Painted Doll - Painted Doll

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Two man collaboration PAINTED DOLL consists of musician/actor/comedian Dave Hill, and AUTOPSY vocalist/drummer Chris Reifert. I would love to have been privy to how these two met and decided on this project, but I always love something different, so I say “bravo” to the gentlemen and let’s get down to listening to the album.

In the opening sequence of “Together Alone” I get an immediate retro feeling, harkening back to the bands of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, perhaps most notably early BLUE OYSTER CULT for me. A simple but effective melody makes for a really enjoyable listen, capped with a fuzzy blues-infused guitar solo that follows direction very well. “Hidden Hand” is a quicker moving song, with a half-distorted guitar riff and some rhythmic vocals that remind me of how Joey Ramone crooned at times. “Dressing Room” moves with a swing like something out of a Route 66 road trip. Guitar chords shift from major to minor and back, making it something that retains some hints of suspense.

The title track has a jovial little guitar riff like something you might hear from Ty Tabor of KING’S X. Before long, you start tapping your toe and moving your head along to the rhythm. Reifert keeps a perfect pace here and it’s just a feel-good song that you might play with the windows down on a warm day. No retro sound would be complete without a little bit of wah-wah or phaser, as on the trippy number “Eclipse.” It’s a dark passenger on the album, complete with some screams and crazy guitar effects. “She Talks to Mirrors” is a fun song that reminds me of the late Tom Petty, both in the melody line and the story telling nature of the lyrics. The guitar tones are warm and inviting and there is an infectious little groove.

“I Put a Spell on you” is something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie. It has a quirky but playful personality, out of an old western frontier town. This was an interesting album for me. Here at Metal Temple, we do have a wide variety of genres, and this is certainly on the lighter side of a lot of what is reviewed, But, I always say that good music is just…good music…labeling aside. For me, the album was, well, fun. I found it easy to listen to and a nice change of pace. You won’t find anything here that hasn’t been done before, but the collaboration worked well in my opinion. Just enjoy the music as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Songwriting: 8
Originality: 6
Memorability: 7
Production: 7