Doll Riot – Paresthesia
Genre: Punk, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Destroy boys, Hole, L7
There are two things that performers can’t hide or pretend to have. Those things are excitement and anger. And, if you’ve been lucky to have been exposed to some of the greatest music of the last decades, it is these things that are responsible for the vast majority of your favorite albums. However, these elements are also rare.
They are primarily rare because they fly against the modern performer’s need to plan their career, make money, to rub shoulders with the right people. They are the things that record labels never wither scout for or which they have given up trying to find. Frankly, they are the things that separate the musicians that you should care about from the ones that are merely a passing fancy.
Doll Riot’s Paresthesia captures the enthusiasm of playing music and the dread of modern life in a completely earnest way. Besides, while the group leans towards the Riot Grrl bands for inspiration, there’s little desire to pump out hooks or to represent themselves in any other way than how they sound live. This is a refreshing, walloping kind of grunge sound and one that should get the people that really care about music on the side of Doll Riot.
Mononegatives – Role Reversal
Similar artists: Nervous Gender, The Screamers, The Sound, Tubeway Army, Reducers, FUTURISK, Special Interest
Genre: Punk, Post-Punk
Punk music was always meant to be the theatre of the working classes. It’s just that the loud guitars and maniacal singing got in the way some of the time. But, make no mistake about it. There is a reason why various elements with which the original punks were identified still appear in pop culture from time to time. These were people that wanted to be heard and, especially, seen.
As with any good theatrical performance, there is also an element of comedic intent. Are all of the things being said or alluded to meant to be taken literally? Sure, you could. And, yes, this could make you upset. But, that will only play into what the punk artists had in mind. Punk theatre is meant to confuse, upset, and, ultimately, leave the listener in need of having to think things over.
Mononegatives’ Role Reversal is the Canadian band’s attempt at imagining what the music world would look like if robotic, highly-theatrical punk a la The Screamers had fulfilled its potential. This is music for a bleak, dystopian future. It is punk music discotheques created for people that lack all human feelings. It’s a theatre production for your average Joe.