For a while, ever since my first read through Please Kill Me, I've heard how the New York Dolls totally created punk rock and blew the lid off of a stagnant glam scene.But really, it was 1973 - what had happened by then? The goddamn Stooges, that's what. So while I don't exactly buy the theory of the New York Dolls as the foremost progenitors of the style, their debut clearly shows their influence. I like to think of it as the bridge between the gap created by the Stooges and Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Television, which subsequently birthed the Ramones.
There's a pretty good hint of Richard Hell's drawling, half-serious vocals here, and there's a hearty dose of Asheton-esque guitar. For a long time, I assumed I'd hate the Dolls based on the spoken word intro to "Looking for a Kiss," which is about as awkward as it gets for me. But "Personality Crisis" and "Vietnamese Baby" convinced me that this was something that was really worth a shit and not some overhyped relic of a dead era.
While the tracks clearly aren't as immediate as anything the Ramones did, as abrasive as anything the Stooges did, or as lyrically subversive as anything Richard Hell put together, there's still a shitload of fun to be had on this record. "Trash" is a big batch of sleazy fun, complete with excellent time changes and impressive lead guitar, and I'm already incredibly impressed based on what I expected. This will definitely get a lot more listens when I sober up.
"Personality Crisis"
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