Monday, May 29, 2017

Scott Sutherland and the Doll Test

I'm a dB's fan and as such, I'm always starved for any new crumbs by Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey and the band.  I'm enjoying the new single by Peter and I like the odd cover leaking out from Stamey central.   Still, because of the relative scarcity of material from my heroes I'm excited when I stumbled onto music from bands that sound like they have been influenced by  Peter and Chris.

The Doll Test is perhaps my favorite band in this category.  Lead by Scott Sutherland who spent quality time singing and playing in Seatlle's excellent Model Rockets and The Chemistry Set, The Doll Test released one LP and and an EP before receding into the mists of under recorded bands.   The quality of both of these releases is quite good.    Listen to "Scared Out of Your Mind" or "Rains All the Time" from the 2006 EP Gasoline and Banks and you'll get the picture.  The band does a convincing job of creating catchy songs that sound like they could have been lifted from the dB's second album "Repercussion".  Cool hooks well played. In 2008, the band released a fine full length follow up entitled "Mosque Alarm Clock" and then were heard from no more.
   
in 2013 Scott Sutherland resurfaced leading a somewhat punkier band called the "King County Queens".   Their LP is available as a download. Definitely worth checking out.  But Scott Sutherland hasn't been sitting still since 2013.   He's been publishing a series of demos and covers on his YouTube page.  Though in various degrees of finish, there is some fine psychedelic pop here. I've collected a series of Scott's originals here as a sampler (he has recorded his share of covers as well).  Well worth your while to check out this underappreciated artist.   Hope he finishes some of these with full band.

1 Holes and Highs
2 That's When I
3 The Kids on the Farm/Mariner's Lament
4 Edge of the Map
5 Leper of the Pack
6 Es Solamente
7 Light in the Window in the Fog
8 Ode to a Bull
9 Tinsel in the Rubbish Bin
10 Nothing is Better Than Right Here
11 Evergreen State Onions
12 Tears and Blood
13 Nobody Could Prove He Was Wrong
14 Greek Fire and Siege Machines
15 Riding With Sam and Dave
16 We Could Have Done Something Else
17 Dolly Jim
18 Macbeth
19 BB Gun Fight
20 A Hard Man
21 I'm Really Together (I Even Think I Should Be)