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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You were oh so cool in high school but now I'm in your face!, January 16, 2003
Sometimes in the course of music history, you will look at a band's last few releases, and scratch your head at how they wound up there. For instance, Dizzy Up the Girl is very poppy, radio-friendly, and devoid of their original style. The 80's certainly bred a lot of punk acts, but this is one that somehow slipped through the cracks. Blending punk rock with uptempo power pop, they were hard to resist. This album features raw vocals from then lead vocalist/bassist Robby Takac, off-key guitar solos from Johnny Rzeznick, but overall, a sense of humor, which is why this is an easy favorite of mine.Musically, this album is a tad sloppy, but the energetic feel of the album and urgent songwriting is enough to make up for it. While mostly grounded in upbeat punk, this album does feature a few power pop nuggets, an acoustic ballad (the silly "James Dean"), a few covers (the awful cover of "Down on the Corner" and the complete makeover of the Stones "Gimme Shelter"), and even an instrumental ("7th of Last Month or Iggy the Cat Gets a Bath"). And all in all, the Dolls pull it off well, using well-crafted anthemic punk songs that entice and excite, while writing smile-inducing lyrics. Whether it be the punchy and biting guitar riffs from Johnny, the raspy high-school boy vocals of Takac, the angry yet humorous juvenile lyrics, or the occasional "huh?" track ("James Dean", an acoustic ballad sung by John about...well...wanting to be James Dean), you may just find yourself wanting to sing along.
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