i dunno. reviews are what they are, and this is a bad one. by which i mean, it's written badly. if he wanted to heap some scorn, he could at least have been witty about it, but his humor is severely lacking, and his sarcasm lacks a discernible edge. it's not that i disagree all that much--i hate the ukelele, the between-song twitter breaks, etc. when i would rather it be about the music. i will never be the sort of fan who asks PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR LIFE. i don't hug people, and i don't give a crap about the love or the group magic, i just want the fucking music. at the end of the day, the love and magic don't really exist, and they never really did. music is all that can endure.
frankly, it's the same with neil gaiman. i could give a shit if he likes me or even knows my name, i just want to read his books.
maybe it's how obviously false that image is that is the problem. the one phrase the guy said that stood out in my mind was how the ukelele song amanda sang seemed to ridicule the song. i thought the same exact thing with her version of 'creep'--partly because i hate that song but also because she sang it as though she were making fun of it, and i got some fun out of making fun of it. i thought it was hilarious and kinda avant-garde until i realized she played it at every single show on that tour--and then released an entire radiohead cover album (which i have never heard because i hate both radiohead, and ukeleles). same with the rebecca black parody. every time i see amanda play the ukelele i feel like she is somehow making fun of the song she's playing, and you want to laugh with her till you realize, oh--she's seriously playing a song she likes.
i'm actually kind of offended he spotlit her claim to bisexuality in the way he did. sure, lots and lots of people can and do claim bisexuality in a desperate attempt to seem fascinating, but it doesn't have shit to do with her music or really even her image, and implying she's not, and in fact career-jumping because she married a famous dude is bordering on personal insult, which an article like this should avoid, and stick to insulting tangibles. the writer is as unfamiliar with amanda's sex life as i am, and therefore it falls not to us to judge what in hell she is, but rather to take her word for it; after all, she would know better than anyone. i guess it's just another reason he doesn't like her, but it adds nothing to his article.
also i didn't think the dresden dolls was 'novelty music.' weird al yankovic is novelty music. romanovsky and phillips are novelty music. the 'down under' album is novelty music. it's just that the dolls had a unique sound, and not enough bands play similar. really, still, not enough bands play similar.
so, yeah. while i might agree with some of his criticisms, he makes them seem ranty with his haphazard, wit-free style of writing.
kinda love the phrase, 'faux-goth' though.