If You Ever Had A Real Heart

Dum Dum Girls “Coming Down”

I saw the Dum Dum Girls perform a few times last year, and each time I found myself wondering why Kristin “Dee Dee” Gundred under-sang on the band’s recordings though she sang beautifully and confidently in concert. This is not an issue on Only in Dreams, the group’s second full-length album. There’s no holding back on this record; she sings with total commitment and presents the songs with crisp, clean production that pushes the band outside of the indie rock ghetto and into, at least, a theoretical mainstream. This is direct, big-hearted music. “Coming Down,” in particular, is a revelation – Gundred’s voice is bold but delicate, approaching a sort of tough-girl sensitivity that you mostly encounter on old Pretenders records. She’s a bit guarded, but she knows when she has to really go for it — there’s a moment in this song where she aims for an emotionally devastating high note and nails it without seeming the least bit ostentatious.

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