Dum Dum Girls (Live review)

by Stephanie Morer on 29.07.10

Sound Control 28.07.10

It is with a certain sense of expectation that I’m making my way to Sound Control. Playing tonight, The Long March, excellent new Mancunian band, and the Americans of Dum Dum Girls.

I’ve been hearing about them for a while now, and I can’t wait to see if they live up to their reputation (“amazing girl band” / “proper riot grrrl” / “raw raw raw”…. I realise now that the people who told me that probably never listened to any of their songs before…) The all-girl quartet chose its name from The Vaseline’s debut album and the Iggy Pop song “Dum Dum Boys”, and has been signed on mythical Seattle label Sub Pop.

Girl band, Sub Pop, Iggy reference. Enough to arouse my natural curiosity and wake up the inner riot grrrl in me.

But before I’m allowed to see what these girls are all about, the audience and myself are treated with a solid set by The Long March, who sounded better than ever. If you don’t know them, move your ass and try to catch them live, you won’t regret it.

Oh yeah and another band played before them. We were wondering why they were all hiding behind a mask but it quickly became clear: probably to escape the shame of producing such excruciating music, and maybe a bit to avoid being the victims of retaliatory actions.

After all these twists and turns, the Moment of Truth finally arrives: the four ladies grace the stage of Sound Control. The place has filled up a bit more, and I’m surprised to see that most of the audience is not only male but also way older than I expected. The set starts with a slow and slightly sexy rendition of the Stones “Don’t play with me ‘cause you’re playing with fire”.

The girls definitely got the look, all legs and black make-up, and the half-smile I see on some of the men’s face tells a lot about what they’re thinking: these girls are hot. They’re indeed, and they captured the audience’s attention as soon as they set a foot on stage. I now expect some raw, noisy sound to come out of their instruments…. but it doesn’t happen. Dum Dum girls, proto Ramones? Come on, no. Proto-L7, early Hole? No, not really either… Shangri-Las/garage?

Definitely. In spite of the speedy drumming (on the drums, Frankie Rose, co-founder of Vivian Girls and current Crystal tilts drummer when not touring with her Dum Dum mates), and fuzzy guitars, the overall impression is one of a slow start.

The girls look quite serious, restrained, maybe slightly static. So what do we have here? The lead singer and Dum Dum mastermind Kristin Gundred a.k.a DeeDee (no need to explain where she got this one from) has got the voice of an angel. That’s a given. And the flame-haired bass player and the other guitar player are put to task as well. Harmonies and chorus, that the kind of things you can expect from a girls band (most of them seem to go down that way. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing though. I usually love it) and sure they can deliver on that.

They play well, and Frankie Rose hits her reduced drum-kit real’ hard – but still with elegance. As I said, nobody’s going go wild tonight. There is clearly a pop sensibility: a hint of garage on their fastest numbers, but still a reasonable number of ballads, and of course sweet melodies and aerial harmonies.

None of the songs is really anthemic, but they do have nice choruses (you would sing along if only you knew the lyrics) and a few catchy bits (like the “lalalalala” on “La la Jail”. A good “lalala” always do it for me.) Songs like “It only takes one night” or indeed “Jail La La” are among the ones more likely to make an impression.

As for the ballads, “Rest of our lives” stands out, and above all “Baby don’t go”. With this song, DeeDee and her gang succeed in creating a real atmosphere: the singing is beautiful and heartfelt, the lyrics and melody heartbreaking. And it does perfectly fit with the way they look. The best song of their set, if you ask me. Not quite the furious noisy sound I was told about though. They may even sound more raw on the album than they do live.

Between almost each song, the surprisingly softly spoken DeeDee thanks the crowd with a shy “thank you so much”.

No pogo and no crowd surfing of course, but I think most of the audience has enjoyed the gig. Not everybody did, but the expectations were high, when Kristin a.k.a DeeDee said herself that she was not a genius able to revolutionise music, just a musician using the music she likes to try to create her version of it. And it is exactly what she does.

This gig might have lacked of fury (to say the least) or even of rock’n‘roll energy, but all in all they have nice little pop songs, a few you can sing along on, and one or two that will make you cry (if you’re in a vulnerable mood; PMS, come down after a long weekend, break-up etc…). And it won’t frighten your Granny (for once). Bring her along next time (that’s what I told myself).

PS: If you’re looking for an amazing girl band, check out New York based Looker, two albums available on the internet, and proper rock’n‘roll energy. You’re unlikely to see them live (which is a shame- they’re brilliant) because the band is on hold at the moment but treat yourself with the studio version of their songs, because you’re worth it (and they do too).

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