Review: Alphabet Bands
Webzine Alphabet Bands reviews Thugs and China Dolls and gets all gushy on us:
Dukes’ blend of wry, observational humour and poetry reminds us in part of John Grant and his sublime album, The Queen of Denmark. But while Grant’s focus was more internal, more autobiographical, Dukes’ head is up and he is looking out, his attention on the “the weirdness, the anomalies, the resistance” of the American suburbs. These eccentricities may be ripe for lampooning but Dukes treats his subjects with affection; jauntily bouncing along in celebration or shuffling, dejected, as appropriate.