There are times when you realise that musicians are different to the rest of us. Then there are musicians that are different to other musicians. Musicians like those who make up Texan band One-Eyed Doll perhaps?
Things do start pretty normally with the intro "Hi, I'm Kimberly…" Ha, you say, another rock/metal hybrid band waiting to assault our ears with some seriously overdriven guitars. Perhaps you even flick through a few songs on your mp3 player thing and start thinking that you've heard it all before. For example, "Be My Friend" is about a serial killer. Metal bands like to do songs about serial killers. No serial killer has ever done the mass murder and torture thing to anyone in leather jeans after all. It wasn't too hard to work out what "Bulimia" is about but be careful for you'll miss the clever bit. This is theatre that you are witnessing not mere spectacle. Those monster guitars are used to punctuate intelligent and perceptive lyrics. Even one of the album's gentler moments - the elegant "Pretty Eyes" - shows that an iron fist is best contained in a velvet glove. That's the clever bit. Kimberly Freeman - who wrote all the songs - turns things inside out. Subtle points are made with sheer volume.
Despite the metal influences on show throughout, One-Eyed Doll are better compared to someone like Amanda Palmer. That same sense of the theatrical and the lack of fear in their lyrical content make for some serious aural refreshment in these days of karaoke kings.
Available from CD Baby.