Dum Dum Girls @ The CornerHotel, Melbourne (03/01/2012)

Mon 9th Jan, 2012 in Gig Reviews

Arriving in Australia on the back of a heavy touring schedule for their latest release He Gets Me High, Dum Dum Girls showed little sign of slowing in pace as they ripped through an upbeat set at Melbourne’s The Corner Hotel.

Super Wild Horses were the perfect choice of support for the evening, recruiting punters from the upstairs bar to the band room with their appealing, rough-around-the-edges sound. The duo managed to maintain interest and versatility by frequently swapping instruments between them, and while their sound was sonically simple and lo-fi, it was certainly big enough to fill the venue and set the night’s energetic mood.

After a short wait, Dum Dum Girls were revealed from behind The Corner’s red curtain and immediately launched into their fuzzy, Californian sun-soaked songs. Front woman Dee Dee Penny engaged the room with natural stage presence, commanding attention without stage banter or clichéd crowd encouragement and simply carrying the set with confidence and a liberal dose of attitude.

For those unfamiliar with Dum Dum Girls, their music may come across as repetitive and formulaic, enlisting similar rhythms and tempos from song to song with little sonic variety. This however can be quite endearing, as their straightforward rock n roll proved to be an appropriate soundtrack for a summer’s night out, never slumping in energy.

Subscribing to the idea of accompanying a show with video projections, dark and ambiguous images were displayed on double screens either side of stage. The videos were intriguing, but a little confused and mismatched when paired with their lively music.

The set’s highlights came from songs from their more recent releases, including the single Bedroom Eyes and album opener Always Looking. Judging from the crowd reaction alone, they are surely a band that are improving with age and the best may be yet to come. Rarely breaking between songs, the band ripped through their rather short set, yet managed to pack plenty in from each release.

Ending the set on a high with their popular cover of The Smith’s There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (a cover catchy enough to make even the most devoted Morrissey fan dance) the girls left the stage as quickly as they arrived, leaving the packed Tuesday night crowd to reluctantly call it a night.