Chicago’s Dolly Varden marks their triumphant return with The Panic Bell. After a three-year hiatus marked by solo records, art exhibits, and raising babies, the record ushers in a new focus for the
band.
Fronted by husband and wife duo Steve Dawson and Diane Christiansen, the songs on The Panic Bell are filled with images of Dawson’s struggle to hold onto his band and his hope in a world numbed by the distortion and violence of “shock and awe.” The opening track, ‘Complete Resistance’, sings of “one million foreheads coming over the ramparts in wave after wave” to an All Things Must Pass-like fuzzy groove while “All Gonna Change,” rings the panic bell to a Fleetwood Mac- like crescendo of voices. Christiansen’s plaintive voice has never sounded better than on her own “Small Pockets,” and on the stark Dawson-penned ballad “The Truth Is Told.” Hope does appear in the form of the the biggest, hooky pop song the band has ever recorded, the Sloan-meets-Beach Boys rocker “Everything,” and in the album’s closer “Good Provider.” The two-part harmony between Dawson and Christiansen that Dolly Varden is known for is all over the album, but the new recordings are driven by tougher guitars, bigger choruses and spontaneous abandon.
Recorded over the last two years in Chicago, the band learned the songs in the studio and tracked them live with minimal overdubs. The collective intuition born from nearly 7 years of rehearsing, recording and touring was alive and well despite their hiatus, and the joy of playing music together came back as a welcome rush. The record was mixed by Matt Pence (Centro-matic, American Music Club) in Denton, Texas.
The Panic Bell brings new rawness and energy to Dolly Varden’s sound, while still maintaining their melodic strengths and top-notch songwriting.
Dolly Varden is:
Steve Dawson - guitars, piano, vocals
Diane Christiansen - guitars and vocals
Mark Balletto - electric guitars, vocals
Mike Bradburn - bass and vocals
Matt Thobe - drums, vocals.
RIYL: George Harrison, Wilco, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Henry, The Shins
harp magazine review (april / may 2007)
It’s been four years since the last installment of Dolly Varden music, but The Panic Bell arrives with the key elements of the band’s music wholly intact. Songwriter Steve Dawson has an unerring capacity for finding the caveat in joy and desolation, in light and darkness. His voice thins and strains with compelling force; partner Diane Christiansen’s is here a fragile ache, there a soothing croon of reassurance; and when they sing together, the two crate an entirely new whole. The band moves seamlessly from the delicate, folky sound of “Small Pockets” and the Stones-tinged rock of “You Never Will” to the guitar-and-harp wail of “Triumph Mine, Idaho” and the gorgeous pop of “It’s All Gonna Change,” all the while managing to inhabit the music with a simmering, barely contained intensity. The Panic Bell serves notice that Dolly Varden continues to make pop music that is seductive, transcendent and peerless.
-Stuart Munro
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Named after a colorful species of hard-to-catch trout, the Chicago-based band Dolly Varden started making music late in 1994. Fronted by the husband and wife singing-songwriting team of Stephen Dawson and Diane Christiansen, Dolly Varden plays what has been called “unabashedly gorgeous Pop music...an effortless meld of Rock, Country and Soul.” Along with band mates Mark Balletto (guitar), Michael Bradburn (bass), and Matt Thobe (drums), the group has developed a rare confidence and grace over the course of 7 years, 3 albums and hundreds of performances in the U.S. and Europe.
In early 1995 the band converted Christiansen’s painting studio into a makeshift recording studio and started working on their debut album. Mouthful Of Lies, released on their own Mid-Fi label, brought the band local and national rave reviews, radio airplay and avid fans in Chicago and the Midwest.
Dolly Varden signed on with New York indie label Evil Teen for their follow-up album in 1997 and began working on new recordings in their upgraded home studio. The Thrill Of Gravity, released in early 1998, introduced Dolly Varden to new fans nationwide through national radio-play, touring, and press. The Austin Chronicle called the album “one of the smartest American pop albums ever put to tape.”
Dolly Varden’s music took a big leap with the release of their third album, The Dumbest Magnets (Evil Teen Records), in June of 2000. Produced by Brad Jones at his live-in studio in Nashville, the band revealed a new creative maturity due to years spent on stages, in vans, writing songs, and recording together. Dawson and Christiansen came up with an astounding group of songs built around a theme of enduring commitment (to marriage, to family, to music) that touched a nerve with critics and fans alike.
Over the next year the band toured the U.S. from coast to coast making new friends and loyal fans along the way. At the end of the year the album appeared on many “Best of 2000” lists across the country. Early in 2001 Dumbest Magnets was released in Europe by Flying Sparks Records which led to strong radio-play, glowing press, and a string of critically-acclaimed live performances in Paris, London, and all over Britain.
For Dolly Varden’s new album, Forgiven Now, the band went back to Brad Jones’ studio in Nashville to pick up where Dumbest Magnets left off. With more time and a new batch of deeply felt songs, Jones helped guide the group to another creative peak. Especially evident is Diane’s blossoming songwriting talent, and the growing strength of a band now in it’s seventh year of making music together. This is truly a full-band effort. All five musicians’ voices can be heard intertwined in the album’s layered production. In addition, pedal steel legend Al Perkins makes a guest appearance on Christiansen’s hypnotic “The Lotus Hour” and on Dawson’s George Jones/Tammy Wynette-inspired country shuffle, “There’s A Magic”. Discussing the album Dawson says, “when we lined these songs up back to back there seemed to be a common link...so many of them seemed to be about leaving behind resentments, trying to see a bigger picture. That’s where the title comes from.” Forgiven Now was released March 2002 through a partnership with Undertow Music, the company run by Dolly Varden’s long-time manager, Bob Andrews.
The band has always had complete creative control of their music but this new partnership allows the band to have a hand in the business side of things as well. “With the music business in such an unstable place, it just made sense to us to keep things close to home and work with people like Bob and Meggean who are smart and fair, and who we absolutely trust”, says Dawson. “We’re all very excited about doing this together,” Dawson continues, “even though there’s more work involved, there’s actually more freedom to concentrate on the music when we know the business stuff is getting done right...and knowing that our musical choices won’t be questioned by someone outside the group.”
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