Dance Like A Maniac", which again, utilizing more punk rock swagger and even referencing Idol here in the lyrics, provides a much better listen, but the real album highlight is quite frankly unexpected. "Jump Start This Heart" is a wonderfully sweet synth-lead pop ballad, leaning again to Kill Hannah-esque tones in places but it's softness really stands out, it's a superb pop record...speaking of which, the inclusion of KATRINA & THE WAVES cover "Walking On Sunshine" always brings a smile, it's such a positive song and here they pull it off well, giving the track a fresh lease of life with it's more modern sound production.
The trouble really though, is the bands overwhelmingly sickly diet pop-rock sound; "Saturday Morning" and "Pack Of Smokes", the latter in particular, really does sound like a weak version of BOWLING FOR SOUP, while "Just Because I'm Blonde" simply speaks for itself without even requiring a listen...however I did listen and proved myself right. It's meant to come across as empowering with a middle finger to stereotypes but, honestly, who cares? The spoken word content is just cringe-worthy too...all in all, while there are aspects of this that do work, ultimately The Dollyrots are the pop-punk equivalent of that family pack of Haribo's you just ate...bright, colourful with WAY too much sugar...only in this instance it's not your teeth that'll rot, just your eardrums. [4]
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