The Dresden Dolls

The Dresden Dolls are an American duo from Boston, United States, active from 2000 to the present. The group consists of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione. Their sound sits within alternative rock, cabaret, dark cabaret, piano rock, punk rock and rock, and they are also associated with punk cabaret and indie scenes.

Line-up and instrumentation

Amanda Palmer performs vocals, piano, ukulele, toy piano and harmonica. Brian Viglione plays drums, percussion and guitar, and also contributes vocals. The duo builds its songs around Palmer’s piano-led writing and Viglione’s jazz- and hardcore-influenced drumming and percussion.

Style and background

The band describes its theatrical style as “Brechtian punk cabaret”. Palmer coins the term to avoid the press branding the group with a gothic label. Their work is also linked to an underground dark cabaret movement that begins gaining momentum in the early 1990s. Palmer’s songs are confessional and tragicomic in tone, while her piano playing draws on Jerry Lee Lewis and Nina Simone.

Releases and reception

Their debut album, The Dresden Dolls, is produced by Martin Bisi, whose credits include Swans and Sonic Youth. It brings the band attention from both mainstream and underground media. Their second album, Yes, Virginia, appears in 2006, followed by No, Virginia in 2008, a companion release made up of B-sides, out-takes from the Yes, Virginia sessions and a number of new tracks.

Live activity and career events

The Dresden Dolls gain a reputation for strong live performances and a distinctive visual style. They support acts including Nine Inch Nails, Beck, the B-52s, Jane's Addiction, OK Go and Panic! At the Disco, and tour with the Legendary Pink Dots. They win the 2003 WBCN Rock and Roll Rumble.

The band later enters a hiatus, but states that it does not break up. It returns for selected live dates in 2010, including a tour of U.S. venues that begins in New York City and ends in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve. The group also plays in Mexico City in 2011 and tours New Zealand and Australia in 2012 with The Jane Austen Argument and The Bedroom Philosopher.