Guys and dolls

The Chicago band the Coctails was known as much for the stuffed cloth dolls its members made in their likenesses and sold at shows, as it was for its music—kitschy beatnik jazz epitomized by tunes like "Donut Shoppe."

Multi-instrumentalist and illustrator Archer Prewitt (the Sea and Cake, Sof' Boy comic) created the designs, while the rest of the band pitched in on the cutting, sewing and silk-screening. The legend of these and other limited-edition novelty items (including comics and newsletters) lived on long after the band played its official last show in '96 at its live home, Lounge Ax, which closed its doors in 2000.

The quartet broke up nine years ago, but the band has been active again, opening for the Pixies at the Aragon last November, and mounting a minitour of Japan this summer. Members found themselves signing autographs at art exhibitions that featured not only the rag dolls they produced in their old Lake Street digs—but also a set of new-school dolls.

Japanese company Presspop issued a full set of 12-inch "Beatnik Style" movable soft-vinyl figures (Prewitt provided original illustrations and the package design), as well as a Coctails 10-inch EP, T-shirts, tote bags and The Coctails: Book of Images, an archive of band flyer designs, merch and comics. "They really went crazy whole hog," says Coctail member Mark Greenberg, who runs Mayfair Recordings. "It was really out of a movie. Japan does it so right."

The Coctails will play a rare in-store gig at designer toy boutique Rotofugi on Thursday 15 to mark the U.S. release of the limited-edition figures ("They wanted us to have a signing but we were worried that it was going to be terrible, just this scene out of Spinal Tap") and a show at Abbey Pub on Sunday 18.

What do they think of the new look-alikes?

"I love them and I'm glad mine doesn't look exactly like me. It would be a more tired and heavier-looking action figure," Greenberg joked. "[One advantage] of having an action figure is that my daughter now has a nice guy—four, actually—to date her Barbie. That Ken is so full of himself!"—John Dugan