TowerDolly Dagger

Aussie-born and LA-based singer/songwriter Dolly Dagger (named after the Hendrix song, natch) is reanimating a once forgotten genre; the 90s alternative all-girl asskicker.

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Meandering in with machine drums in the distance and creeping up on us like twisted pairs of cigarette smoke, Tower begins ominously in the dungeon, Dolly delivering intoxicating, breathy lines in the lowest possible register like Shirley Manson (Garbage) or Alanis Morissette. Gathering speed with a hip-hop style delivery, we plunge into the grunge; a riff diving headlong into a maelstrom of Dolly’s forceful, mechanised chorus.

Tower feels fresh, invigorating, and ripe to elevate this once world-beating style into prime-time once again. All that’s left to ask now is: when’s the album dropping?

Creepy leads swarm the soundscape evoking a Deftones-like skin crawling feel, everything rinsed in black and grey. A hefty bass-line lumbers along as Dolly rips into the second verse, a fusion of heartfelt pop and music for pulling the damn thing out of your chest. It’s not all about the vox: a middle-8 recalls the swampiest riffs of Alice In Chains meeting Marilyn Manson dark-synths on a crossroads after midnight, Dagger cutting loose by gliding over the top of it all with clean-as-a-bell delivery before regrouping for an all-out chorus assault, doubled and tripled over itself.

For a throwback, Tower feels fresh, invigorating, and ripe to elevate this once world-beating style into prime-time once again. All that’s left to ask now is: when’s the album dropping?

STICK THIS NEXT TO: Garbage, Deftones, Marilyn Manson