| Before forming NICOTINE DOLLS in 2018, Cieri made ends meet by busking in the New York City subway for nearly three years, eventually scoring the lead role in the Tony Award-winning musical Once. Over the years, he steadily built the band from the ground up (at one point working six jobs to fund their recording and tours), cultivating a devoted following. Eventually, to become the band they always wanted to be, they had to blow up the old blueprint. The process included reconfiguring their lineup, scrapping a completed album and reconnecting with the reckless abandon that first made Cieri fall in love with rock & roll. Soon after recording an intended follow-up to their debut album An Attempt at Romantic, NICOTINE DOLLS hit the road for their first tour with Newsome in the lineup and quickly rediscovered the visceral thrill of rock music. “We were having so much fun playing with John, and it reminded me of the way rock & roll made me feel as a teenager,” Cieri recalls. “I realised that for a long time I’d been making the music I thought other people wanted to hear, instead of making music that I truly love.” Newly signed to BMG, the band decided to shelve their first attempt at a sophomore album and start over. “I’d always wanted to make a record like the one we ended up with, but never had the right band to pull it off,” says Cieri. “Somehow, everything came together and it felt like magic. That’s why it’s self-titled. To me, it’s the first real NICOTINE DOLLS record.” Across its twelve songs, the NICOTINE DOLLS album brings the same moody bravado to an unfiltered exploration of desire, regret and survival. The band moves from the fuzzed-out swagger of ‘Gimme Sympathy’ to the simmering defiance of ‘To the Wolves’ and the groove-heavy frustration of ‘Little Games’, attacking each song with equal parts unbridled energy and emotional force. At one point, Newsome tore through a guitar solo with bleeding fingers. “When we finished the record, I cried. I’d never had that happen before,” says Cieri. “I believe in our band, and this is the closest I’ve ever come to making the record I always knew we could make.” The band will perform at Blue Stone Arts & Music Festival in Sandy Springs, GA on 25th September before embarking on a UK/EU tour this October. Find more information here and see a full list of dates below: NICOTINE DOLLS UK/IE TOUR DATES
28/09 – The Garage, Glasgow
30/09 – Manchester Academy, Manchester
01/10 – Electric Brixton, London
03/10 – The Workmans Club, Dublin
04/10 – The Workmans Club, Dublin |
