Painted Doll

It all began when a longtime heavy metal percussionist crossed paths with a humorist drawn to power pop sounds, resulting in the creation of Painted Doll through shared musical interests that emerged unexpectedly. Their music combines catchy melodies and engaging tunes with distorted guitar work, drawing from classic hard rock and 1960s garage psychedelia to counterbalance the lighter elements.

The pair's initial release, a 2018 album bearing their name, demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach, whereas their follow-up effort from 2020 titled How to Draw Fire allowed them to explore psychedelic territories more freely.

Dave Hill, known for his stand-up routines and writing, along with his past guitar roles in Cobra Verde and Valley Lodge, teamed up with Chris Reifert, the driving force behind Autopsy who had previously collaborated with Death and Abscess, to establish the project.

Their initial encounter occurred during a performance by the Italian horror rock veterans Goblin, leading them to discuss mutual interests in lesser-known psychedelic bands from Britain and the Netherlands. Hill's appreciation for black metal also played a role, as evidenced by his creation of the parody dark metal outfit Witch Taint, which originated from his online deception posing as the teenage head of an imaginary band when corresponding with a Scandinavian black metal artist and label executive. That correspondence later appeared online under the title "The Black Metal Dialogues."

Eventually, they started sharing song concepts, formally launching Painted Doll in 2017 with Hill handling guitar, bass, keyboards, and singing while Reifert took care of drums, guitar, and bass.

Tee Pee Records, a label specializing in stoner rock, put out their debut album in February 2018, prompting a limited number of performances, one of which featured Monster Magnet. For these shows, bassist Erika Osterhout and guitarist Tom Beaujour augmented the lineup, with Beaujour also serving as co-producer on the record.

Beaujour returned to the studio with the core duo for the 2020 release How to Draw Fire, an album that more seamlessly blended their pop sensibilities with harder rock elements and placed greater emphasis on their psychedelic inclinations.