After The Dolls – Pat Todd and The Rankoutsiders (Heavy Medication)
On which The Greatest Bar Band In The World pays homage to the post-“Too Much Too Soon” solo music of members of the New York Dolls. Put your money down and you get six songs on a 10-inch vinyl EP (or digital files, if you prefer) and it’s rolled gold greatness.
So what’s here? Six songs split into a Johnny Thunders side and a David Johansen side. “Wreckless Crazy” and “The Rope (The Let Go Song)“ are Johansen solo B sides. “Melody” was a single from his self-titled debut. “Dead or Alive” is from the sessions that produced Thunders’ “So Alone” LP while “Short Lives” comes from his sonically underdone “Que Sera, Sera” album. “Disappointed In You” is a poignant tune that was demoed, bootlegged but never properly released when JT was on this mortal coil.
Pat Todd and The Rankoutsiders aren’t content with committing a faithful bunch of covers to vinyl – they tear into these songs like they’re their own, and imbue them with their own raw spirit.
“Melody” in its original form was pretty and commercially crafted in spite of David Jo’s blues shouter howl; this version retains the song’s hook but gives it a steely sonic edge. Walter Phelan’s swinging feel lifts it a notch and Pat Todd sings the shit out of it
(Johansen’s earliest solo stuff, by the way, was top shelf before the record company guys ironed out his sound in search of a hit. It’s nowhere near as primal as the Dolls, but his earliest line-ups seemed more than mere hired hands. The debut, the live album and another radio show release are essential.)
The guitars of Kevin Keller and Nick Alexander swagger and drawl on “Dead Or Alive” in the best Thundersesque tradition and the band sounds like they're having a ball. “Disappointed In You” rivals “You Can’t Wrap Your Arms Around a Memory” IMHO and the studio rough version is brought to life in the hands of the Rankoutsiders.
The band’s high-energy treatment of “Short Lives” was good enough to inspire me to pull out my copy of “Que Sera, Sera” for a fresh blast (admittedly, it was the “2020 Resurrected” version).
A lot of tributes are so respectful to be pointless or just don't measure up to the originals. Not this one. It should have been a full-length album. Make a beeline to buy yours here.
