Album Review: The Dresden Dolls - Yes Virginia

Amanda Palmer's voice has a stage presence even when it's on a record. It's easy easy to get people to turn their heads with a simple spin of one of her songs. If you don't know who Ms. Palmer is, well you might be able to connect with just a mention of the name 'Dresden Dolls'. Her vocal grasp remains probably the biggest draw of the duo. I nominate her and Brian Viglione for the producing some of the most dramatic music to come pass in recent years. With that I am most definitely not alone. The piano and drum duo's sophmore album 'Yes Virginia' continues from the same thread of their self-titled album, and that is in no way a bad thing.

The sound this time around comes off a hell of a lot more defined. If anything most of the songs on the album have the high energy drama of songs like "Girl Anarchonism"and "Coin Operated Boy" from their debut. The first three songs are completely in your face and take off like bottle rockets. A real gem is "Modern Moonlight" a high energy rant, "Everyone was messaging like it was going out of style/it was just the cynic in me/god, I love communicating!/I just hate the shit we’re missing." Palmer's voice is perfectly laidover a frantic piano with drums marching in the background, then for the chorus cuts down to a more mellow feel rounding the song off perfectly.

The next song follows off nicely, the jazzy "My Alcoholic Friends". "Delilah" might bore, as it's only Palmer and a piano, but the song has evough merit to be on the album. It only feels like a left over after the first four songs. The cd however kicks back into speed and comes up with another slower song only shortly after with "First Orgasm". Now being a boy you're probably going get kind of squirmy and giggly at the lyrics, although the track has an overall depressing feel giving off sparks of post break up depression.

It picks up again with "Mrs. O" although still a slower song, it's dramatics are much more present, and then "Shores of California follows up. It gives a glimpse into what girls and boys look for in relationships showcased in Palmer's always witty lyrics. "Why all these conflicting specifications?/maybe to prevent overpopulation/all I know is that all around the nation/the girls are crying and the boys are masturbating."

The last four songs aren't too satisfying but good none the less. "Mandy Goes To Med School" takes a similar approach as "My Alcoholic Friends" and succeeds just as well. "Sing" has an addition of a guitar which can feel a bit awkward at first but it manages to end the collection of songs nicely.

Overall The Dresden Dolls is almost assured a batch of new fans with this release, although it can feel like more of the same, it is a marvelous record and manages to one up their first release. Some slow points make the pace stagger a bit, showing up kind of inopportunly but they are in the end necessary, but as a whole everything clicks.


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