Doll Skin – Love Is Dead And We Killed Her


I just love getting new albums to review, seriously, hearing new music pouring out of my earbuds exhilarates me like nothing else. I almost feel like I have stumbled into a secret treasure trove that the world has yet to experience. As I started to listen to the new Doll Skin album, Love Is Dead And We Killed Her (Hopeless Records) I began to feel the sensation of euphoria surging through every cell in my body. Seriously, the right side of my brain said to the left side of my brain, “here, hold my beer, this is all me”.

The eleven track angstapalooza shoots right out of the starting gate resentful and introspective. It was the third track,’Mark My Words’ that I really started to experience the contemptuous web that these four femme fatales were weaving with there multi-layered harmonies and driving tempo. It is glaringly obvious that lead vocalist, Sydney Dolezal, seems to have already mastered the art of conveying the malice and anger with just the inflection of her voice.

I want to give kudos to the producer or master mixer that did the track placement on this album. The choice of placing the pop-infused fourth track, ‘No Fear’ right after the hostile revenge based third track was pure Einstein. That tongue in cheek, almost playful vibe continues until track six, ‘Ink Stains’ which is a more melancholy offering. The bridge in this track is glorious with its grungy aggressive guitar line. Track seven, ‘Nasty Man’, needs to be spotlighted due to its lyrical content. The guitar intro may lull the listener into believing this song will be another fun romp, but that is not the case. I applaud the ladies in Doll Skin for tackling such a socially significant topic, one that seems to still be swept under the rug in our society. This track veritably cements the fact that these ladies are not afraid to take balls to the wall stance on hot button subjects like abuse, sexual assault, and bullying.

‘When They Show Their Teeth’ and ‘Homesick’ each are stand-alone singles. ‘When They Show Their Teeth’ has a dynamic intro featuring the brutal double kick drum prowess of drummer Meghan Herring. This track also has an intriguing bluesy vibe echoing a standard Blues chord progression in the verses thanks to guitarist Alex Snowd and bass-savvy Nicole Rich. The final track, track eleven is a glorious lyrical gem with tasty lines like ‘I constantly rebel against myself’. And ‘you can’t make history if you stay at home’. This track is a perfectly clever thought-provoking opus worthy of wrapping up the album.

In a nutshell, these four ladies possess a talent way beyond their years. Just listening to this album has renewed my faith in the next generation of Punk Rock musicians. Doll Skin would give any female Punk band from any era a definite run for their money. Heed my warning, pay attention to this band and for goodness sake, buy the album!

7 / 10

SKULGURL METALCHICK