Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Dolly Mixture - Demonstration Tapes (1983)

"Dolly Mixture was like the Shangri-La's minus the gum-cracking Queens accent. Or the Go-Go's if they had any class. Or the Raincoats without the weirdness and electric violins." - Lois Maffeo

One of the most aptly named bands ever? Alright, I've never even had Dolly Mixture candy, but I have heard Dolly Mixture the band, and these girls performed a glorious blend of infectious pop hooks, classic girl-group harmonies, and an utterly charming sense of joie de vivre; and not without their share of punky sass, either. To these ears, Dolly Mixture wrote the most catchy, concise three-minute pop songs of the punk era this side of the Undertones. 'Demonstration Tapes' collects their entire recorded output from 1979 to 1983, sans singles unfortunately, but you still get 27 songs and 73 minutes of pure pop bliss. "He's So Frisky," "How Come You're Such a Hit With the Boys, Jane?" "Side Street Walker," "Angel Treads;" I could go on, but that would cut into valuable listening time! Though remarkably influential--just listen to Talulah Gosh or the Shop Assistants, to name two--Dolly Mixture's relative lack of success is one of the cruelest jokes in music history; if you've never had the pleasure of the Dolly's company, pick this one up immediately. - Ariel

More information here.

21 comments:

Unknown said...

This is great, thanks...I had always wanted to hear them. Funny you would post this 2 days after I posted the Mo-Dettes single as the song "How Come You're Such a Hit With the Boys, Jane?" is a direct jab at them!

Anonymous said...

You may feel that 'Dolly Mixture's relative lack of success is one of the cruelest jokes in music history' but I would venture to suggest that you hold this view because you never had the misfortune to see them live - They are one of the half dozen worst bands I have ever seen, and I've seen some shite over the years.

Anonymous said...

Harsh. No matter how they came off live, the recordings stand for themselves. Great songs, thanks for making them available to enjoy.

Anonymous said...

thank you for postingt this incredible discovery! this band is amazing, and i cannot listen to them enough, so thank you again. any chance of uploading the "fireside ep", or any of their john peel sessions, or the coming up roses-i said ballroom mini album? thank you in advance.

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