Sub Pop

When Dee Dee Penny unveiled her Los Angeles-based indie rock act The Dum Dum Girls with a self-titled EP on Zoo Records in 2008, she offered the promise of a great girl group-inspired band beneath the hiss and buzz of its home-recorded origins. For their exceptional follow-up to their 2010 Sub Pop debut LP I Will Be, the girls enjoy the luxury of working at Queens of the Stone Age kingpin Josh Homme’s Pink Duck Studio with producers Richard Gottherer and Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes. And the difference between the new record and its predecessor is literally night and day, as Dee Dee’s vocals emerge from the murk of the Dums’ earlier material to reveal the true power in her singing. Meanwhile guitarist Jules, bassist Bambi and drummer Sandy are front and center with an intense clarity that dwarfs anything these gals have dreamed up in the past. This newfound kick of clarity really brings out the heart in Dee Dee’s confessional lyrics as well, whether she is mourning the loss of her recently deceased mother (“Hold Your Hand”, “Coming Down”) or pining for the company of an absentee husband (“Heartbeat”, “Bedroom Eyes”) who, in this case, is Crocodiles charge Brandon Welchez. Only In Dreams is a powerful blast of girl garage passion that undoubtedly owes just as much to Bikini Kill and The Breeders as much as it does The Shangri-Las and The Cookies.