Category Archives: Dum Dum Girls

Best Of 2011: Glen’s Favorite Songs

Rather than release a countdown or a numbered list, I’ve decided to try something different!!!!! Band and song. Keepin’ it simple. 

Arctic Monkeys- “Black Treacle
Atlas Sound – “Lightworks,” “Mona Lisa
Babies – “Meet Me In The City
Bass Drum of Death – “Get Found
Beets – “I Think I Might Have Built A Horse
Black Keys – “Lonely Boy
Black Lips – “Family Tree,” “Modern Art,” “Mr. Driver
Colleen Green – “Rabid Love
Diarrhea Planet – “Fauser
Dum Dum Girls – “Coming Down
Fat History Month – “Old Lady Smokers
Gaye Blades
 – “Don’t Get Married
Girls
– “Magic
Handsome Furs – “Repatriated
The Hussy – “Sexi Ladi
Mark Sultan – “Song In Grey,” “Graveyard Eyes
Mind Spiders – “Don’t Let Her Go
M-Tank – “Don’t Miss You
Natural Child – “Hard Workin’ Man
Night Beats – “Ain’t Dumbo
Orwells – “Lays At Rest,” “Halloween All Year
Panda Bear – “Last Night At The Jetty
Peach Kelli Pop – “Girls of Summer,” “Eenie Meenie Minie Moe
Shannon and the Clams – “Baby Don’t Do It
The Strokes – “Under Cover of Darkness
Thee Oh Sees – “I Need Seed,” “If I Stay Too Long
Those Darlins – “Be Your Bro
Ty Segall – “My Head Explodes,” “You Make The Sun Fry

CD Review: Only in Dreams [2011]


Band:
 Dum Dum Girls
Release: 9/2011
Label: Sub Pop

1. “Always Looking” – A+
2. “Bedroom Eyes” – A
3. “Just A Creep” – A-
4. “In My Head” – A-
5. “Heartbeat” – B+
6. “Caught in One” – A-
7. “Coming Down” – A+
8. “Wasted Away” – A-
9. “Teardrops On My Pillow” – B+
10. “Hold Your Hand” – B

Comments: Quick thing that I’ve noticed right off: Dee Dee’s voice goes full-circle in the sexiness/appealing category. “Always Looking” is an Austin Powers 4 sound-track candidate with swampy guitar and even a happy-go-lucky clapping part. FELT! HEART! Haven’t heard that kind of stuff since The Go Team! In terms of stuffiness of hooks and all that stuff (pun intended), this album gets high marks. I’ve always thought Dum Dum Girls had some serious development potential when I saw them open twice for KK+BBQ. It was a relatively new band at the time so things live weren’t as “hitting” as on record. But this record is much fuller than I Will Be. We get better harmonies, better vocal focus. As various press releases indicate, Only in Dreams is about relationship emptiness and life emptiness. Despite this subject matter, it never really gets in the way of fun rock ‘n’ roll. It gives Dee Dee a much better platform as a song-writer. Make no mistaking Dum Dum Girls with their girl group contemporaries. The middle chunk of songs are fine pieces, but it’s not until “Coming Down” that things pick up. This song is powerful (as I’ve mentioned in a previous review) and will knock you on your ass if your susceptible to this kind of excellence. Upon showing it to someone, they quipped… is this a live recording? Not so much the case, though the distorted/washed guitars make one wonder. I am fan of this. Puts more focus on the beautiful songwriting. Bridge is perfect: “I THINK I’M COMING DOWN. HERE I GO…HERE I GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” It does indeed have the same chord progression/vocal stylings as Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” but builds on it in a very modern fashion. As a rule, I Will Be packs more immediate punches, more in your face(ness) than Only in Dreams. Only in Dreams takes its time and this just goes to show to you how far this band has come. Going from Sub Pop rookies, to King Khan and BBQ Show openers, to Girls openers, they’ve spent quite a bit of time covering a lot of ground while getting their music out there. And great for them. They are headlining The Paradise in October. Check this out, check that out.

Grade: A- (91)

Colleen Green Touring W/ Dum Dum Girls

That’s right for all you West Coast KLYAMers check out Colleen for sure as she’ll be performing in a venue near-by! And the Dum Dum Girls, they are quite worthy of checking out, too.

10/1 San Diego, CA – Casbah
10/2 Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar
10/3 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
10/4 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
10/7 Portland, OR – Doug Fir
10/8 Vancouver, BC – Electric Owl
10/9 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
10/12 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
10/13 Madison, WI – High Noon
10/14 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
10/15 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
10/16 Toronto, Ontario – Lee’s Palace
10/17 Montreal, Quebec – Il Motore

Band of the Week: The Dum Dum Girls

Our Band of the Week is The Dum Dum Girls. DDG are one of the finest groups around right now. There is a mystique to their art that seems to be missing in most groups- they don’t just jump out at you and let you know all about them on the first date. At the same time, their strong pop hooks and earnest, gorgeous vocals bring a certain comfort and easily draw the listener in. It’s too bad they are not bigger because I think the DDG are great role models for young women!

Here is a recent cover of Big Star’s “September Gurls”:

http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/15601-september-gurls-big-star-cover/

EP Review: He Gets Me High [2011]


Band:
Dum Dum Girls
Release: 3/2011
Label: Sub Pop

1. “Wrong Feels Right” – B+
2. “He Gets Me High” –A
3. “Take Care Of My Baby” – A-
4. “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” – A

Comments: This one begins where I Will Be left off. Like its longer predecessor, He Gets Me High personifies the tag noise/pop that has been applied abundantly to Dum Dum Girls music. The first two tunes are of the variety of rock ‘n’ roll that we’ve gotten a taste of before from the Girls while “Take Care of My Baby” is a blissful rockabilly number — light instrumentation, beautiful vocals, a little tambourine. The production on The Smiths cover “There Is A Light” is absolutely stellar. The studio sound captured on here is something that probably couldn’t really be replicated as well live, but it is what it is and that’s really brilliant.

Grade: A- (91)