Short Reviews [Lazy Doll – 2012 – “Let the Profit Roll”]

Hailing from France, LAZY DOLL is a quartet consisting of Eric Thiebold on analog keyboards, Pierre Fillot on bass and vocals, Frank Chuffart on guitar and Pierre Soulignac on drums. “Let the Profit Roll” is their debut CD, released by Musea Records in 2012. It’s made up of eight tracks, all of which contain vocals with lyrics in English, most of them vocal-heavy and repetitive alike, albeit stylistically they appear as musical cocktails, combining ‘60s pop rock a la early Beatles, AOR in the manner of Alan Price, symphonic proto-Prog, reminiscent of Procol Harum with hints of Pink Floyd in places, and proto-Hard Rock with massive keyboards, evoking Atomic Rooster, the latter two styles ‘working’ predominantly within their instrumental sections. One of the tracks additionally contains a jazz rock move, though it’s conventional (swing-based). Only the longest track here, The Way (9:03), reveals more instrumental sections than vocal ones, some of those evoking classic symphonic Art-Rock, at least remotely. And of course, it doesn't manage to get by without a ballad: Showtime, a tasteless, sugary AOR-ish thing, which endlessly repeats the same verse/chorus theme. The music has a strong retro feel throughout the album, but it doesn’t possess anything that would make it sound nostalgic. I’m not impressed.

Vitaly Menshikov: February 7, 2012