IDLE EDSEL PRESS

It's usually pretty difficult to predict whether tribute albums like this will be any good. The one constant seems to be that you need one or two tracks that kinda come completely out of left field (and don't suck), and everybody else can sorta hold the fort (Mojo Nixon doing that zany "Rockaway Beach" on the Gabba Gabba Hey tribute circa 1991 comes immediately to mind).  Unsurprisingly, a New York Dolls tribute is not a particularly fertile breeding ground for left-field sonic excursions.  What we get are eleven bands who all kinda sound like the Dolls (many of whom I have not contemplated in decades. Thee STP? Vorwarts?? Electric fricking Frankenstein???), all rocking out at their Sunday best and sounding unsurprisingly, kinda like the New York Dolls. So, all these tracks are good (okay, Z.T.T.F.’s attempt at “Subway Train” is realllly pushing the parameters of “good”)- everybody rocks- but there isn’t really anything particularly interesting happening here, either. If you were looking for an alternate version of the first Dolls album, hooray, you’re in luck. If you’re looking for  reason to spin this record twice instead of just playing the actual first Dolls album, you probably won’t find it. Maybe you’re just a-lookin' for a kiss? BEST SONG: Bisapiens, “Bad Girl.” I also really like Pulpit Red’s “Private World” because that song always seemed kinda underrated, which is a shame, ‘cause it’s got that beat. BEST SONG TITLE: I actually think all the song titles are kinda great except maybe “Looking for a Kiss”, which is merely average. FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: Electric Frankenstein do the song “Frankenstein,” so don’t tell me this world is wholly bereft of logic and beauty. - Rev Norb (Idle Edsel)