Dressy Bessy
Dressy Bessy
Kindercore
I’m a bad person, because I’m bored by Dressy Bessy. I loved their last album, Sound Go Round, a lot – the record company even quotes my review on the back on the promo CD! (Of course, they don’t actually name me. But it is my review!)
But I just don’t see any reason to love the album Dressy Bessy. Something’s missing here. Maybe it’s me. Yeah, that’s it: it’s my fault. I just don’t have the patience to wait to fall in love with this one. Pop music like Dressy Bessy should be right up there ready to seduce me. This album does nothing except act like the weird girl at the party standing in the corner waiting for everyone to love her but not really caring if they do or not, and really she/it does care but by then you’ve moved on to someone/music that actually gives a shit.
It’d be easier if the songs were really good, but they’re just okay. “The Things That You Say That You Do” is okay with kind of a lockstep chorus. “Baby Six String” swirls around for a bit before becoming a little boring. And don’t even get me started on “Girl, You Shout!,” because it squanders more great ideas than it implements.
Tammy Ealom is a fun little vocalist… so WHY is she acting so BORED during songs she wants us to listen to and love? “Hey May” needs action and drama! “Georgie Blue” needs a new tempo (three times faster, please)! “This May Hurt (A Little)” needs some new lyrics! (Sample: “Josie was a near dear friend of mine/Cross-legged in the kitchen, then we’d giggle, cry and rub our eyes” seems to have nothing to do with the chorus, which is just the title yelled a couple of times.)
The only place where this thing catches fire is at the end, when three good (UPTEMPO! PASSIONATE! INTERESTING!) songs are all jammed up right in a row: “Better Luck” is punky, “Blink Twice” is glammy and “Tidy” is new-wavey, and they’re the standard I measure the rest by when I wanna be unfavorable.
But as for the rest, I dunno. Tammy might be at a bored stage in her career or something. Or maybe it’s just me. That’s just as probable.
But I doubt it. I just think these songs will sound pretty good in concert and not all that good anywhere else, and I cannot recommend it. (Unless you’re a fan already, in which case “HI! TRY NOT TO HATE ME!”)
Kindercore Records: http://www.kindercore.com/ • Dressy Bessy: http://www.dressybessy.com
