Dum Dum Girls EP: Short, Candy-Sweet & Their Best Yet
The Dum Dum Girls – End of Daze EP
Sub Pop Records
By Leah Brzezinski
I know most NadaMucho.com readers probably don’t live in Chicago, but trust me—this latest little gem from the Dum Dum Girls is perfect for eighteen glorious minutes of riding elevated public transit and staring dreamily out the window. That, or for riding a carousel on mescaline.
Driving 60’s surf-rock and echoey 80’s new-wave guitar riffs undergird frontwoman Dee Dee Penny’s gauzy, gorgeous lo-fi vocals that sound like yearning without droning. The overall effect is rhythmic and smoldering, with glorious bursts of harmony.
The lyrics are sometimes dark (“Satan on my lips/paralyzed by his wicked kiss”) but also tender and poetic. My favorite tracks are the opener “Mine Tonight”, and “Lord Knows” (despite its obvious reference to “Crimson and Clover”, it manages to soar on its own).
It’s short, End of Daze is short, candy-sweet, and the Dum Dum Girls’ best work yet. – (8/10)