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| June.09 Cover - The New York Dolls |
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| Written by J.R. Taylor | |
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Page 1 of 3  Your Society Makes Me SylThe New New York Dolls #2 Discuss Doing The New #2 I can’t remember which old folkie said we can’t kiss the ass of the past all night long. He’s probably still more memorable than the original New York Dolls. Of course, you can be fairly old and have been mostly introduced to the Dolls through crappy live bootlegs. It was still nice to see the New York Dolls recently performing at the upscale John Varvatos clothing store in New York City. It’s the space that used to be CBGB. Some in the (even older) crowd seemed to be sad right down to the roots of their jet-black dye jobs. The Dolls sounded great, though, with nearly all the songs from the fine new ’Cause I Sez So. That’s the second album from the revived Dolls, which catches their catalog up to the band’s original run in the early ’70s – minus those crappy bootlegs. When the Dolls reunion shows were announced, it mostly seemed like an unfortunate end to David Johansen and the Harry Smiths. That blues outfit was the best post-Dolls outfit ever. Sylvain Sylvain had always been underrated as a guitarist and songwriter, though. Johnny Thunders had died as a heroin addict, so the stage show didn’t suffer from his not being around. The sudden death of bassist Arthur Kane still took away the feel of a proper event. An album was announced, but that wouldn’t have been the first rent party from the surviving team of Johansen & Sylvain. But then 2006’s One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This – helped by the grace of that humble album title – ended up being exceptionally fine rock. So were the live shows. Johansen is in fine voice, and Sylvain looks to be having a grand time. He usually is. The guy was pretty happy even when I interviewed him in the ’90s, back when he was just adjusting to his new home in Atlanta. (“Sometimes I joke and tell everyone I’m about two miles from the Big Chicken. I’m not, really.”) Sylvain was enjoying a pretty good decade even before the Dolls reunion. All of his solo albums were back in print, and he’s currently putting together a solo career compilation. Sylvain’s also happy to be discussing the new Dolls album from Los Angeles, where the band is playing yet another House of Blues. He doesn’t even mind that he’s talking to someone who doesn’t care much about the original New York Dolls. “It’s always different,” Sylvain explains. “Sometimes people are caught up in the past, and other times it’s people still catching up to us. I take it as it is. Every new record is like having a baby, anyway. They’re beautiful in the parents’ eyes, no matter how ugly they are. I really like how this new album is an evolution from the last one. It was written in four weeks, which was a little bit against my principles. You never know when you’re going to write a good song, but you don’t want to go into the studio with any premonition of what’s going to happen.” Fortunately, Sylvain ignored his initial premonitions of rushing to Hawaii to record with Todd Rundgren. |
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