PAINTED DOLL HOW TO DRAW FIRE  

In the decades and even centuries to come, the year 2020 will be remembered for many things, most of them seriously negative. Still, to quote the lyrics of the band Painted Doll, “in the darkness shines a light,” which is to say, in this particular case, that even in this absolute fucker of a year, goodness still prevails.

You probably saw this next part coming, but part of that goodness is How to Draw Fire, the brand new album from Painted Doll, the unstoppable rock band consisting of the unlikely duo of death metal legend Chris Reifert (Autopsy, Death, Violation Wound, Abscess) and musician/comedian Dave Hill (Valley Lodge, Witch Taint).

How to Draw Fire is the band’s second album and on it Chris and Dave push their patented blend of psych/prog/proto-punk/rock/power pop and whatever else even further over the course of a dozen songs. Pop hooks are bigger, the scary parts are scarier, and the psych parts are so psychedelic some people may very well require medical attention just to come down from it all. In short, it is the perfect album to listen to while doing everything from driving down a lonesome highway in the dead of night in search of truth and maybe a bag of circus peanuts to undergoing an invasive procedure that simply could not be postponed any longer despite every effort to do just that.

Backing things up a bit, we realize some people are hearing about Painted Doll for the first time at this very moment, so let’s take a minute to bring everyone up to speed. 

Chris and Dave met way back in 2015, a simpler time to be sure, but also a crazy time in that Dave somehow found himself at the Housecore Horror and Film Festival in San Antonio, Texas playing guitar for muscle metal legend Thor for one magical evening during which a grown man Dave had just met rubbed oil over his entire upper body immediately before taking the stage. Yes, there were pictures of this but they have been destroyed.

Anyway, Chris’ band Autopsy was also playing at the festival and Dave, a curious type, decided to swing by the show to see what all the death metal fuss was about. The two got to chatting and decided to see Goblin together later that night. There, a bond was forged and, whenever Dave found himself in Los Angeles in the months that followed, he and Chris would get to jamming on songs inspired by their shared love of sixties and seventies psych music. Since Dave lives in New York and Chris lives in Northern California, it was a hell of a commute to band practice for both of them. But it was worth it because, after four of these sessions, Chris and Dave had written the songs that would make up their critically-acclaimed self-titled debut album, released by Tee Pee Records in 2017. Live shows on the east and west coast, featuring an expanded lineup that included the band’s producer Tom Beaujour (Nada Surf, Julian Hatfield, the Virgins, Guided by Voices) on guitar and bass player Erika Osterhout (Chtonic Deity, Necrosic, Scolex), followed, including a handful of dates opening up for Monster Magnet, which is awesome.

For How to Draw Fire, Chris and Dave decided to mix things up and get together in Autopsy’s rehearsal room in Oakland, which hasn’t been vacuumed since the eighties at least. And while the original plan was to practice at least five times this go-round, things were sounding so hot after just four that Chris and Dave decided to return to Nuthouse Recording in New Jersey as soon as possible to record with Tom once again. The result is twelve brand new Painted Doll songs that will remind you not only that hope springs eternal, but that everything sounds better with a little tambourine on it too.

How to Draw Fire will be unleashed on an unsuspecting public September 25 via Tee Pee Records. It is the best album and if you end up not agreeing, you can kick Chris and Dave in the nuts.

How To Draw Fire colored vinyl, streaming and download.

Painted Doll S/T debut

Both LPs bundled together for a great price!