ALBUM REVIEW: The Dollyrots – Night Owls (Wicked Cool Records)
Los Angeles pop-punks The Dollyrots are back with their eighth studio album, but their first in four years.
And I’m pleased to report it’s business as usual for the three-piece, who have the perfected the knack of penning catchy tunes which will live in your head for days.
The Dollyrots are married couple Kelly Ogden (vocals and bass) and Luis Cabezas (guitar), plus whichever drummer pal happens to be available, and they’re nothing if not prolific.
They released Down The Rabbit Hole, a collection of odds and ends, last year (it’s reviewed here), but Night Owls is their first album of new material since 2019’s Daydream Explosion.
Despite being more than 20 years into their career, and now with the added complication of being parents, they’ve lost none of their zest for what they do.
Night Owls is all the more remarkable for having being written during the pandemic, as Kelly and Luis home-schooled their two kids for a whole year.
They couldn’t wait to get back in the studio once restrictions were lifted, and the joie de vivre in their music is self-evident, right from opener 5+5, which is about finding beauty in someone who doesn’t see it themselves.
The Dollyrots’ core sound is a heady mix of the Ramones and Ronettes, full of upbeat melodises and infectious choruses, and it’s served them well. Kelly’s sugar-coated but sassy voice is easy on the ear, and she’s no mean bass player either, while Luis has hooks by the boatload.
Much of the album is very personal, centring around their relationship: I Just Wanna Play Dead reflects on the pressures of being an exhausted parent during a pandemic, while the (almost) titular Night Owl is about finding creative time when the kids have gone to bed.
The standout moment of the album comes, for me, with Hot Mom With The Skinny Pants On, an infectious slice of pop-punk about finding your tribe as an older woman. It’s as good as anything The Dollyrots have ever written.
When We’re Sober is another highlight, with injections of punk rock guitar, while the bubblegum pop-punk is set aside on Trees Sway, where we get a change of pace and some subtle strings which help to showcase Kelly’s voice as she asks: “I know we’ve had our differences, but please promise me that you’ll know you love me, when me meet again.”
The Vow reaffirms their marriage by promising “in sickness and in fun, I do!”, while Hey Girl is a playful song about sexuality, which seems to suggest ‘I’m not gay, but if I was…’.
Classic cover
Luis and Kelly have a habit of slipping the odd well-chosen cover version onto their albums, and here they close with Kirsty MacColl’s version of Billy Bragg’s A New England, which plaintively asks “Are you looking for another girl?”.
The Dollyrots simply don’t make bad albums, but pound for pound, Night Owls might just be the best of their career … so far. 8.5/10.
