Release Date: 14 March 2011
The title of the New York Dolls' fifth studio album, "Dancing Backwards In High Heels", might be seen as a reference to their long lost penchant for provocateur drag, as seen on the inconic black, white and pink cover of their 1973 debut. The album's one cover, Patti LaBelle & the Blue Bells' 1962 hit, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," is a tipoff to some of the sensibilities at play. But you won't exactly be mistaking the Dolls for a girl group. Yes, the melodies are sweeter, the arrangements are more sophisticated, and they venture a good distance from their trademark roaring-guitar sound. Yet for all the increased craft apparent in the production, there probably hasn't been as much pure, unadulterated swagger from David Johansen on a Dolls album since their first personality crisis back in '73.