Tag Archives: Only In Dreams

Dum Dum Girls-Coming Down.

Posted on by

Only In Dreams is an amazing album, and with every album you find one song that you always have on repeat. You love the album a hell of a lot, but there is always one song that you favour a bit more than most. This one song is one you have to ALWAYS play. If you go a day without hearing, your day just seems a bit pointless. Maybe not that extreme, but I have no idea. Whatever works I guess.

Most of their songs are about 3 minutes long and have this brilliant garage rock feel to it. However, on their new record Dum Dum Girls have a song that lasts over 6 minutes- and it still doesn’t feel long enough. Coming Down is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. There’s something about it that just breaks you, but at the same time makes you feel like you’re not where you are. Basically, think of someone who just annoys you or has broken a bit of your trust. You want to leave them behind, but something stops you from doing so. Listen to this song, it’ll pretty much help you realise a lot of people are a waste of time. You’ll meet more people that will fuck you over rather than appreciate the good in you. Personal experience, but I think I’m right.

There’s a point in this, about 3 and a half minutes in where Dee Dee hits this note. It just hits you- not in the heart but right in the pit of your gut. You feel it so much. When she hits that note, it is such a euphoric moment. The build up to that part is so grand and beautiful. The sleepy guitar at the start of the song just builds and builds until this point, and when she hits that note you have some kind of epiphany. It’s almost like the fog in your mind clears and you see things differently. From that point on in the song, you just let it take you.

The lyrics are beautiful. So beautiful. What I adore about Dum Dum Girls is that they (like a lot of a bands I love) don’t use ridiculous phrases or use pretentious sounding words to make a point; to make you feel the song. The bluntness of honesty and hurt and angst at times makes it so easy to connect with. A true band/singer can make the listener connect in such simple ways rather than having to create grand imagery to gain your attention. The way Dee Dee sings, “I think I’m coming down” is so precious, you want to catch her or something. I don’t know. You just feel like you are coming down too. From what? That’s entirely up to you.

After she hits that note, there’s a verse that just…it just means a hell of a lot: “You abuse the ones who love you. You abuse the ones who won’t. If you ever had a real heart, I don’t think you’d know where to start.” It just covers me in goose bumps. You can easily pin-point this lyric to someone you know, probably someone who doesn’t actually deserve to be associated with such a beautiful song.

I could quite happily just have this song on a loop for a long long time. I’ve got the time. It’s just such a chilling and heartbreaking song. If they had songs that lasted as long as this; I think my love for them would just be out of control. Although it does shy away from that garage rock/lo-fi vibe they have in their music, it has such a 60s girl group influence- like the big drums (Wall Of Sound style.) It’s just a perfet song to shut the world off, create your own place in your mind and escape to. It’s pretty much 6 and a half minutes of bliss.

Dum Dum Girls-Only In Dreams.

Posted on by

When a band names themselves after The Vaselines and Iggy Pop, you know they are going to be something very very special. Also, when they cover your favourite song of all time (The Smiths-There Is A Light That Never Goes Out) and do not fuck it up- you know you’ve found a band you are going to love for life.

Their debut album, I Will Be is a phenomenal debut album and now I am enjoying their second album as the rain beats hard against the windoe. Dum Dum Girls have a sound that fuses 60s girl groups and surfer pop/lo-fi. Two things which I adore. My love for 60s girl groups is possibly a borderline obsession, I’m not sorry. What I love about Dum Dum Girls is that make you think you are anywhere but where you are. They make you want to go surfing, lay on a beach (I don’t care that it is October, the beach is always perfect regardless.) and they make you want to lay on a hill in the middle of the night gazing at the stars. Probably alone because you are the only person who will appreciate it, another person would just ruin the scenario and all you feel. Humans have a wonderful way of getting in the way of other people’s joy sometimes don’t they.

Before I delve into the album in full, I must say that Coming Down HAS to be the highlight of the album. Anyone who is familiar with Dum Dum Girls knows that their songs last around 3 minutes. Coming Down is double that, and it is a truly gorgeous song. It just shows the sheer strength and power in Dee Dee’s vocals, it’s beautiful.

A lot of the songs feel like lullabys and just put you at ease. Songs such as Caught In One and Bedroom Eyes. The album has a grander sound and there is such growth in comparison to I Will Be. All band members play on this record, and with Dee Dee giving up the control on the record, it really does pay off. I know a few bands have the “DREADED SECOND ALBUM” nerves trembling through them, but with this record it honestly feels like a record you’d expect from a band well into their career. It sounds so different from I Will Be. This isn’t a bad thing, both albums are highly remarkable. Besides, if a band was to keep making the same album over and over, and not developing there would be no point.

I could easily write a thousand words and more on Coming Down, just because it is one of the most chilling, eerie and stunning songs I’ve heard all year. It has a sense of loss and giving up in it, that isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes we need to hear a song like that because we all feel that way. You’re lying to yourself if you claim to have never wanted to give up. You’re human, not a machine. When she hits that note in the middle, if it doesn’t cover you in goose bumps or make you emotional- you’re probably dead inside.

The album feels like an album full of healing and letting go. It’s a comfort blanket, it’s one of this year’s greatest releases. And for me personally, it’s one of the few albums I have been so excited to hear.