The New York Dolls straddle the musical divide between the likes of The Stooges, and the punk of the later Seventies. Lead singer David Johansen’s vocals are more shouting than singing, the guitar (I assume from rhythm guitarist Sylvain Sylvain) is a rapid-fire onslaught of power chords, the overall effect is of raucous and iconoclastic noise.
At the same time, the subject matter of the songs recalls the teen angst of the doo-wop era, of girls and boys in love, but set against the urban grime of Seventies New York. Even the song titles evoke the graffiti, garbage, drugs, and guns aesthetic of Seventies crime films like The French Connection or Dirty Harry; songs with titles like Trash, Subway Train, and Pills. Other titles suggest the innocence of teen romance – Looking For A Kiss, Lonely Planet Boy, even Bad Girl, but the songs are full of a mix of nihilism and camp.
Visually The Dolls follow this mix as well, tending to dress in a kind of trashy vampish drag, a kind of crack-whore chic. Even though this album was produced by Todd Rundgren, it eschews clean sounds and intricate musicianship, sounding more like a live show (in a sweaty venue with black walls and a sticky floor), and by comparison even bands like The Stooges and Velvet Underground sound corporate and artificial.
Contemporary critics were divided between enthusiastic and dismissive – Bob Harris on the BBC music show Old Grey Whistle Test famously dismissed them as “mock rock” (an observation that led many of the younger generation such as Mark Radcliffe to question Harris’s suitability to front a programme dedicated to showcasing new music). Apparently the band had made fun of Harris’ "bunny teeth" beforehand, but still. Harris now presents the Sounds of the Seventies radio show; part of me is tempted to keep writing in to request Jet Boy* from New York Dolls, just to troll him.
*Not to be confused with Jet Boy/Jet Girl by Elton Motello as covered by The Damned.
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