The Dollyrots at the Raccoon Motel -- March 12.
Sunday, March 12, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Touring in support of their latest album that, according to Rock at Night, boasts "head-bobbing music with sing-along choruses and one toe-tapping song after another," married punk rockers Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas bring their outfit The Dollyrots to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on March 12, the duo's most recent recording Down the Rabbit Hole also deemed by Rock at Night as "definitely the music you need to have playing in order to amp up a lackluster party."
With lead vocalist Ogden on bass and backing vocalist Cabezas on guitar, the Dollyrots formed in 2000, have released six EPs to date, and are currently under their own label, Arrested Youth Records. Having known each other since meeting in the eighth grade in Land o' Lakes, Florida, they both attended New College of Florida, where they formed a band called No Chef with friends Josh Harrold and Mike Benbow. After a subsequent moniker and lineup change, the newly named The Dollyrots self-recorded and released the 2003 EP Feed Me, Pet Me. Responding to a blind audition call, the group was selected to appear in a Hewlett-Packard advertisement featuring their EP's title song, which led to signing a publishing deal with Windswept-Pacific (later acquired by BMG). The Dollyrots then spent the majority of 2004 to 2006 touring the U.S., headlining dates and playing alongside Groovie Ghoulies, Shonen Knife, The Breeders, The Queers, Soul Asylum, Paramore, Bang Sugar Bang, The Soviettes, The Shocker, and Teenage Bottlerocket. The musicians also co-starred and played two songs in the "Stuck On You" episode of CSI: NY in February 2006, with Ogden playing a role involving a murder committed with a bass guitar.
Beyond their EPs and tour stops, the Dollyrots have released a number of cover singles, including "Punk Rock Girls" by The Queers, "Let's Turkey Trot" by Little Eva, "Dream Lover" by Bobby Darin, and "Happy Together" by The Turtles. They recorded a cover of the song "There's A Barbarian in the Back Of My Car" by Voice of the Beehive for Snake Oil Supercharm, a 2003 tribute album to Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, plus a version of "Santa Baby" for the 2009 album A Blackheart Christmas and a cover of Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" for the film Endless Bummer. Following a February 2016 tour of the United Kingdom, The Dollyrots released their first concert film and companion live album, Family Vacation: Live in Los Angeles, that March. The double-disc set reached number 15 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart in its first week of sales, and Punk News rated the album four stars, writing "The Dollyrots not only accomplish everything they did in the studio, they take it to the next level," adding that the concert film and audio album "both not only work in standalone form, they work even better as complementary pieces."
The Dollyrots headline their Davenport engagement on March 12 with special guests The Von Tramps, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $17, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
