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The Suicide Dolls: Prayers In Parking Lots

The Suicide Dolls have been known for a long time as one of the hardest working bands in New London.  They're always bringing new and interesting bands to town as well as traveling and touring the country... meeting new people and bands, speaking the gospel of our rock n’ roll prowess.  Melding punk rock with psychedelic and shoe gaze, their blend of rock n’ roll has never been about fitting in but giving everyone something to connect with.  Those of us in the New London scene have become very familiar with their on stage antics and blistering volumes, but what about a tangible product?  There have been a few demos, singles and compilation tracks since they returned to the New London music scene in 2002, but we have yet to see a proper album and we here WailingCity.com, along with the rest of humanity, have been chomping at the bit.  They're debut LP Prayers in Parking Lots is being released Friday, December 10^th at the Oasis.  This long awaited CD release extravaganza will feature Bostonite Jeremy Dubs (Rabbit Rabbit & Bunnies) with his new band Speak!, NJ rockers The Everymen and NL's own Wrist Like This.  We asked the Suicide Dolls bassist and singer Michelle Montavon about music, life and what it was like to record their latest release.

 

 

Interview by Meghan Killimade

WC: Preparing this new record for release has been a long and rough process for you guys; tell us a little about the recording process and the things you've been through while making this record. How do you feel now that it's actually complete?!
MM: Now that it's done, we're incredibly happy with the way it came out! There are definitely little things on the album we would have liked to do differently if we had more time, but with only 4 days of actual recording, we think it came out great. The process itself was pretty amazing... it was the first time that we were in an environment where people treated us like we were doing something important. Mostly people think that bands play as a hobby, or that because there's not much money to be made, it's not a serious ambition. While we were in Q Division Studios, they waited on us hand and foot so that we could concentrate on our recordings. For a band that's used to doing everything for themselves, it actually embarrassed us by how well we were treated that week! The music was top priority there, and it was one of the best experiences we've ever had as a band. The 'rough' part really came about after it was done... we had originally hoped for a summer release, but about a week after we got the tracks mastered, we got the call from upstate NY that Brian's mother was gravely ill... she passed away at the end of June, and we were very lucky to have been able to spend that last week with her. We had money saved up to press the album, but we ended up spending most of it on hotels and food over the 2 weeks that we were up there. It was--and still is--a really difficult thing to deal with. Another huge delay was our truck's engine exploding at the end of August. That set us back an enormous amount of money. We were starting to think that we weren't going to be able to get the record out this year at all, so we are beyond grateful that this is actually happening!

WC: The record was engineered by Justin Pizzoferrato who works with bands like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.; how does it feel to work with someone who's worked with some of your biggest influences?
MM: It was awesome. Not only were we in a studio that was top notch, we were able to work with someone who knew exactly what to do to capture our sound on a recording. We knew if bands that we held in such high esteem trusted him with THEIR recordings, we wouldn't have to do much other than show up and plug in. And basically, that's what happened. We gave direction where we thought it was needed to get our vision across, but mostly, we let him do what he does best. We'd love to have been able to see what happened if we had 2 weeks in there with him, but in 4 days, he was able to do something that we--and everyone else we've ever worked with--could not.

WC: You've had a lot of exciting shows the last few months including a CMJ showcase in NYC; what recent shows stand out in your mind?
MM: We were really excited that The Deli Magazine asked us to be a part of their showcase this year! We know a lot of bands were considered, so it was really cool that they gave it to us. It was even better to come home the next day and find out that the Deli-New England nominated us for Artist of the Month. We ended up winning, and we played Boston 2 weeks after that. I would say that our Boston show was the most memorable over the last few months. Both the venue and the feedback we received from that show were amazing, and more uplifting and positive than we expected going in. We plan on returning in the coming months, and as always, we hope to bring back some of the Boston area bands we have been discovering to play in New London so that NL can discover them, too.

WC: You guys put a huge amount of time and effort into the band. What kind of things do you do to keep The Suicide Dolls moving forward?
MM: Thank You!! We truly have worked hard at this from day one. The reason we quit our jobs 5 years ago was to be able to do this without distraction. It sounds like it's an easy thing to do, but it's not. It's hard to just go out to a bar and hang out because we have to budget every dime that we have.... but, when you do this yourself, it's like running a business, and there's really a ton of work involved. Sure, you wish it actually PAID better, but we believe in what we do. Our energy is high and our ideas are good, and the reception we get after people see us live really fuels our fire. It let's us know that we're doing something right, and we believe we still have something to offer that has not been discovered yet. Brian and I have also led very tumultuous lives, and our band allows us to exercise some if that. In a weird way, we're still dealing with events that happened to us as kids. I suppose we'll always find an artistic outlet to deal with the residue of our pasts, and in that regard, it's easy to keep it all going. We're pretty goofy people if you know us, but we don't look at our music that way. And, when you pair our lyrics with our songs, it becomes even more apparent.

WC: What's the future hold for the Suicide Dolls?
MM: We're going to concentrate on trying to promote this album for the next year and see where it takes us... we would ideally like to tour in the spring or summer. We have new songs and ideas waiting in the wings, and we'll probably start the writing process again in January/February. We know that we're not trendy... we know that we're a little darker than what some people want, a little too poppy for others, a little less technically-inclined than some other people would like, etc. But, we stand by our sound and our work ethic. We treat every band with the respect that we would want in return. We try to help as much as we can, and hope that it eventually returns to us full circle. We love hanging out in new scenes and going to new venues, and that makes us want to keep playing shows. You never know exactly what the future holds, but no matter what happens, we can say we did this for a while, had some amazing experiences, and met a lot of great people along the way.

 

 

CD Review by Adam Wujtewicz

Having been raised on a steady diet of classic rock and having forged my own musical identity with the grunge movement of the 90’s I have come to miss rock and roll.  I feel like I’ve been forgotten.  There is just something missing in a lot of bands today.  Perhaps it’s the fact that genres like “classic rock”, “grunge” and “alternative” don’t actually have anything to do with the sound of the music.  They are all just flowery ways of saying ROCK.  In a day and age where bands have pigeonholed themselves into super specific genre’s, bands like The Suicide Dolls are now having to cope with being called rock bands.

Prayer’s in Parking Lots revels in the fact that you can’t stick it in a box but never lowers it to being a “genre crossing” experiment.  The punk rock clang bass gives the songs speed and movement, the drums range from a hardcore thump to psychedelic cymbal wash and guitars soar over the rhythm section covering the whole thing in a blanket of buzz saws and dope smoke.  There is an unmistakable intensity and paranoia to the sound of this record.  Prayer’s in Parking Lots is a wild animal that has been backed into a corner which has forced it to lash out.  The guitars at the end of “Drive” go from a melodic single note melody to crushing chords on the verge of massive feedback that are only accented by the near constant crack of the snare drum.  The noise soaked bridge section of “Smash” builds to out of control only to recoil perfectly back into the verse readying to strike at you again.  The explosions of sound you hear on this album do not come from an artsy abstract place but from the hands of people that feel looked over and are trying to grab a hold of your attention at all costs, even if they have to be loud and mean.

Through all this the Suicide Dolls never alienate their audience.  The chorus’s are prevalent and hooky which always gives the listener an anchor when they feel like the song might leave them stranded.  There isn’t a single scream on the album either.  While the singing sometimes goes more towards talking or reciting and isn’t the most melodic part of a song the vocals wouldn’t be considered offensive.  These are things that keep Prayer’s in Parking Lots from being pigeonholed as a “noise rock” or “post hardcore” record.  It may not be pop sensitive in style or subject but it is a pop sensitive structure that they’re building from.

The Suicide Dolls draw from a lot of bands that people now take for granted; The Pixies, Joy Division and Sonic Youth are the first 3 that come to mind.  These bands that once saturated the hearts and minds of rockers everywhere are now going extinct.  Prayers in Parking Lots will force you to remember what it was that drew you to these bands.  Not because it sounds like them, but because it has the same quality you can’t quite put your finger on... because it’s something that can’t be summed up in a 2 word genre.

 

 http://thesuicidedolls.bandcamp.com/

 

The Suicide Dolls were recently picked by Verbicide Magazine as one of the best unsigned alternative bands in the country.  You can cast your vote for them by following this link:
http://www.verbicidemagazine.com/unsigned/category/the-contestants/alternative/

 

 

CD Review by Adam Wujtewicz

Joining the Suicide Dolls on Saturday will be Jeremy Dubs from Northampton, MA.  Jeremy's new album (and band)  Speak! is the debut release for new record label The Bureau, created by Frank Black of The Pixies. Jeremy is no stranger to New London, his other bands Rabbit Rabbit and Bunnies have both been here on separate occasions.  His first solo effort is something completely different than either of the aforementioned bands.  His album Speak! consists of 10 Harry Nilsson standards and 2 originals.  The sparse synthesizer and Jeremy’s voice conjure visions of Magical Mystery Tour era Beatles or Mini Mansions.  The 2^nd artist on The Bureau, Jeremy has already gained the respect of alternative rock’s elite. Make it a point to make it down to the Oasis to check him out for yourself.