One-Eyed Doll - Monster (Remonstered)

"Monster" by One-Eyed Doll

Tracks

1. Intro
2. Be My Friend
3. Brief Candle
4. UFO
5. Bulimia
6. Roses
7. Plumes of Death
8. Fight
9. Pretty Song
10. Pao
11. Monster
12. Rambling of the Ungodly
13. I am a Viking
14. We're One-Eyed Doll

Background

 One-Eyed Doll is a duo based in Austin, Texas consisting of guitarist and singer Kimberly Freeman, and live drummer, bassist, keyboardist and producer Jason Rufuss Sewell (Aka "Junior"). Paul Evans handles drums in the recordings on this album, and bass live. "Monster" is their second album released in 2008, and was re-released and remastered five years later under the title "Monster (Remonstered)." 

 Kimberly Freeman is an extremely interesting woman. I feel like I have to talk about her life before I talk about the album. She grew up in Oregon, and does not do drugs, in fact she barely drinks coffee. She makes most of the merch by hand. When you buy a shirt from them, you're buying a piece of her work. For a lot of their career they couldn't afford to well... buy anything. She was homeless. She would use whatever she could find to make merch- old tee shirts she found on the streets and bleached the logo on (She washed them after she sold them of course), jeans to be made into patches- and the DIY attitude and level of personal relationship she has with her fans is absolutely astonishing. There's a documentary on them about all of this that you can find here. It's quite amazing to watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T9rYRX0EWI

Now, about the album itself

 The album starts with a live recording of the singer introducing the band. The audience's reaction is pretty funny, she introduces the musician, and they say "Hi ______" really enthusiastically, almost like you would hear a classroom introducing a new student. Immediately, it jumps into "Be My Friend," the album's single, and really showcases the band's combination of very serious topics with comedy. She's singing about killing people with a very happy, smiley voice. Also, there is a banjo sample which plays occasionally throughout the song. The next song features some synths after the clean intro. It's interesting because takes a break from the very preppy voice. "UFO" gets stuck in my head a lot, and is one of the heaviest songs on the album. "Bulimia" features lyrics like "There is snot in my macaroni, it's salty." This is one of the few songs I get choked up about, despite the playful lyrics and her preppy voice, because it reminds me of how many people are going through this, and I just start thinking about how much it ruins people's bodies. "Roses" is about a situation after a show where a group of guys started telling Kimberly to "bend over." She replied by breaking a vase of roses she was holding over their heads. The next two songs I have nothing to say other than the fact that they're absolutely awesome. "Pretty Song" is an acoustic. "Pao" is a song entirely in Mandarin Chinese, a language Kimberley is fluent in. "Monster" is an almost 8 minute epic, written by a very young Kimberley. One of the few songs that gives me the chills. "Ramblings of the Ungodly" is an acoustic. "I am a Viking" features entirely synth instruments, and though I'm not usually a fan of them, it works pretty well for the song. The last song, "We're One-Eyed Doll" is pretty much the intro, just strung out, has guitars, and the gang vocals aren't live. It's interesting that she refers to herself as "Kimberly," Junior, the drummer as "A drummer."

Overview 

I recommend this to everybody, especially girls.

9.4/10

Favorite song: "Be My Friend," for the lyrics "Serial killers are people too, if you take away the voices, I'm just like you." It shows how anybody can be whoever they want to be. 

Listen, Please