Syl Sylvain, David Jo back on solo trail

They haven't abandoned the NY Dolls who are about to tour the UK, but both principal members will be doing their own thing as well. For Johanasen that means a one-off show in the US and for Sylvain it's work in his home studio. There's an expansive interview with Syl here.

"Decaying corpse"

Not a zombie splatter movie description sadly, but a review of the new NY Dolls. Having heard a leaked copy, I must concur.

Reggae version of "Trash"? Oh dear...

The new Two York Dolls album "Cause I Sez So" contains a cover of "Trash" with "gently strummed guitars and a reggae beat"? Too Much Information Too Soon for mine. The preview track I heard somewhere sounded very metal too. The signs are not good (echoes of "The Weirdness" by the Stooges) but the jury is still out. Portents of things to come here.

Hopefully, it's not just Cauze THEY Say So

From the Please Kill Me Mailing list comes news of the Two York Dolls' new album. The studio reunion record was this side of OK, the live show that came to Australia a lot of fun if light on for the classics.

The jury's out on this one but we can live in hope it doesn't suck as bad as the Stooges' "The Weirdness" which is the benchmark for dreck :

Legendary rockers NEW YORK DOLLS will release their new album, "Cause I Sez So", on May 5 via the Atco label (which has been specially re-launched) through Warner Brothers.

After working together on the NEW YORK DOLLS' influential debut in 1973, the group reunited this winter with producer Todd Rundgren to record the new LP at Rundgren's studio on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

"Cause I Sez So" features 11 original compositions and a new version of "Trash", which was on the band's 1973 debut album. "It was amazing working with Todd again, and I think we were able to evoke the special sound of our first album and drag it by the hair into the present," says frontman David Johansen.

Prior to the album's release, the NEW YORK DOLLS — David Johansen (vocals); Sylvain Sylvain (guitar); Steve Conte (guitar); Brian Delaney (drums); and Sami Yaffa (bass) — will appear at the South By Southwest (SXSW) music conference and festival in Austin, Texas.

The NEW YORK DOLLS swaggered onto the New York music scene in the early '70s, influencing a generation with its subversive mix of high-decibel rock and high-heeled androgyny. The original band recorded a pair of milestone records — "New York Dolls" (1973) and "Too Much Too Soon" (1974) — before breaking up in 1977. The surviving members reformed the group in 2004 to much acclaim, but soon lost bassist Arthur Kane to leukemia. Two years later, Johansen and Sylvain reunited again to record the NEW YORK DOLLS' third studio album, "One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This".

"Cause I Sez So" track listing:

01. Cause I Sez So
02. Muddy Bones
03. Better Than
04. Lonely So Long
05. My World
06. Ridiculous
07. Temptation To Exist
08. Making Rain
09. Drowning
10. Nobody Got No Bizness
11. Trash
12. Exorcism Of Despair

Glimpses of NY punk

There's a nice showreel from a US video production house here. Joey Ramone and friends, the Two York Dolls and Manitoba's Wild Kingdom are among the tidbits.

NY Dolls in studio with Todd Rundgren

Just in:

New York Dolls are reportedly putting the finishing touches on the recordings for their new album with legendary producer Todd Rundgren and are scheduled to begin mixing next week. The CD, which is being tracked at Rundgren's studio on the island of Kauai, marks the first time the two have collaborated in 36 years since Rundgren originally produced the NEW YORK DOLLS' eponymous debut album, "New York Dolls". Rundgren was reunited with DOLLS founding members David Johansen (vocals) and Sylvain Sylvain (guitar, vocals).

"We're really excited to be working with Todd again," David Johansen previously said. "We're hoping to recapture the same magic on the forthcoming album."

I'm just hoping it sounds better than the last collaboration with Rundgren. Shadow Morton was obviously unavailable.

A line-up that speaks for itself, no?

Oh to be in NYC for this...

More Satan's music, for your Easter listening pleasure

Here's a seasonal music post: You can understand the backward masking nut jobs going for deviants like the New York Dolls as prime examples of moral corruption, whether their records are played forwards or in reverse. I stumbled across this site Fundamental Baptist Links which has a stack of songs from the Dolls but also Styx (!), The Cars and Blue Oyster Cult, all seemingly unlikely soldiers for Satan. Anyway, you can download samples of "Jetboy" and songs by Roy Orbison and Billy Idol, all helpfully played backwards and crunched to MP3 to find hidden messages. Most of them are about selling, being wanted by or getting off on Satan. (Personally if I was going to sell him, I'd go for the convenience of eBay.) God knows what they'd think of GG Allin. Knock yourself out here.

The Drum on Murray (2)

Further to an earlier post, Murray Engleheart has found a Sydney street press home, thanks to Drum Media's competitor The Brag. It seems his new Remedy column kicks off this week. Meanwhile, you can read a guest piece from Murray for the I-94 bar here where he interviews New York Doll David Johansen.

New York Dolls Down Under

You heard it here second. The New York Dolls (or remnants thereof) are heading to Australia as part of the Michael Coppel-Richard Branson V Festival series. And before you ask (a.) my source is impeccable and (b.) sideshows are unlikely.

So it looks like you can make a beeline for Sydney (March 31), the Gold Coast (April 1) or Melbourne (April 3 and 4 - not sure what night the Dolls will be on) if you want to see them. Along with Gnarls Barkley, Groove Armada and Pet Shop Boys. That's one strange line-up. Headliners are The Pixies, who will probably be tolerable if you like being reminded of the soundtrack to every second party in Sydney in the '80s but you can keep the rest of that lot. And it ain't cheap at $120 a ticket ($110 for each Melbourne date.)

As to the question whether the Dolls would be worth seeing, grab a copy of the DVD of their reformation shows (with the soon-to-be-departed Killer Kane) and the answer will be self-evident. The studio album was respectable in a metally, David JoHo-dominated way but it's the live action where it's happening.