Music review: Brody Dalle – ‘Diploid Love’
“I’m gonna burn this city down,” snarls Brody Dalle on the opening track of her first solo release.
The stylishly aggressive “Rat Race” motors at full speed under the weight of grinding guitars and Dalle’s raspy, muscular vocals.
The former frontwoman for the Distillers and Spinnerette pulls no punches with a nine-song set of diversely engaging arrangements for “Diploid Love.”
Dalle powers through the revealing material with touches of Debbie Harry, Joan Jett and Courtney Love as her inspiration.
Being a huge fan of Hole’s “Celebrity Skin,” it is understandable that I’m absolutely giddy about Dalle’s latest project.
“Underworld” is fueled by a punk guitar riff that ultimately bleeds into a spirited mariachi band serenade, while “Don’t Mess with Me” smolders with a sexy toughness mastered earlier by Jett on songs like “Bad Reputation” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”
Just like Love on “Celebrity Skin,” Dalle delicately polishes her punk edges to produce a more mature and dramatic sound.
While Dalle can still growl out a grunge number with the best of them, “Diploid Love” also saves room for the Australian native’s softer side on the hauntingly eerie “I Don’t Need Your Love” and the soaring ballad “Carry On.”
“Meet the Foetus/Oh the Joy” features Shirley Manson of Garbage and Emily Kokal of Warpaint joining Dalle on an unconventional ode to motherhood.
Married to Queen of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Dalle recorded the new
album at her husband’s studio.
Dalle wrote all the new songs and co-produced the album with Alain Johannes.
On offerings ranging from “Blood in
Gutters” to “Dressed in Dreams,” Dalle proves it’s still cool (and entertaining) to be both tough and sensitive.