Blog Post
SISTERS DOLL – SCARS Release date 24/01/2025
Spectre Scribe for Rockfiend • 19 January 2025
Welcome to the dollhouse dear readers; your hosts are Sisters Doll, a four-piece band of Mileto brothers (yes actual brothers) from a wee mining village called Collie in Western Australia. Having relocated to Melbourne they have crafted and grafted for over a decade producing two albums and countless live shows that have swelled their doll army at every turn. Now we arrive at album number three and if I’m any judge of rock music, any judge at all, then this is the album that will send them over the top internationally. Like I said in the single review of ‘United’, when you state on your band bio that your sound is for fans of Kiss, Motley Crue and Van Halen and you add in the band is named after Twisted Sister and the New York Dolls you damn well better have the cojones, charisma and craft to back that up. Let me tell you right now these four firebrands tick every single box then promptly burn them to the ground.
Kicking off with a ninety second, scene setting instrumental entitled ‘Purgatory’ it allows you to acclimatise to the sound, mix and frankly outstanding audio assault that’s about to follow. Big, open, almost flamenco chords give way to an acoustic riff that’s builds beautifully to an electric finale.
As the opening instrumental fades, we’re met with a wall of amplified thunder as ‘Climbing Out of Hell’ explodes into life. It softens just slightly before quickly going back up through the gears to be an all-out rocker. An incendiary guitar solo with subtle yet sublime bass runs take it firmly into fist pumping anthem territory. Yes, we’ve just had Purgatory into Climbing Out of Hell…somewhere back in time two Winchester brothers had this blasting from a 67 Impala! Quick breath and we’re launched into another glorious anthemic rocker called ‘Prisoner’. The ascension through the chorus is classic unapologetic eighties and it’s bloody marvellous, melodically dirty would about cover this one.
After two huge hard-hitting anthems it’s time to lighten things up a little with a brilliant power pop piece called ‘Change’ and a chance for the listener to connect with the lyrics as opposed to their neck muscles. Beautiful mid-tempo rocker with another perfectly placed and tasteful solo, the gang chorus vocals with lead over the top to finish is just perfect. We’re firmly in ballad territory next for the ‘First Time’ and it’s unashamedly lighters in the air time or if you’re a younger doll then pop the light on your phone on, sway and enjoy. Track six already and we pick the pace up ever so slightly for a classic on the road story of long-distance love. The tribal feel of the drums carry the song brilliantly and once again the gang vocal chorus is a thing of absolute beauty, particularly in the closing sixty seconds.
Side two (yes, I’m that old) of the album kicks off with more than a hint of dirty sleaze about it as ‘Baby Doll’ grinds her way to the fore. Very much a darker doll but still very much a looker
nonetheless. Track eight is the lead single ‘United’ and at the want of repeating myself I’ll simply say again what I said in the single review…monstrous riff and a groove so deep it should come with a palaeontologist. Seriously, it’s HUGE!
Having dabbled in the dirty melodic and sleaze worlds on previous tracks, up rocks the absolute filth of ‘Take You Away’! Another disgustingly deep groove opens into three minutes of rocking raunch n roll with just enough fret wankery to loosen knicker elastic from fifty paces. If we’re extending the doll analogy, then this is very much dive bar Barbie action and it’s absolutely glorious.
Three songs to go and we’re back in the pomp of power pop territory. ‘Kiss Me’ is just a right good fun pop/rock song with just enough bontempi action to help shape it into some fluffly loveliness. In an album full of earworm action, you may have this chorus stuck in your head for days! Proving to be the perfect counter point to the previous power pop, the penultimate track draws very much from the New York side of the antipodean dolls as ‘You Can’t Bring Me Down’ is positively punk complete with a classic down tuned finish.
The twelfth and final track, and we finish as we started with an acoustic intro as the title track of the album, ‘Scars’ pirouettes into life. Wonderfully poignant lyrics with a hauntingly beautiful sonic backdrop highlight a stunning four-minute build into what you think is an electric and drum laden finale before over the top comes a bank of strings to finish you off. A truly magnificent magnus opus moment to end a potentially career defining album.
‘Scars’ releases on the 24th of January and the Dolls bring their unique brand of antipodean anarchy to the UK in May 2025 culminating in a UK festival exclusive at Call of the Wild.
Welcome to the dollhouse…bring your scars.
Brennan Mileto – Lead Vocals/Guitar
Austin Mileto – Lead Guitar/Vocals
Sage Mileto – Bass/Vocals
Bryce Mileto Drums/Vocals
Spectre Scribe for Rockfiend