Band of the Week 10 - The Medicine Dolls

We’ve been at it for 10 weeks now, so we’ve decided to leave the peninsula and feature some amazing rockers from South Africa! The Medicine Dolls are a three piece post-punk/garage-rock band from Cape Town, South Africa, formed in September 2016 by Greg Allan (guitar & vocals) Bex Nicholas (bass) and Daniel Paulse (drums). Drawing influence from the underground sound of 1970's London and New York, while taking notes from 1980's indie and post-punk, to create a unique sonic cocktail.

We first caught them at a gig in downtown CT and immediately fell in love with their punk energy and raw talent. We’ll talk more about that soon, but for now, enjoy our intro video and slideshow and get ready for lots of CT punk info!

Now, it’s time to talk albums. First off, seriously, ASAP, check out their BRAND NEW EP Lost Love Lullabies! Like proper punk, The Medicine Dolls music is all available for free. So, how can you support such a band and make sure the music keeps coming and stays awesome? Spread the love! Share the links, download the records, make a mix for your friends, make your favorite radio station play some Cape Town punk, etc, etc, etc!

Anywho, here is their discography with our mini-reviews and links to read and listen:

Loose Change (2016) - EP

Simply put, this is an INCREDIBLE debut EP from a fantastic trio of punks weaving the old and new. I got hooked on this band with track 2, Girls and Poison, so make sure to listen to that one twice! Listen to & Download it Read about it: Texx and the City

Sick Like Paradise (2017) - EP

Easily said about all of their albums, but this record is just fabulously fun! If you’ve liked even a touch of punk from the 70s until today, you’ll love these tracks which close with a wonderfully somber ballad. It’ll pair nicely with a bottomless bottle of your favorite cheap wine ;)

Listen to & Download it Read about it: Texx and the City

Lost Love Lullabies (2018) - EP

We frickin’ LOVE this new EP! It has aggression mixed with catchy bits and fantastic songwriting all intertwined into a classic sextet of post-punk music perfect to help you down a bottle of whiskey or dance the night away! Because we had so much fun editing the intro video with it, we’ll have to recommend Kiss Kiss Kill Me, if you’ve only got time for one track now.

Listen to & Download it

Read about it: Turn Up the Volume

They are a truly amazing presence live, which we’ll get to in a sec, but these records are all brilliant as well! Do yourself a favor and go check them out~

This is a band you’re sure to hear more about in the near future, so be glad you “knew them when”!

Now then, LIVE MUSIC! We get to shows whenever we can here in Ecuador, but we are seriously missing amazing club shows in our favorite cities around the world.

As for The Medicine Dolls’ live gigs...

We caught them a couple of times at Mercury in Cape Town, a wonderfully old school club with just the right mix of good sound, cheap beer, and dirgy scenery. The Medicine Dolls give you just the right mix of great tone, sexy style, punchy lyrics and punk energy which make them one of our favorite new bands. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself anywhere near one of their gigs, cancel your other plans and get your butt over there!

Here’s what to expect:

-Daniel’s drums will be fast, loud, and occasionally played with Greg’s guitar, and usually played shirtless.

-Bex will rip out thick bass lines while ripping out your heart, all while adding punchy backing vocals.

-Greg will channel all the great style, sound and energy of the 70s and 80s while creating a new energy that will captivate and ignite you.

If you’re not in South Africa, you’ll have to wait a while, but we’re sure they’ll be coming to a fest near you soon. Until then, enjoy this fantastic clip from last summer, er uh, winter:

It’s been a blast highlighting these soon-to-be-famous post-punk rockers from South Africa. Now it’s time to close out week 10 with the most important bit, the songs!

Here are our 5 must-hear songs from The Medicine Dolls, in no particular order, with a quick beat on why you should check them out:

Kiss Kiss Kill Me → so frickin fun

Sick of Anesthetic → dark with an edge

Girls and Poison → honesty with a twist

Lost Love Lullabye → building with mystery

L → thick with everything

My favorite day of BOTW because I get to make these videos for you! Enjoy your bonus this week with Girls and Poison, the lyric video: