"You're cold on the inside,
there's a dog in your heart
and it tells you to tear everything apart.
My body's covered in teeth marks.
Your bite's worse than your bark.
You ruin everything you touch and
destroy anyone you love..."
there's a dog in your heart
and it tells you to tear everything apart.
My body's covered in teeth marks.
Your bite's worse than your bark.
You ruin everything you touch and
destroy anyone you love..."
— Nicole Dollanganger, "Dog Teeth"
Nicole Dollanganger (real name Nicole Bell, born September 8, 1991) is a Canadian, lo-fi musician known for her haunting vocals and eerie lyrics. Her songs have common themes of Domestic Abuse, Destructive Romance, sex, BDSM, and occasional sweet dates.
She first started releasing music in 2011, posting her demos on her Tumblr blog. She wrote and produced her first four records on her own, recording her songs in her bedroom and bathroom and self-releasing them on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. In 2015, Canadian musician Grimes discovered her music and started the (now-defunct) record label known as Eerie Organization to release and distribute Nicole's music to a wider audience. Since then, her music has been co-produced by producer and engineer Matthew Tomasi.
Discography:
Studio Albums:
- Curdled Milk (2012)
- Flowers of Flesh and Blood (2012)
- Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs (2013)
- Observatory Mansions (2014)
- Natural Born Losers (2015)
- Heart Shaped Bed (2018)
- Married in Mount Airy (2023)
EPs:
- Columbine (2013)
- Unreleased (2014)
- BabyLand (2014)
- Greta Gibson Forever (2015)
- Covers (2016)
- Heart Shaped Bed Demos & B-Sides (2019)
Her music contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: "Swan" and "Freaks Forever".
- It's implied that "Alligator Blood" is written about a parental figure as well, at least if the fatherly-sounding motto ("grow up weak or grow up tough") is anything to go by.
- Album Closure: Heart Shaped Bed ends with "Lacrymaria Olor," a song about saying goodbye.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: The male Love Interests in most of her works are this. "You're So Cool" being a notable example, since the song was written for Nicole's (now) ex-boyfriend because he was in jail and she was hoping that he would hear this song on the radio and it would brighten his day.
- An aversion of this is "Sweet Girl", in which Nicole falls in love with a nameless Nice Girl as opposed to a dangerous man.
- Ambiguously Bi: Frequently writes about straight relationships, but has also penned "Sweet Girl", about a lesbian one. As of yet, Nicole has made no comments pertaining to her sexuality.
- Animal Motifs: Best seen in "Dog Teeth", where the abuser is compared to vicious dog.
- "Swan" and "Alligator Blood" also use animals (of course, a swan and an alligator respectively) as metaphors for the abuse that the speaker has endured.
- Anti-Love Song: "Flowers of Flesh and Blood". Whole song, but a single line says it all."Why didn't anyone tell me love was like being fucked with a knife?"
- Axes at School: "Rampage" seems to be about a school shooting from the point of view of the shooter's girlfriend.
- Cover Album: Columbine.
- Creepy Souvenir: "Hair Lockets"."I've been collecting pieces of your hair
To tuck away in the locket that I wear
Pretty strands that grew in your youth
Pieces that I'll always hold on to." - Body Horror: An overarching theme in most of her songs, notably "Dog Teeth" and "Alligator Blood".
- Breather Episode: Generally, anything off of Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs.
- "Sweet Girl" qualifies, as the relationship appears to be a lot healthier than the majority of what Dollanganger sings about.
- Canine Companion: "My Pug"."cuddling in bed, i kiss and rub your belly
listen to you snort and wheeze whine in your sleep
greeted with wet kisses in the early morning
always fall asleep to the song of your snoring." - Creepy Uncle: "Uncle" is possibly this, especially since it was formerly titled as "I Slept With my Uncle on my Wedding Night". Overlaps with Incest Subtext.
- Darker and Edgier: Relatively, since it's Nicole, but the b-side "Have You Seen Me?" and the alternative version of "Beautiful and Bad" have full on Heavy Metal instrumentation, compared to her usual fare of ethereal folk ballads.
- Destructive Romance: Many of her music have this theme, e.g. "Mean" and "My Baby".
- Domestic Abuse: This is implied or outright stated in numerous songs, most notably "Dog Teeth", "Mean" and "American Tradition".
- Intentionally Awkward Title: "Angels of Porn".
- "Uncle", given the obsessive implications and sexual imagery of the song.
- Ironic Nursery Tune: "Choking Games" have some of the lyrics ("criss-cross applesauce") being sung like this, considering those lines are sung from the perspective of child murder victim Tammy Homolka.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Sings in a sweet, almost childlike voice with a calm guitar background; covers everything from eating disorders to domestic abuse.
- New Sound Album: Her first four records are all quite spare due to being produced completely on her own, usually only being piano/guitar and voice. On Natural Born Losers the production is kicked up a notch, with electric guitar veering into an almost Noise Rock-ish sound. Heart Shaped Bed brings in more synths and electronic drums.
- Non-Appearing Title: Quite a few of her songs are this, like "Sweet Girl".
- Obligatory Bondage Song: Inverted, as many of her song have this theme. But "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" is a notable one.
- Rape as Drama: Many of her songs imply this, such as "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" and "Angels of Porn". That being said, her work tends to treat it more sensitively than many other examples of this Trope.
- Rape and Revenge: Several, although "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" is a prominent example.
- Self-Harm: "My Funeral Boy"."Every time he cuts himself an angel gets their wings
(My funeral boy)
Every time he burns himself my skin begins to sting
My funeral boy." - Sequel Song: "Angels of Porn II," a re-recording of "Angels of Porn" with updated production and vocals.
- Shout-Out: Several throughout her discography:
- Her stage name itself is a reference to the central family of the Flowers in the Attic book series.
- The song "Cries of the Elephant Man Bones," is about Joseph Merrick
and samples dialogue from The Elephant Man. Also references the "one of us" chant from Freaks. - The song "Beverly Marsh".
- Her album titles Ode To Dawn Wiener: Embarassing Love Songs and Greta Gibson Forever mention characters from Welcome to the Dollhouse and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child respectively.
- Observatory Mansions is named after the 2010 novel by Edward Carey.
- "Blue Moon Motel" contains the lines:
- Married in Mount Airy references the defunct Mount Airy lodge in the Poconos.
- She has an unreleased demo titled "An Open Letter to Glenn Danzig."
- The interlude "A Marvelous Persona" and the song "Bunny Boy" are references to Gummo.
- Softer and Slower Cover: Most of Nicole Dollanganger's covers fall under this category.
- Troubled, but Cute: The objects of affection in many of Dollanganger's songs are of young men that fit this archetype, particularly those that are outwardly violent and cruel, but suffering on the inside. Notable examples include Rampage; sung from the perspective of a school shooter's admirer, it pulls many references from the Columbine High School massacre, whose perpetrators have this view in the eyes of the fandom surrounding them. Another example is Creek Blues, which earlier releases included the ragged cries of the Thurston High School shooter during his recorded confession.
- Queer Romance: "Sweet Girl" serves as both this and a Breather Episode.
- Questionable Consent: "Angels of Porn" implies an unpleasant sexual encounter, though if it's rape, it's never explicitly stated in the song:"Your fingers up inside of me feel like fingers down my throat."
- Video Full of Film Clips: The video for "Observatory Mansions," containing footage from various black-and-white films, including: Freaks, The Elephant Man, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Psycho, The Three Faces of Eve, Alice, Sweet Alice, Sunset Boulevard, House of Wax (1953), The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told, The Man Who Laughs, and A Place in the Sun.
- Weight Woe: "Please Eat" is about dating someone with anorexia, and "Angels of Porn" is also sung from the point of view of someone suffering from bulimia.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: The primary message of "Ugly" and "Please Eat".
