Lapse into the Past

When I first heard the Dollyrots, it was through a Pandora segue from Letters to Cleo.  I could hear some similarities.  There's a rapid energy to the music, and like Kay Hanley, the Dollyrots' Kelly Ogden sings with this sweet voice that creates a juxtaposition with how hard the bands can rock.  In the first song that I heard from the Dollyrots, they are lamenting dystopian views of the G.W. Bush Because I'm Awesome, the cover featured a white bunny in a wasteland wearing a gas mask.  The bunny theme continues on some of the merchandise, and when they picked a cover for the album Barefoot and Pregnant, how better to show fertility than two slightly anthropomorphic bunnies  procreating (the album art that I'm including in the post is the alternate cover).    The album got its title because the Dollyrots were pregnant with their first child as they were recording.  Playing upon my Pandora's association between Kay Hanley's old band and the Dollyrots, former Letters from Cleo drummer Stacy Jones was one of the contributing musicians for Barefoot and Pregnant.
presidency, with lyrics that sounded in the vein of REM's "It's the End of the World."  Then it speeds up.  And then it speeds up again.   Bush's presidency was actually why Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas went all in with creating the band.  I'm not sure if being from swing-state Florida played role, but their motivation was that the future may be dark, so live up the present.  The couple  are known for some elements of surreal weirdness, and it's something that fans embrace about them.  They're a band that identifies with bunnies, and for the album

In this blog, I'm talking about a song from that album called "Homecoming."  Ogden and Cabezas have known each other since 8th grade and this was about high school nostalgia.  Ogden is talking about having a horrible day and just wanting to relive a happy memory.  The date is described in such detail, and for someone who wasn't part of the 90's punk scene, it was a window into their world.  Trends like the spiked hair and babydoll dresses are included, and we go through their whole date, right to the morning coming in through the blinds as they're asleep in her bedroom.

At the same time, since they're reliving this, she notes how their love has deepened over their time together.  The song is sweet, romantic, and Kelly Ogden is a great storyteller.  I'm not entirely sure how easily they could get every detail right.  It just seems a little unlikely that Luis's father drives the same car in 2013 that he did in the mid-90's.  That's just a minor detail, and I wouldn't underestimate the imagination of these two artists.

The Dollyrots' surreal craft extended to a video announcement released to the fans in May.  A person (in a bunny costume) hands little River Ogden Cabezas an envelope for his parents.  Kelly opens the envelope and card to reveal that they're expecting a daughter in November.  The YouTube upload gave that big news along with announcing a summer tour.  Congrats Dollyrots.