Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams (CD, Vinyl LP)

Dum Dum Girls' second full length album is a marriage of The Cramps style sonics, Chrissie Hynde style vocals and the occasional Mazzy Star downbeatness. It's a way more polished offering is this record. It is quite a step forward from the "He Gets me High " EP. For one this is the first record that all the current members play/sing on. It has a consistency that may have been absent on their previous releases. They seem to have fully gelled as a band. The songs are direct and to the point. This record fully exploits the dynamic, verse/chorus/verse template to the max. All the songs sound like the best bits of The Shangri-Las, The Pretenders and Mazzy Star. The LP kicks off with promise, the opener "Always Looking" is a great tune. Then the single "Bedroom Eyes" turns up. If you had to explain to somebody where the Dum Dum Girls are musically at the moment then this track would be a pretty accurate stepping stone. The rest of the album progresses in this manner. Tub thumping toms, Chrissie Hynde style, rich vocals and the wall of sound style guitars and basses. The production is really slick on this record, and this level of quality complements the songs nicely. All the tracks have things going on that will delight many a listener. It has a moody sleeve does this LP, and this ghostly mood raises its pretty head on some tracks, like the like the haunting "Teardrops On My Pillow", which is a song that many a '60s girl group would love to have in their back catalogue. A solid, reverb drenched wonder of a record...did I mention Chrissie Hynde...??