Dave Hill is a guy who likes power pop, and Chris Reifert is a guy who likes death metal. So what are they doing in a band together? Turns out those two sides come together better than you might expect on the debut album from their project
Painted Doll. For a power pop guy, Hill sure doesn't mind big, dirty-sounding guitars; as a former member of
Cobra Verde and Sons of Elvis, Hill (who is also a comic and a published author) likes his pop powerful, and the hefty guitar figures that dominate these tunes pack enough punch to satisfy rock dudes. And while Reifert, whose résumé includes stints playing drums with
Autopsy and
Death, certainly knows how to pummel, he's a good enough technician that he can turn down to suit these songs, and he makes them rock without clubbing them to death. And with Hill also playing bass and keys and Reifert adding some guitar and bass work of his own, the division of labor allows each guy to inform one another's work, and as it happens, they bounce off one another very well. "Together Alone" is a great moody number that suggests these guys have been listening to their
Blue Öyster Cult albums, "Hidden Hand" is garage rock played with a hard rock attack, "Painted Doll" and "She Talks to Mirrors" add a psychedelic undertow to the group's hooky hard rock, and "Stairwell" adds some welcome snarl to the mix. For a two-man band,
Painted Doll have used the studio with enough savvy to make the performances sound full, rich, and flavorful, and the closing cover of "I Put a Spell on You" manages to put a fresh spin on an old classic.
Painted Doll might seem like an odd prospect on paper, but in practice it's a great combination of melody and muscle, and Hill and Reifert would do well to head back into the studio once they work up some more songs. ~ Mark Deming