Boston original punk-cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls have gone full on Taylor Swift in reclaiming their masters from Roadrunner Records and deliver Yes, Virginia… (Tailor’s Version) on Cooking Vinyl, a full re-recording of their 2006 landmark that lands every bit as urgent, wild and painfully timely as it did back then.
The duo consisting of Amanda Palmer (piano, synths, vocals) and Brian Viglione (drums, guitars) re-recorded the album almost entirely live at Boston’s Mad Oak Studios late last year, and it shows that two decades of playing these songs live lets the songs breathe even more. Of course Palmer’s percussive piano still stabs and Viglione’s orchestral drumming still detonates, but there is is also a lived-in element that renders a different maturity to the songs, and a more knowing interaction between the two.
Album opener ‘Sex Changes’ as well as ‘Necessary Evil’ rages against abortion rollbacks, whilst ‘Backstabber’ has Palmer still spitting venom and pity in lines such as:
God, I feel for you, fool.
The album features special guests, Veronica Swift and drag-queen Jinkx Monsoon on album closer ‘Sing’, a beautiful song where Palmer’s vocals go easily from fragile to powerful and sends shivers down your spine whilst at it, the added vocal harmonies contributing to a gospel-like euphoria at the climax.
Other highlights include ‘Modern Moonlight’, which is currently a not-so-outlandish imagining of a corporate takeover of outer space, whilst the infectiously jaunty ‘My Alcoholic Friends’ is still a joyous ode to being your own worst enemy.
The Dresden Dolls go on their first proper world tour in two decades. Palmer’s new solo video ‘Death Thing’ is also out — a crowd-sourced ritual burning of sentimental objects mailed in by her 25,000-strong Patreon community, every bit as cathartic as it sounds.
As Palmer says of the album:
It was almost unsettling how relevant these lyrics still are in 2026, especially the themes of turmoil, powerlessness, the subtle creep of fascism, and abortion rights; there’s even a song imagining the corporate takeover of outer space in ‘Modern Moonlight.’ It’s like, wow, look how far we haven’t come.
Thankfully this band is back where they belong.
So put on your best outfit and come on down to the punk cabaret.
The Dresden Dolls Tour Dates:
- 1 September – Vienna, Arena Wien Open Air
- 2 September – Warsaw, Progresja
- 4 September – Prague, ARCHA+ (SOLD OUT)
- 5 September – Berlin, Huxleys Neue Welt (SOLD OUT)
- 7 September – Utrecht, TivoliVredenburg
- 8 September – Paris, Élysée Montmartre
- 10 September – Manchester, Albert Hall
- 11 September – London, British Airways ARC
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