Sub Pop
I remember first hearing that Dum Dum Girls EP on Captured Tracks and loving how tinny and trebly “Catholicked” was. It’s like a ’60s girl group that didn’t fall under Phil Spector’s spell. Understandably those days are long gone and lead Girl Dee Dee has moved on to a bigger and glossier sound.
After reading the press release for her third Dum Dum Girls full-length Too True however I was intrigued. She asked: “Do you hear Suede? Siouxie? Cold-wave Patti? Madonna? Cure? Velvet and Paisley Undergrounds? Stone Roses? Cuz I did.” I really wanted to hear that too.
Unfortunately though Too True doesn’t quite reach those mile-high reference points. That is a tall order to achieve and Dee Dee’s music has never sounded fitter for mass consumption but if you throw those names out there I’m gonna hold you up to it.
Instead of Suede’s trashed-up glamour or trying to conceive Patti Smith going cold wave I hear another set of well-written and well-produced (by Richard Gottehrer and The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner) songs that seem to be transitioning from garage pop to new wave.
That said the shadowy tinges on “Lost Boys and Girls Club” and “Cult of Love” make me want to see Dee Dee finally just embrace goth. At the very least it’ll make both me and her wardrobe happy.
