In today's fast-paced, buzz band-obsessed Internet world, where the "next big thing" is often formed overnight -- on the basis of a cool name and some Bandcamp demos -- and teenagers with little experience are yanked from their bedrooms and sent on tour armed with only a Macbook and DIY ethic -- the arm of showmanship is often forgotten. So it's nice to see a band like Dum Dum Girls -- lo-fi, DIY, buzz band heroes if they ever were them -- really step it up and revive this lost art. The "blissed out buzzsaw" foursome mesmerized and inspired audiences Saturday night at Johnny Brenda's, with a tight, multi-dimensional performance that left me (+ 200 others) yearning for more.
Dum Dum Girls! (Click any photo to enlarge.)In the however many years I've been reviewing and photographing shows, I've seen many buzz bands. Some kill it with youthful enthusiasm; some crash and burn. But nothing bothers me more [note: this statement probably not true] than watching bands mill around the stage unsure: taking long pauses between songs, and filling the space with awkward chatter. It's called . . . PRACTICE BEFORE YOU GO ON TOUR. But you don't have to tell Dum Dum Girls. From the second the four-some took the stage (clad in black minidresses and fabulous black tights) they were on -- running through tunes with ferocity and precision, bathed in the filmy light of screen projections and a spiraling strobe.
Front woman Dee Dee Gundred (who also writes the songs) was a feisty, snarly, rock seductress, purposefully over-enunciating each word to be understood through the haze. The band's 50-minute set spanned their short discography -- placing well-known singles like "Bhang Bhang I'm a Burnout" (which rocked SO hard) and "He gets me high" (god this song rules!) alongside older material -- like the fabulously snarky "Catholicked," off their Yours Alone 12". Harmonies were tight and piercing and the whole thing oozed that sort of vintage appeal -- as if Dum Dum Girls are this generation's response to the Shangri-Las (or later: The Pretenders), drenched in feedback and that too-cool-to-care attitude.
Dum Dum Girls closed out the night with an encore performance of the Smiths' "There is a light that never goes out" (which also appears on the new EP) then left the stage suddenly, the audience still hanging on every note. But there's no better place to leave your fans than Satiated and Wanting More -- proving Dum Dum Girls are truly masters of show.
The early part of the night saw sets from Minks and Party Photographers, both of whom proved hazy, but perhaps not quite as engaging. [Note: The impressively grime-y, retro Dirty Beaches played too, right at 9:00, but unfortunately I was unable to control the Market-Frankford line and thus missed it.]
Philly's own Party Photographers were up first, and enveloped the venue in smoky echoes. A new stalwart on the scene and a Force of Feedback to be reckoned with -- the trio proved that, yes, it IS possible to make loud, shoegaze-y rock music using only a guitar, bass and set of floor toms.
Party Photographers
Next up: Minks, the hazy, '80s-influenced post punk revival act, who wooed the crowd with a perfectly nonchalant set of woozy, dusty jams. Front man Shaun Kilfoyle's vocals were understated but effective, and the set ebbed nicely, starting sedate, then rousing for poppy single "Funeral song" before fading into dusk once more. All in all, a rewarding night of lo-fi, for haze-lovers far and wide.
Minks
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