Evelyn Evelyn

Evelyn Evelyn, produced by Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls and Jason Webley, sounds like it could be straight out of an R rated Tim Burton film. I mean, the duo is no Danny Elfman, but they still put out a pretty cool record.

Palmer and Webley use a combination of narrative tracks and musical numbers to tell the life-story of twin sisters joined at the hip. The dark comedy concept album follows the twins from the day of their doomed birth all through childhood, which at one point brings them to work in a circus, all the way through adolescence when the conjoined sisters grow up to discover boys and social networking sites.

But I say too much. I don’t want to give away the whole story...

Besides, the music is just as enticing as the story. “Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn,” is fashioned after turn of the century Ragtime tunes, featuring only the duet vocals and a single piano. “Chicken Man” however, is jam packed with all sorts of percussion instruments along with a tuba, trombone, and accordion.

My Space, the last original song on the album -followed by a Ukelele version of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart- is a bit out of place on the album with cheesy 80’s synthesizers. The song was much anticipated by critics since Frances Bean Cobain appears as a guest vocalist, making her musical debut. The song also features Weird Al Yankovic, Andrew W.K., and many more.

If you have an hour to spare you should definitely sit down and listen to this album cover to cover. The songs are alright on their own, but to really get the full effect dim the lights, put the homework away, and just listen to the story.

Evelyn Evelyn will be performing at April 12 & 13 at Oberon in Cambridge.