Surrender (to) Dorothy Not all great rock and roll is from the
south. Hard to believe, I know. A friend of mine dropped by last week to jam/rehearse some music, and she was sporting a Dorothy t-shirt, so I asked about it. The photo on the shirt was a drop dead gorgeous dark haired chick. Turns out, the girl is calleed Dorothy, the lead singer of the band of the same name, based out of Los Angeles.
Later that day I got online and read
about the band, looked at photos of the red- hot singer and watched all available videos on You Tube. It turns out they had recorded an EP and then their first full -length album Rock is Dead. Last year saw the release of their latest, 28 Days in the Valley, a fine fol- low up. The primary difference is Dorothy’s slight change in style. On Rock is Dead, it was like the energy of Heart and Janis Joplin fil- tered through the Runaways, a gut punch from an iron fist. On 28Days, the sound is much more psychedelic, and Dorothy is obvi- ously channeling her San Francisco heroine, Grace Slick, especially on the second track, “Who Do You Love.” She truly goes full-on Gracie. The single from the album, “Flawless” is as catchy as anything on Rock is Dead, but the remainder of the LP is a bit stiff. That being said, it is still better than the vast ma- jority of albums being released today. Dorothy brings me that same feeling
that I remember from my first introductions to Kate Bush and David Bowie, although she sounds nothing like either of them. Some- thing reminds of Amy Lee and Evanescence, again however, not sonic wise. Perhaps it’s just the thought of beautiful girls who can rock. Heck, I felt that in 1975 with Heart and with Suzi Quatro. Nothing new there.
I feel like I have been awakened. In an
age when there are so many bands out there, and as a music writer I receive about 20-25 discs per week, it’s a sheer joy to hear and see something fresh and exciting, Thanks, Karen. I needed something to take me over the rain- bow, and nobody does that better than
Dorothy. • -Michael Buffalo Smith
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