Illustration by W. Heath Robinson from Shakespeare's Comedy of Twelfth Night, 1908
There's not much to say about the garage-rock-meets-girl-group sound of Dum Dum Girls that hasn't already been said - their aesthetic is pretty clearly defined and finely honed on their second album Only In Dreams. I'm surprised that this sound didn't catch my ear the first time around (with their debut LP I Will Be) - I don't remember hearing that much about it when it came out. I think, like a lot of people, I was busy being disappointed with the second Vivian Girls record and its attendant backlash. But Kristen "Dee Dee" Gundred and her cohorts have timed this release just right, I think, because Only In Dreams seems to be hitting the spot with a lot of people.
I can pinpoint the moment when Only In Dreams really hooks me because I do a little double-take literally every time I hear it - it's the bridge of "Bedroom Eyes". The song (the second on the album) is a jangle-rock number with a charming chorus hook and an '80s pop sensibility, but the melody sails into the stratosphere on the bridge, with Gundred's voice firing on all cylinders in an unexpectedly affecting way. From that moment (about three and a half minutes into the record) until the LP's ends, I am hanging on Gundred's delivery of every phrase and melodic turn. I'm not sure that voice would make me a devotee all by itself (almost, but not quite!), but the songwriting on Only In Dreams easily meet the standard set by Gundred's vocals. Balancing the obvious retro vibe with a nice variety of less easy-to-pin-down influences, the songs on Only In Dreams display both an expected consistency and unexpected variety.
A couple songs overlap a little (the back-to-back chorus hooks of "Heartbeat (Take It Away)" and "Caught In One" are interchangeable the way i hear them), but my attention never strays. This is even true of the six-and-a-half minute slow-burner "Coming Down", which I'd initially dismissed as a low point on the album, but I'll admit that my affections lie largely with the album's poppiest numbers, like "Heartbeat (Take It Away)", "Teardrops On My Pillow", and the aforementioned heavenly "Bedroom Eyes".
"Bedroom Eyes" by Dum Dum Girls
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