Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders are one of the surest things in rock 'n' roll. Anything they release is guaranteed to be top-notch. And that goes for their cover songs as well. The band's new 10" EP, After The Dolls (out on Heavy Medication Records), was a passion project for Pat Todd. As one of the world's biggest fans of the New York Dolls, Todd has a deep love for the band's catalog that extends into the music the members later released as solo artists. The concept of After The Dolls was to pay tribute to some of the amazing songs that Johnny Thunders and David Johansen wrote when they were supposedly "past their peak." And when you give a great songwriter like Pat Todd the leeway to put his own twist on some old classics and deep cuts, you know you're going to get something special.
Sometimes tribute albums fall flat, but After the Dolls feels different. All six of these tracks are inspired takes on incredible songs. The love for the original versions is palpable, but you can tell that you're listening to Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders. Any Dolls/Thunders fan will be intimately acquainted with the material on the "Thunders side" of the record. Todd & the Rankoutsiders push the tempo on "Dead or Alive" to the point where it practically sounds like a Heartbreakers song. You can feel every ounce of heart and soul in the classic ballad "Disappointed in You." "Short Lives," from Thunders' 1985 release Que Sera, Sera, is re-worked into the roaring '70s punk classic it could have been. On the "Johansen side" of the record, the band pulls some deeper cuts. "Melody" and "Wreckless Crazy" are both from Johansen's oft-overlooked second solo album, In Style. "The Rope," one of Johansen's rawest and punkiest solo tracks, was the B-side to the 1978 single "Funky But Chic." "Wreckless Crazy," as Ted pointed out, comes out sounding like it could have been a Rankoutsiders original. It's a scorching update on the original. The band drags the disco-era blue-eyed soul of "Melody" into modern times without losing the spirit of Johansen's version. "The Rope" sounds like vintage '90s by way of the '70s punk rock 'n' roll — reiterating Johansen's profound influence on Todd and so many of his contemporaries.
If you're going to take your shot at covering Johnny freaking Thunders and Mr. David Johansen, you can't afford to miss. With After The Dolls, Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders show the world what a tribute album ought to be. You can tell that this project was on Todd's mind for many years. The song selection could not have been more perfect, and all six of these tracks absolutely smoke. While the band succeeds at making these songs its own, it does so with tremendous affection for the original versions. This EP will make you want to go listen to your Johnny Thunders records and perhaps seek out some David Johansen records. And that, my friends, is surely the point.
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