People who are aware of Amanda Palmer generally have pretty strong opinions of her. Whether it’s a love/hate of her music, a connection to the community work she’s done in Dorchester and her native Lexington, thoughts about her marriage to Neil Gaiman, or a reaction to her probably-mistimed poem about the Boston Marathon bombers nobody seems to be neutral toward her. Her former band – Dresden Dolls – made a lot of fans in theatre circles, through a mix of accordion-fueled vaudevillianism, aggressive intellectualism, and a firm grasp of how to portray both feminism and trauma survival in truthful, digestible ways. It was a good trick and a lot of folks were upset when they split (though they still occasionally play together).
Theatre is Evil is Palmer’s second solo record since folding Dresden Dolls, and at the time it was the largest Kickstarter ever funded for a musician (almost $1.2 million). It adds a level of big rock behind Palmer’s old show-tune vibe, like Stephen Sondheim and Elton John were in Queen around 1976. The 70s stadium feel pervades a lot of the uptempo songs on Theatre, and that’s definitely not a bad thing. It’s the same kind of bouillabaisse that fueled The Black Parade, minus some of the cock-rock bombast. Palmer’s earthy alto and personal lyrics keep it grounded, even while the music wants the chorus to walk down a light-up staircase shaking their shoulders with jazz hands and high kicks.
The parts of Theatre that work best for me (I’m sure you’re surprised) are the bigger, bolder bits. The opening quartet – “Smile (Pictures or It Didn’t Happen)”, “The Killing Type”, “Do It With a Rockstar”, and “Want It Back” – seethes with a mix of lyrical venom, fist-pumping hooks, and chintz-covered theatricality that’s just flat refreshing. This is the indie-rock version of “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting“; clever without forgetting to be fun, acerbic and heart-pumping at the same time. It’s Theatre‘s main through line and it’s a great vibe.
The slower side is generally good. “Grown Man Cry” is great, blending something like ‘Til Tuesday with slower Foreigner before they sucked, and “Bottomfeeder” borrows the best pieces of Under the Pink. Speaking of Tori Amos, she highlights the slices of Theatre that I’m not nuts about. There’s a certain kind of woman-with-a-piano epic (which Amos is really good at) that I’m just not able to enjoy; I blame my demographic’s obsession with Little Earthquakes back in the early 90s for that. Palmer sprinkles a few of them on this record -“Trout Heart Replica”, “Berlin”, and the lyrically excellent “The Bed Song” – and I’m sorry, I know it’s my issue and not the songs, but I get no pleasure from them.
The truly unexpected trick from Theatre is that Amanda Palmer has recorded my new favourite song (neither a new song nor my favourite song, but my new favourite song if you get that)- a little piece about handling your lover being away by snuggling with your crush called “Melody Dean”. It’s a powdered sugar confection built out of equal parts Toni Basil and The Knack (complete with “My Sharona” reference) and sweet Jehovah it makes me sing and smile.
Final Grade: A*. I’m giving Theatre Is Evil an A, but the asterisk is for the trio of songs that I’m not equipped to judge. The rest of the record really is that good, and is going into my regular rotation, but I feel I should note I’m not grading almost 20 minutes of it (but still leaving 11 tracks I am grading). “Melody Dean” and “Do It With a Rockstar” are the mandatory downloads, but really just buy it.
Your Shitty Record Won't Review Itself 