Dum Dum Girls, Cabins, Bloods@ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney(2/1/12)

Fri 6th Jan, 2012 in Gig Reviews

Out in Australia for Pyramid Rock Festival and No Years in Brisbane, Dum Dum Girls treated Sydney audiences to an intimate sideshow at Oxford Art Factory. The night rested on the 2nd of January, and a few Sydney-siders may well have been trying to recuperate from New Year’s festivities, explaining a reserved audience and dead quiet streets. The girls, rather, facilitated the mood and delivered a mellow set of fuzzy pop, that in moments when the bass drum did dig in harder and Dee Dee’s voice scaled up in bravado, grew climactic enough to serve up shivers.

Local act Bloods, another group with a girl strong presence were the first support for the evening. Bloods were on early, and for those who in attendance, could have found the three-piece are all about bringing the party together, with fun and simple tunes about well, spiders and cats. With two lead girls on guitar and bass, the melodies were simple, and while not all their garage punk-esque songs were perfectly to tune, they were just right for kicking the night off in high spirits.

Fellow Sydney four-piece Cabins were next to enter the stage, and lead vocalist Leeroy Bressington led the way, greeting the crowd in his chainsaw drawl before the band leapt into a variety of tunes, some taking form as dark and brooding swamp rock, others progressing towards a more rockabilly flavour. A cover of Edwyn Collins’, A Girl Like You was well received from the slowly accumulating crowd, and certainly suited to the low register of Bressington. The darker songs though, are a new look for the band, and a sound they appear to be on their way to mastering. How they fine-tune and sharpen their new material will be of interest in the future.

Dum Dum Girls came on stage in a flurry of long hair and longer limbs. Front woman Dee Dee, posed a striking silouette, dressed in pin-stripe tights and leather shorts, hidden beneath her signature dark fringed locks. Opening with He Gets Me High, off the EP of the same name, the four-piece were every bit relaxed on stage as each girl proceeded to sway to the fuzzed out harmonies without ever leaving her own little corner of the stage.

Thanking the audience between songs, Dee Dee appeared humble and didn’t converse much further, except to add later that she was surprised anyone knew of the Dum Dum Girls, and was happy that there was a crowd in front of her. Crowd talk at a minimum meant there was more time for tunes, and tracks like Bhang Bhang, Wasted Away, Rest Of Our Lives and It Takes One Night, washed over the crowd in a part shoe-gaze, part garage pop whirl of bliss.

Once in a live setting with the Dum Dum Girls, it’s plain to see why they have gained a momentous buzz over the past year. It could have been from the trappings of a cliché girl group aesthetic, but rather, their live deliverance is the farthest thing from cheese or generic. Their performance was haunting, cathartic and wrapped within the humbled and seemingly genuine demeanor of Dee Dee.

As the final song played out – a shadowy cover of The Smith’s There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – the girls had won the crowd over, prompting a deserved encore. A moody rendition of the GG Allin song, Don’t Talk To Me was chosen and the once cheeky cha-cha-cha’s from Allin became a sensual taunt, closing the night on a high.