Iggy Pop-inspired and 60s-modulated, it’s easy to understand why I loved the Dum Dum Girls so much back in my embarrassingly pretentious thrift-store-browsing high school days. However, that unique sound they coined in their debut album I Will Be disappeared in lieu of their newest album Too True, released on Jan. 28.
The band began as a solo project in Dee Dee Penny’s (aka Kristin Gundred’s) makeshift bedroom recording studio in 2008. After the release of a five-song CD-R and an EP, Dee Dee clutched the attention of Sub Pop Records and signed onto them in 2009.
I Will Be was painfully hip and quite easy for any indie music buff to love with its lo-fi and post-punk elements, and was reminiscent of The Go-Gos. “Jail La La,” the first single released off the album, had an awfully feminine and bubbly aura about it that set it apart from the other indie hits that were circulating around the same time. The track “Baby Don’t Go” was a beautifully sad, honest, stripped-down simpleton, both musically and lyrically.
Perhaps it can be said that only the truly noble bands dare to be eclectic. Radiohead, for example, is known to metamorphose entirely with each new album they put out, and a number of styles are expressed in Pablo Honey and King of Limbs.
Artistically, I can appreciate what the Dum Dum Girls have done with their third full-length album Too True; they dived headlong into the pop-rock genre and emulated somewhat of an 80s glam rock vibe to their music.
It’s fair to say that they have a complete grasp on how pop rock is intended to sound: catchy arrangements, light lyrics and deep electric guitar roots. Their knowledge of the genre was, at least, smartly crafted and displayed throughout the album.
One could readily find elements of The Cure, Jesus Mary and Chain and other bands of the garage-rock persuasion in their new music. It almost seems as if they’ve ditched their hazy lo-fi dissidence and instead adopted a knack for creating a cluster of pop-rock hits.
The album held a few gems with songs like “Cult of Love” and the underdog anthem “Lost Boys and Girls Club.” These songs, I feel, only validate the fact that Dee Dee has stepped out of her bedroom recording days and created a much fuller atmosphere to her music.
Other songs I found to be aesthetically striking were the angsty love sick tune “Too True To Be Good” and the 19th-century poet-inspired “Rimbaud Eyes.”
However, I found the album slightly difficult to enjoy as a whole. Perhaps I’m caught up in the throes of nostalgia of I Will Be, unable to accept the fact that Dee Dee has chosen an entirely new angle and direction for her music, like all great artists should and usually do. Or perhaps I simply cannot appreciate the 80s pop-rock aura that emanates so potently from Too True.
The lyrics and bubbly arrangements felt quite cheesy i Juno Temple will star in Maleficent later this year. n some songs like in “Are You Okay?” and “Evil Blooms.” The repetitive chorus of “Are you okay? Are you okay?” began to make me question whether or not I was, in fact, okay.
It seems the Dum Dum Girls are shoveling their way upwards in attempt to dig themselves out of the underground and into the more easily flowing mainstream of indie music. And while I miss the sheer uniqueness of their old music, one has to admit that their transformation over three full albums is quite admirable.
Critic’s Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Jackie Braje can be reached at jacquelyn.braje@theminaretonline.com