I like the smell of Cape Town‘s glaring no-nonsense
rock misfits THE MEDICINE DOLLS in the morning.
Frontman/guitarist Greg Allen looks like a cross between Scissorhands and Jack White and the dead-drop gorgeous bass
player Bex Nicolas has that Courtney Love look. To me, they are
the Bonnie & Clyde of psychobilly punk.
With time on their hands during these past, science-fiction-like, months,
many artists recorded covers of their favorite songs of other artists. So
did Cape Town‘s midnight psychobilly ramblers THE MEDICINE DOLLS.
They picked the awesome debut single Rock Lobster, released in 1978,
by The B-52’s, the incomparable and fabtastic misfits out of Athens, Georgia
The Dolls gave the track a spooky Medicine twist. Garage-esque, wacky,
but also totally fun. Perfect to start and end all New Year’s Eve parties with.
Watch (hilarious clip) and listen…
The original…
You can find the cover on The Medicine Dolls stirring
debut album Filth And Wisdom. Stream here, buy here.
Five things you should know about The Medicine Dolls…
*They are the secret bastard children of Lux Interior and psychobilly pinup Poison Ivy *They have Bonnie & Clyde‘s outlaw genes *They are the inseparable Dr. Jekyll and
Ms. Hyde of red-hot-rattling-garage-punk-rock *DIY is their holy mantra, their sonic Bible *If you look that awesome, if you sound that
awesome, and your DNA is that awesome, you
are definitely an awesome band
Five things you should know about Filth And Wisdom…
*Daily adrenaline for your endless 24/7 Halloween wingdings *All psycho killers, no fake fillers, all jack-rippers, no quitters * Helter-skelter thrills, Manzarek organs, Link Wray’s surf steam
*Cutting scissor riffs, B-52 missiles, covered in filth voices
*Soundtrack for illegal cemetery raves and exorcism parties
THE MEDICINE DOLLS are one of the coolest bands that walk this corona screwed-up
planet, as Turn Up The Volume already screamed about a million times before.
Why? They do what they like, they dress the way they want and they only play music
the way they like. And as it happens that they produce awesome DIY psych-o-billy punk
my ears are hooked on, I can’t stop shouting about these gunslingers from Cape Town.
They unleash – finally – their debut LP, entitled FILTH AND WISDOM on 2 October. Yes!Yes!Yes!
In the meantime the blistering three-headed garage force wants you to dance to new single ‘DANGER! DANGER! DISCO!’. A loud “love letter to the beautiful, destructive and emotionally charged nature of romance and misspent youth.”
It’s a mighty Bang! Bang! Banger! A Link Wray injected Surfin’! Surf! Stunner! A jump up
and down Sizzling! Scissors! Slam! A thunderous Damned! Disco! Dunk! to bang your lockdown head to.
The best news Turn Up The Volume got in his inbox today is the announcement of the release on 2 October of the debut album, called FILTH AND WISDOM, by the awesome garage-frenzy fueled turbo THE MEDICINE DOLLS from Cape Town, South Africa. They
not only look utterly cool, but they walk the walk like they talk the talk. Their bad-ass helter-skelter electricity makes you want to kick all phony mainstream bands in the ass.
If you never heard of these rip-roaring desperados then these three awesome tracks (all on the album) will blow your mind and make you wait every single day for the arrival of their upcoming longplayer.
– VICIOUS LITTLE SISTER –
– PSYCHO KILLER –
(Talking Heads cover)
– COVERED IN FILTH –
Track Listing: 1. Funeral Surf 2. Danger Danger Disco 3. Vicious Little Sister 4. Best Dress 5. Bad Sugar 6. She Tastes Like Cocaine 7. A Good Chance Of Bad Weather 8. Rock Lobster (cover The B-52’s) 9. “L” 10. Covered In Filth 11. Mix My Medicine (I Need To Move) 12. Psycho Killer (cover Talking Heads) 13. I Don’t Wanna Dance With You 14. Kiss Kiss Kill Me
Cape Town’s punkabilly desperadoes THE MEDICINE DOLLS shared their striking cover
of PSYCHOKILLER, the classic corker by legends TALKING HEADS. It’s the perfect song for the Dolls. Sickly schizophrenic sticky, tortuous traumatic and withing wacky. The darksome duo’s version is a spine-chilling gloom and doom ripper with a scary reverberation, sultry organs, and petrifying Lux Interior vocals. Oh, and Arabella’s French is spot on tantalizing.
Clips that will have an impact on your eyes and your ears…
25 April 2020
Cape Town’s glaring no-nonsense garage rockers THE MEDICINE DOLLS released steamy single ‘VICIOUS LITTLE SISTER‘ last month. A smoking hot crackerjack, a nasty psychobilly stunner, a thunderous barnstormer with a gloriously sizzling chorus. Frontman Greg Allen‘s spits and sneers from start to finish turning this bang-up belter into one of the best riff slams so far, this year. And the best news is that their debut album is coming soon.
And now the band just released a video clip featuring
mad live footage and studio moments.
Eleven standout tracks played on repeat in March!
A heated mix of flaming rippers and glowing grooves
energizing all of my senses and limbs this past month!
Here’s Turn Up The Volume‘s Knockout March Team!
1. No Rock Save In Roll by CORNERSHOP (Northern London)
This sickly sticky earworm will put a big smile on your face! Welcome back Cornershop!
2. ‘Ponytail’ by PINS (Manchester, UK)
Hot disco banger that should be played in all discotheques around the globe. Dance fever!
3. ‘Home Thru Hell’ by DEAP LIPS (California, US)
The Flaming Lips + Deap Vally = Utterly Cool Yamaha Magic
4. ‘Vicious Little Sister’ by THE MEDICINE DOLLS (Cape Town)
Unquestionably one of the blowup singles of the year! The Medicine Dolls rule!
5. ‘Luminescence’ by THE HIDEAWAYS (Bristol, UK)
This burning sledgehammer’s riff is TITANIC! Kick-ass stroke! Hells bells!
. 6. ‘Cause Effect’ by SINKA (Watford, UK)
High-powered blast fueled by crazed guitars, banging percussion and racy vocals. Yeah!
. 7. ‘Somebody Else’ by PLASTIC SUN (UK)
Melodious swagger bringing stone rock icons Queens Of The Stone Age to mind. Top-notch!
. 8. ‘Louder’ byTWIST HELIX (Newcastle, UK)
A swirling electro pop stunner with sassy synths and stunning vocals. Bingo!
. 9. ‘Lungs’ by THE MIGHTY ORCHID KING (St.Albans, UK)
A retro psych vibe with a revitalizing, stimulating and spiritual impact. Save the trees!
. 10. ‘TheWorldIsClosingDown’ byTV COMA (St. Albans, UK)
A catchy apocalyptic psych pop humdinger. Witty, satirical and pungent.
11. ‘Harbor Me’ by AUDRI (Belgium)
Starry-eyed vocals, clapping flamenco hands and glimmering guitars. A trippy beauty!
We featured the utterly cool Cape Town misfits THE MEDICINE DOLLS several times before. Why? Because they’re a red-hot-blooded psychobilly force that messes with
your mind the way you like it. No special effects, only barbed DIY turbulence. They
are natural-born outsiders doing what they do best: creating scissored punk mayhem.
Soon these noisy no-nonsense rockers will, finally, release their debut album. Ahead of
it, the band unleashed the stellar lead single called ‘VICIOUS LITTLE SISTER‘ today. After
a couple of spins, I’m pretty sure this is the best thunderous jackhammer they ever made. It’s a filthy stonker exploding from the get-go with the terrifically bang-up chorus. followed by frontman Greg Allen spitting and sneering the verses, crystal clear, only to restart the whole sizzling hullabaloo all over again. Hell Yeah! Unquestionably one of the blowup singles of the year. Don’t miss THE MEDICINE DOLLS as they are on their way to score
big time this year. Sonic fireworks guaranteed!
Catch the glorious blast here…
THE MEDICINE DOLLS: Facebook / TUTV’s interview with the band here / Photo: FB TMD
