Maybe it's the idea of mutilated or defective toys that leads you to think of gothic Tim Burton territory when you hear this band's name. This would explain why a now defunct Californian Punk band also chose it and why Broken Doll is the name of two other Punk bands from North-East England and Japan.
These particular Broken Dolls are a bunch of guys from Coventry in the English Midlands who are plainly not much into 3 chord Punk. Instead, their sound falls somewhere between laddish Indie and Eighties Glam.
This debut album was produced by Jim Abbiss and Jagz Kooner , whose CVs reveal that between them they have worked with bands like Artic Monkeys, Kasabian , Editors, Primal Scream and Infadels. You can hear elements of all these bands in Broken Dolls, and in addition the diamond geezer Blur-like vocals on 'Crazy Scene' and a Gallagher-esque swagger on 'Coming Out' suggests that classic Brit-pop is another primary source.
Meanwhile, the lyrics to 'Any Other Day' include the line "The 21st century means little to me" and, as if to prove the point, this tune sounds disarmingly like Duran Duran!
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I should apologise for this type of review by name checking. This is usually something I try to avoid but unfortunately this group's lack of originality leaves me stumped for a viable alternative.
On the plus side, it's clear that they play with energy and enthusiasm and the fact that have signed a five album deal with Norman Cook's label Southern Fried means they must be doing something right. Someone somewhere has high hopes for their prospects.
To get a representative taster to help decide for yourself, you can check out the video for 'Here We Go Again' on You Tube ( a song you can also hear on the soundtrack to the Test Drive Unlimited computer game). Although the video seems to be set in a lunatic asylum, this song is allegedly about Kate Moss' recurring drug problems. With the lines "here we go again/looking like something the cat dragged in", I don't think Kate will number among their fan base.
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