The Dresden Dolls – My Alcoholic Friends (Tailor’s Version)
The Dresden Dolls – the pioneering punk cabaret duo of singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Brian Viglione have shared a brand new rendition of the fan favorite, “My Alcoholic Friends (Tailor’s Version),” available everywhere now.
The song’s original version has proven to be an enduring classic for the Dresden Dolls, amassing more than 240M worldwide streams and over 70M views on YouTube, and recently earning the band their first-ever RIAA Platinum certification, two decades after its original release. “My Alcoholic Friends (Tailor’s Version)” is among the standout tracks on Yes, Virginia…(Tailor’s Version), a newly re-recorded 20th anniversary celebration of the Dresden Dolls’ landmark 2006 second studio LP, arriving digitally and on CD and vinyl on Friday, August 7.
“The Dolls have been smashing out ‘My Alcoholic Friends’ on live stages for over two decades now, so re-recording it a few months ago was less of a scary challenge and more of a fun circus ride: it’s so inside of our blood that the song almost plays itself at this point,” reflects Amanda Palmer.
“This song (and this band, for that matter) was never about perfection. It was supposed to hit the listener like a sonic car crash. The fact that it blew up on TikTok absolutely delighted us, and it’s been a real trip to watch a whole new generation of listeners paste their own weird and personal meanings onto the lyrics. I’ve always loved songwriting as a game of emotional Marco Polo between the writer and the listener, and I even found myself creating new meanings in the words of ‘My Alcoholic Friends’ as I sang them into the mic, officially, for the second time. Music is a beautiful Rorschach and emotional conversation that way, not just between the band members, but between the listeners themselves as they take the words and attach their own designs on top…and I consider us really lucky to be able to re-record this music while we’re still in our prime as players.
Yes, Virginia…(Tailor’s Version) – the newly fashioned title, of course, a nod to Taylor Swift’s reclamation of her early master recordings, follows the recent conclusion of The Dresden Dolls’ 20-year contract with Roadrunner Records, allowing them the right to re-record the albums originally issued on the label. Recorded over several weeks in late 2025 at Boston, MA’s Mad Oak Studios, the album was tracked almost entirely live with longtime collaborator Benny Grotto and mixed by Paul Kolderie, co-founder of Boston’s iconic Fort Apache Studios (and sound engineer on the original 2006 Yes, Virginia…). The new recording sees The Dresden Dolls joined by guest vocalists Veronica Swift, who received a French knighthood and worldwide acclaim for her 2021 recording of the album’s “Sing,” and 2x RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon, an ardent supporter of the band who performed the album’s “Me and the Minibar” with a full orchestra at her Carnegie Hall debut in 2025. The album also includes new front- and back-cover artwork by South African surrealist painter Niki McQueen.
Hailed upon its original release for Viglione’s orchestral, emotionally expressive drumming and Palmer’s percussive piano work and unflinching songwriting, Yes, Virginia…(Tailor’s Version) sees the Dresden Dolls exploring sexuality, identity, addiction, capitalism, Holocaust denial, and social isolation against a backdrop of defiant joy. The tracklist remains unchanged – save for a bonus track on the new physical releases – but the performances reflect two decades of Palmer and Viglione’s artistic and personal evolution, adding renewed depth, nuance, and intensity to such treasured songs as “Sex Changes,” “Mrs. O,” “Sing,” “Delilah,” “Me and the Minibar” and “Backstabber,” the latter of which is joined by a “Tailor’s Version” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Having earned global applause for their blazingly visceral live performances over the past 20 years, Palmer and Viglione approached the material with a deeper musical connection and a more expansive emotional range. Their performances do not attempt to perfectly replicate the original recordings. Rather, Yes, Virginia… (Tailor’s Version) reflects a mature interplay – subtler, elastic, and more attuned to space and restraint – while preserving the raw theatricality that defined the Dresden Dolls’ early work.
“It feels like we’re both far more sophisticated and nuanced musicians now,” says Palmer. “We have more grace as collaborators; we leave more sonic space for one another. We’ve been a live band for 25 years and clocked our 10,000 hours on stage; now we can get out of the way of the songs themselves and let them breathe more deeply. Re-recording these songs 20 years later proved to be a really surreal trip down memory lane.
“The challenge in the studio,” Palmer adds, “was to capture something that’s always moving – these songs have always been played in conversation with an audience. The recording didn’t need to be perfect, quite the contrary: it had to feel alive and urgent. Some of the songs were recorded in a single take, vocal and all. It was almost unsettling how relevant these lyrics still are in 2026, especially the themes of turmoil, powerlessness, the subtle creep of fascism, abortion rights; there’s even a song imagining the corporate takeover of outer space in ‘Modern Moonlight.’ It’s like, wow, look how far we haven’t come.”
THE DRESDEN DOLLS – TOUR 2026
SEPTEMBER
1 – Vienna, Austria – Arena Wien Open Air
2 – Warsaw, Poland – Progresja
4 – Prague, Czech Republic – ARCHA+
5 – Berlin, Germany – Huxleys Neue Welt
7 – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg
8 – Paris, France – Élysée Montmartre
10 – Manchester, UK– Albert Hall
11 – London, UK – British Airways ARC
OCTOBER
3 – Los Angeles, CA – The United Theater on Broadway
6 – Sacramento, CA – Channel 24
7 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
9 – Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
10 – Seattle, WA – 5th Avenue Theatre
27 – St Paul, MN – The Palace Theatre
29 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed
30 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
31 – Montreal, QC – Beanfield Theatre
DECEMBER
4 – Boston, MA – The Colonial Theatre
5 – Boston, MA – The Colonial Theatre
9 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
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