4.
Dum Dum Girls – Bedroom Eyes

On 08/09/11 I said:

“Currently having a listen to the new Dum Dum Girls record.

Compleeeetely different sound & recording technique from anything she/they’ve done in the past… even her voice sounds really different. Very ’90s BIG SOUND going on, but not necessarily in a bad way.

It sounds like a more pop-orientated Throwing Muses in places, maybe even a touch of Fleetwood Mac-gone-punk or something…? Those can’t possibly be bad things, right..!?

Second albums have proved disastrous for a lot of new-ish bands this year, so here’s hoping this one stays the course.”

grant observed that this tune sounded like he’d always hoped The Pretenders would sound, and I thought OF COURSE, *that’s* where I’ve heard that particular tone of voice that DeeDee is doing throughout this album before!

On further listens, the record’s a curate’s egg deal really: some bits (like this tune) are thrilling, big budget guitar pop that manages to hit you just right and fool you into feelin’ something. Other times, textures and song lengths get totally out of control, but without an ounce of the kind of writing or emotional chops needed to wrangle such bombast (“the Oasis effect”, as we in the trade like to call it), making the second side in particular into a vapid, pummelling sprawl. That I don’t like it as much as the early one-woman stuff is a no-brainer, but still, what can ya say – people gotta move on, and it’s a more valid progression than many manage.

Labels: Dum Dum Girls, song reviews, the difficult second album