Zack: In case you haven’t noticed the trend, I tend
to listen to albums while I’m grading. This semester, grading for me is less
about meticulously reading each response, checking off relevant points of the
argument that are required to show mastery, evaluating the overall strength of
the points made, and assigning a fair numeric grade and more about robotically
checking off if an answer matches the answer sheet. It’s a lot of fun. No,
that’s not right. It’s a lot of torture. But playing some music tends to make
it somewhat more tolerable, and the grading takes long enough that I can get
through multiple albums before I’m done. Plus, it makes me draw all sorts of
weird parallels. For instance, this time around I was thinking about measuring
concepts while New York Dolls played. I started to think about how our reviews
could probably be grouped into two categories: albums that blend genres and
albums that are representative of a genre. I’m still working on how to measure
the concept exactly, and coding will definitely be a bitch, but I plan to have
the regression output ready for public consumption in a fortnight or two. When
I do, New York Dolls is going to occupy a weird space. On one hand, it’s
blending things like rock and roll, glam rock, garage rock, and probably a few
other things together, so it totally sounds like a blender (I’m still working
on the nomenclature). On the other, the product is a perfect example of
protopunk, a genre that New York Dolls (along with The Stooges, to be sure)
were in the process of creating. The result is an interesting middle ground
between these two artificial distinctions I just made up because you can’t stop
me. As far as historical importance (another hazy concept I plan on
operationalizing and selling to Rolling Stone to stop the madness), that’s got
to be worth something.
Favorite Tracks: Trash; Personality Crisis; Lonely Planet
Boy
Emily: Pretty much any punk, glam, alternative, or hard rock band will name the New York Dolls as an influence. They were the trailblazers, the ones who said, "See these hippies? These pop stars? Fuck them. We're gonna do our own thing. We'll wear makeup, play electric, and just overall rock harder than anyone else." They were among the first to blend rock and roll melodies with garage rock sneer, creating a sound that was kinda punk, kinda hard rock, and a whole lotta awesome. Listening to their self-titled debut, I heard shades of Kiss, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Green Day, David Bowie, Metallica, and others just as diverse as those I have named. It all started in the early '70s with the New York Dolls and their brethren. While they may not have been as commercially popular or critically acclaimed as some of the bands that followed their lead, the New York Dolls and their debut album have an influence that spans genres and decades.
Favorite Tracks: Trash; Subway Train; Personality Crisis
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