Fear of Dolls is arguably one of the most deliberately strange
avant-garde rock bands anywhere, often more psychological
than musical. Naïve childlike minimalism meets the exaggerated
and irrational. A visceral and schizophrenic balance of abstract
lunacy, nervousness and tension, emotional frailty, and violent
cacophony transport the listener back to a time when you still
believed monsters lived under your bed. Formed in 1995 by Greg
Forschler, Fear of Dolls has actively performed live in the
Seattle area while the music and band members have constantly
shifted and evolved. Settling into its first solid version in 1998,
the band has had two distinct singers amongst its otherwise ambiguous personnel changes and has been degenerating, since 2001, into a perpetual state of uncertainty and flux. Currently fronted by Greg and vocalist Bonni, who joined in 2000 along with her doll Chatty Patty, shows are a rare surprise, and recordings will occasionally continue to surface.
Conspirators:
Greg Forschler—guitar, bass, toys, vocals, other noises. (Faith & Disease, Ninth Circle)
Bonni Suval—vocals, xylophone, toys.
other members past and present:
Phil Petrocelli—drums. (Black Noise Cannon, nov23, The Living Jarboe)
Joel Bergstrom—guitar, bass, keyboards. (Bête Noire, Black Nite Crash)
Shaun Richards—drums, percussion.
M. Violet—vocals, accordion.
Compilations & Appearances:
Fields of Fire—Misc Records | 12" vinyl 2002 | “Broken Toy”
Nick Zedd Presents: Geek Maggot Bingo—Music Video Distributors | DVD | 2002 | Includes the film Thus Spake
Zarathustra which features various released and unreleased Fear of Dolls music.
A Tragick Compilation—Tragick Records | CD 2000 | “Show Me My Insides”
Dark Treasures—Cleopatra Records | CD 2000 | “Wax and Wane”
To Jupiter and Beyond—Aporia Records | CD 1998 | “The Spikes of the Gods Into My Head”
Nocturne Concrete—Unit Circle Rekkids | CD 1996 | “Sound of Thorns”
She Dances Happily is a posthumous recording with former vocalist m. Violet. Nearlyforgotten fragments that came together to form a cohesive mini album, simply because, it could be argued, they had to. Another serving of psychological excursions from a day in the life of Fear of Dolls. A unique and necessary moment, and an equally unique sound, that will never be repeated.
Features guest bassist Eric Cooley from Faith & Disease.
Lullabies is the quintessential Fear of Dolls album - misleading from the very start, misshapen through out, and possibly entirely misguided, but with a gleam of hope, albeit buried in nearly subliminal sarcasm. With vocalist Bonni Suval at her creeepiest and best, the songs prey upon the subconsciousness, somewhere between the absurd and the disturbed, the silly and the sinister, with unlcear intentions, transporting you back to a time when you truly believed that there were monsters under your bed.
Includes a cover of the Rolling Stones song “Sister Morphine.”
