Amanda Palmer Issue #37

Who Killed Amanda Palmer

By Megan Martin
Published: September 1st, 2008 | 5:31pm

An artist becomes more notorious, more legendary after they’ve passed into the great beyond. Suddenly their words are more magical, something to be treasured rather than judged. Amanda Palmer’s solo debut Who Killed Amanda Palmer is an obituary of sorts, a picturesque slideshow of a woman breaking out of her mold for the umpteenth time in her life.

Ranging from bombastic rock to music box melody, Who Killed Amanda Palmer scales the life of a little girl who became a woman and did everything she wanted in between. More famously known as the singer-songwriter of punk cabaret duo Dresden Dolls, Palmer explores something rather beautiful in her debut solo release. Proving that obits don’t always have to be so dead serious, she laughs at herself along the way on tracks like “Melissa Mahoney,” a comical pop number about abortion, taking a trip to the clinic with her best friend. “Runs in the Family” shows off Palmer’s poetic prose and ability to sing lyrics really, really fast while “Have to Drive” is a beautiful ballad about suffering.

It’s hard to imagine an album that can cover such a range of emotion, but like dark red lipstick or singing cabaret — Palmer is one of the few women who pull it off with ease.

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