[rating=4.00]
Dum Dum Girls’ leader Kristin “Dee Dee” Gundred is a rock star. One glance at the cover of her band’s new release, He Gets Me High, makes this clearly evident. The black shorts, the black stockings, the black shirt with the sleeves rolled just high enough to reveal a heart-shaped tattoo coupled with her jet black hair, black guitar, and cherry red lipstick. She’s got it…the mysterious and edgy air of defiance and detachment that oozes sex appeal and makes the rock dudes dizzy. However, don’t mistake the look for nonchalance. If other musicians put as much effort into their full-length releases as she has for an EP, then the music scene would be an even more interesting place.
Dum Dum Girls play a chic hybrid of fuzz-rock, ‘60’s girl-group ditties, and grunge leanings that make for an entertaining and eclectic palette of sound. The sonic template is familiar, yet exciting as they swirl a hypnotically distorted groove that serves as a nifty complement to Dee Dee’s measured and assured vocal delivery. It packs a lot of punch into an economical release that feels longer than its 13-plus minutes. He Gets Me High also offers an arresting narrative as it chronicles the rise and fall of a relationship over the course of three songs, from its lusty beginnings in opener, “Wrong Feels Right”, through its jarring warning signs in the title track, before flaming out in gorgeous despair in “Take Care Of My Baby”. Where a lot of bands’ EP’s tend to forego lyricism in favor of fleshing out sound, Dee Dee Gundred pays close attention to both here and the results are very rewarding. Combine this with last year’s full-length I Will Be and Dum Dum Girls prove to be an outfit worth following, as it’s obviously clear that this band values their songcraft and is entertaining worthwhile ideas and concepts.
To top things off, things close with a bit of a coda: a driving and distinctive interpretation of The Smiths’ classic, “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”. Though oft-covered, this track is a nice summation of the mood and feeling conveyed throughout the previous songs. The band keys it up a notch from its original arrangement, adding a bit of shadowy hopefulness to the bleak remnants of the busted affair left behind. It’s a great way to close this brief collection of tunes as it tidies up one chapter and builds anticipation for the next.
