The initial concept behind Dum Dum Girls' first full-length was to set the record in an Italian women's prison film from the 1960s. Though only single "Jail La La" (the would-be LP's title) deals with actually being imprisoned, it's an oddly appropriate fit for the Dum Dum Girls' aesthetic: leather, cherry red lipstick, a classic girl-group sound that nods to drag races as much as malt shops. Because of an image licensing snafu, the original concept
was scrapped, and in its stead is I Will Be, a blistering half-hour of menacing, witty bubblegum pop.
Dum Dum Girls' debut album is a 30-minute romp of scuzzy guitars and girl-group pop sensibility. Combining sounds from '60s pop, '70s punk, '80s indiepop and '90s grunge, band leader Dee Dee has created a release that presses a million nostalgia buttons at once to uplifting summery effect, but is perhaps sometimes too mired in reverence for her influences to be more than a pleasing anachronism.
1 | It Only Takes One Night 2:02 | 84 |
2 | Bhang Bhang, I'm a Burnout 2:34 | 75 |
3 | Oh Mein M 2:11 | 76 |
4 | Jail La La 2:29 | 84 |
5 | Rest of Our Lives 3:02 | 74 |
6 | Yours Alone 2:16 | 76 |
7 | Blank Girl 2:53 | 80 |
8 | I Will Be 2:07 | 73 |
9 | Lines Her Eyes 2:24 | 73 |
10 | Everybody's Out 2:57 | 78 |
11 | Baby Don't Go 3:50 | 74 |
#9 | / | NOW Magazine |
#13 | / | A.V. Club |
#15 | / | Gorilla vs. Bear |
#52 | / | NME |