Review: The Dum Dum Girls at Slim's
To people familiar with The Dum Dum Girls, it is no surprise that the quad girl group has been compared to acts like Vivian Girls and Best Coast. They all embody the mix of quintessential California pop, grungier early punk and a nod to ‘60s “bad girl” bands like the Shangri-La’s and the Ronettes.
With two albums under their belt, I Will Be in 2010 (which was produced entirely by Dee Dee, the band’s front woman singer-songwriter) and the darker, deeper Only in Dreams in 2011 which featured the entire four gal getup, The Dum Dum Girls are not amateurs in their game. With Dee Dee now based in New York and the rest of the band still living in Los Angeles, the band reconvened in San Francisco on Tuesday evening to play a show at Slims for a jam-packed audience.
The magnetism of The Dum Dum Girls is obvious. All four walked onstage dressed in all black, winged eyeliner and red lipstick, with black hair to boot, except for a platinum blonde Dee Dee. All radiate a humble darkness, a distance from the audience that only the shared enthrallment between the band and fans could transcend. Basically said, they have the girl rocker image down. The Dum Dum Girls were true performers, and their personable nature shined through particularly when Dee Dee dedicated two songs to the band’s openers, Tamaryn and Young Prisms.
The band played a good mix of songs from both their debut and sophomore albums, giving the show an eclectic feel between the poppiness of their first record and the darker elements of their second. Dee Dee’s vibrato vocals were a main focus of the show, easy on the ears, smooth and lovely. Meanwhile drummer Sandra Vu’s sheer hypnotism behind the drum kit and her careless swinging black hair, was captivating within itself, not to mention the talent in her performance.
The biggest audience-pleasers of the night were “Bedroom Eyes,” an upbeat yet darkly tinged pop song, and “Coming Down,” a slow, Mazzy Star-esque track featured in the encore. Before the encore, the over-packed audience was extremely hesitant to move, and hardly anyone left Slim’s before the final notes of the highly-anticipated last song “Coming Down.
Fantastic show — both opening acts (Young Prisms and Tamaryn) were terrific as well. Dee Dee joined Tamaryn for a cover of JAMC’s Teenage Lust, which was a nice treat!