The Mercy Dolls

The Mercy Dolls are a four piece indie/art rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, who were formed in 2006 and refer to themselves as a "dysfunctional collective of music industry sluts".

Biography
The Cult Years
The Mercy Dolls were founded in 2005 by Dylan 6 and John 'Clancy' Inglis. Initially, the band chose the name the 'Penny Drop Cult' in homage to 80s shoe gaze luminaries, the Smiths, misleading indie rock band, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, and Gen-X feel good movie Fight Club.

Dylan 6 and bass player Hitchcock Blonde allegedly met during a stint at the Royal Brisbane Hospital Mental Health Facility '. S&M performance artist, Misery Doll and female rock drummer, The Morning After Lil joined the trio not long after.

An acrimonious band blog in late 2006 stated:
'Relationships in the band have soured, Clancy has gone.... the rest of us continue, spinning for this while.... uncontrollably.'

After a brief stint in Sydney and Melbourne, The Mercy Dolls quickly became regulars on the Brisbane indie-rock circuit in 2007, and by 2008, had amassed a loyal cult following amongst both indie and dark wave audiences alike. Singer Miss Misery stated:
“We try to do something that people can be interested and engaged in. I actually started off in the band as a sort of performance artist. The original idea was that I would stand up there and just eat an apple, or something like that. Then I started singing a bit more. But, you know, I have a whip now, and I encourage people to come up and let me hit them. Ha ha. I'm a bit shy in everyday life, so I just like to go a bit crazy onstage. Everyone has fun.”
Their public demo Fragile is Innocence was recorded in March 2006 for $167 in four hours, in a studio session purchased on eBay.

“Yes, we ended up getting a couple of hours of studio time for a very small bid, which was great for us,” Miss Misery says. “We managed to do all of it in about four hours - pretty much everything was live and the vocals were done in one take. So that's our demo. We're going to be doing an EP soon, hopefully it will be out next year, so after the next couple of shows, we're going to be writing for that.”

Controversy
The Mercy Dolls have encountered many issues during their live performances - mostly resulting from offence taken at the adult nature of their stage show, their macabre themes and dark lyrics.

Occasional stage performer, "The Gimp", was forcibly removed from the stage during a Mercy Dolls performance by Fortitude Rising Festival (10/03/07) organisers. This resulted in strong protests from the crowd and an impromptu 'free the Gimp' procession was held in the Brunswick Street Mall - to the bemusement of band members. This issue was reported by Brisbane's Scene Magazine ironically quoting that "free speech was alive and well in the Brunswick Street Mall".

The band was censored during a performance at The Globe Theatre, Brisbane, in 2007, with organisers citing that they were afraid lead singer Misery Doll's costume could constitute an offence under the Adult Entertainment licensing laws.

They were also targeted by The Queensland Chapter of the Prevention of Violence Against Women Association for their support act of US industrial metal/industrial rock band Genitorturers. A press release condemning the local band and their association with the Genitorturers was sent to major newspapers across Australia.

"...Local Brisbane-based copy cats the Mercy Dolls, touring with the American band, are also notorious for violent and sexually-suggestive stage antics with the lead singer billing herself as a sadistic dominatrix..."This is a local band going out of their way to be just as abhorrent to get attention. Their lyrics promote drug use, violence, and rape. This is not a message that builds constructive and caring communities; it is not a message that encourages young adults to succeed."

During Grungefest 2008 the Mercy Dolls Bassist/Vocalist Hitchcock Blonde, infamously abused the sound technician publicly, due to poor quality sound throughout the event. This ultimately resulted in a walk off by the Mercy Dolls, gestures of solidarity from other bands at the event, and a cancellation of any further performances on the Mudhoney Stage. It was later discovered that the sound technician was intoxicated and not qualified to conduct sound engineering duties. The ensuing brawl was reported on 4ZZZ radio.

Discography
Demo
*Fragile Is Innocence (March, 2006)
**"Charlie
**"Rock and Roll Daze
**"Bleeding Black Heart
**"Dirty as Sin

EP
*Spread Your Legs For... (2007)
**"Charlie"
**"Rock and Roll Daze"
**"Realise"
**"Version One"

Film Clips
Version One - directed by Nila Mitchell, Cinematography by Davi Soesilo, Art Direction by Melita Clarke, and edited by Sarah Minazzo (2007).

Notable Success
*"Charlie" - #25 in 4zzz Hot 100 of 2007.
*"Version One" film clip - 'Best Tertiary Music Video' at Atom Awards 2007,
*"Version One" film clip - Grand Finalist in SunScreen Music Awards 2007.

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See Also

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