Cause I Sez So marks the second release since their reunion earlier this decade from the legendary 70s glam/predated (genre not yet coined) punk group. Now down to only two original members (and approaching 40 years since their 1973 self-titled debut) it only seems fit that they try something new. And although production was handled by Todd Rundgren, who produced their debut, the sound is the sound of a different New York Dolls. No longer do they try to be the badasses they were during the onset of their career, but rather they have adapted to a more low-key lifestyle. And with ages comes the blues; and this album borrows heavily from the genre. Kicking things of is the very Dolls-esque "Cause I Sez So" that sounds as if it were written in their early days but soon the bluesy side comes out on tracks like "Better Than" and "Ridiculous." And blues isn't the only genre the Dolls experiment with here. You get a straightforward pop songs (very 60s in its sound) with "Lonely So Long," a littlte tex-mex ("Temptation to Exist"), and even a reggae-tinged reworking of "Trash" (off their debut LP). The sound production is handled well (very raw) and the songs in which they step out of their comfort zone don't fail completely ("Nobody Got No Bizness" is one of the better tracks here and is blues all the way). However, this is their weakest effort to date (this being their 4th album, released 36 years after their debut) but that is not to say that it is a throwaway. It is just a foreign sound for a seminal band.
3.5/5.0
No comments:
Post a Comment