San Diego (US) based teenage rock band, Doll Riot, have just released their latest single, Get A Life, and we here at the Send Me Your Ears studio have taken several listens to this talented four piece today.
Doll Riot are vocalist/guitarist Elena Olszak, guitarist Ella Sauer, bassist London Kraus and drummer, Lillee Gillum, and what an astounding combination of talents we have in this young group. Formed in 2020, the girls began, like most bands, by playing covers, but frustrated by the lack of performance opportunities during the pandemic, Doll Riot chose to begin writing their own songs and boy was this a good idea!
Get A Life is a powerful and punky blast of just over 2 minutes long. The track comes straight in with every instrumentalist throwing everything they have at it. A song inspired by real life teenage drama (exes, internet stalking, the usual stuff!), Get A Life is just superb.
A band that say that they’re inspired by L7, but honestly, L7 could learn a few lessons from these girls. The layered vocals are powerful, and with a confidence that Gwen Stefani brings to the table and with a style similar to Siouxsie And The Banshees.
The chorus is catchy and with some great (kinda shouty) layered vocals over some superb stabbed guitars. There’s a lovely break down with bass and fantastic stereo drums that result in an energising and exhilarating build into a phenomenally well played instrumental section.
Special kudos to drummer, Lillee for some of the most precise, innovative and fast drumming we’ve heard in a long time. The musicianship of all four members of Doll Riot is mature way beyond their years.
From a production perspective, we have a few suggestions for some tiny EQ adjustments. Firstly, we’d suggest a hi-pass filter around 35Hz to remove some of the low rumble. A boost around 60Hz to bring a little more thump to the kick drum and a cut at 100Hz to reduce a slight peak in the bass guitar. A wider boost around 250Hz for increased warmth and fullness in the track as a whole. A wide cut centred around 2kHz to reduce a slightly harsh tone in the vocals and guitars and finally a high shelf boost in the top 2 octaves for brightness and ‘zing’.
Easily our track of the day, if not the week, Doll Riot are an exciting, classy, edgy alt-rock band that have the musicianship and songwriting skills to take them all the way to the top. We look forward to following their progress.