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Ollie ([personal profile] commonpeople1) wrote2011-11-19 06:19 pm

Dum Dee Dums

Dum Dum Girls by Marc Lindsay-Scott
Dum Dum Girls, a photo by Marc Lindsay-Scott on Flickr.
On Thursday night I saw the Dum Dum Girls live at ULU. On Friday night I went to a fetish gathering in Camden.

It had been many years since I'd been to a gig in ULU. The space felt small, more enclosed. The crowd was a mixture of students, middle aged men who collect the NME, the gays and girls dressed like the Pipettes. If the Dum Dum Girls were a British band, their gig would have been somewhere in the EastEnd.



The first band - Novella - consisted of three girls on guitars and bass, plus a tattooed bespectacled boy playing the drums. They were a cross between early Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt and Slowdive. They were taciturn but great.

Oh Brian by Novella.



Glaswegian band Veronica Falls plundered earlier years than Novella: Sarah Records and the Primitives with more contemporary dashes of Camera Obscura. Two boys, two girls - again, a very good band with a tight, energetic sound that is better live than their recently released album. The Dum Dum Girls came out of their dressing room to watch their set and dance around a little. Later, during their own set, they dedicated one of their songs to them.

Bad Feeling by Veronica Falls

The Dum Dum Girls set was very professional and straight forward, but slightly cold. 50s pop rock and roll with Ramones haircuts. This review in the Ladies Toilet is spot on, though I would add that the reason why they didn't set the stage on fire was because they knew, at the back of their minds, that this was the bass player Bambi's last gig: they made the announcement towards the end and brought out champagne and flowers. It was visible that this was a sad thing for the rest of the band. Someone in the audience asked why Bambi was leaving and it sounds like she's going off to start a family.

The only time the crowd really came alive was when they played their cover of the Smith's "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". All in all though, I really liked the gig; I stood to the side with [livejournal.com profile] wink_martindale, drinking Carlsbergs and nodding away at the songs - exactly what I wanted to do that night.

Yesterday, after completing my first shift at my new temp job, I met a friend in Camden and attended the Camden Crunch, a "vanilla" fetish night that happens once a month in a pub near the market.

Some people were in fetish gear but the majority looked "normal". I wondered whether they were looking at me and trying to guess what I was into. (I kept following my friend around and agreeing to all her suggestions - maybe they thought I was her new playing?) ;-)

We drank some whisky and chatted to people who were very friendly and jovial. The music was cheesy and the place started filling up fairly quickly. A few people introduced themselves to me out of the blue; if I didn't have my bag and wasn't wearing office clothes I might have been tempted to stay longer.

If you want a chilled out night with a good mixture of perverts people, where you might end up making friends, I recommend you check it out: Camden Crunch.

[identity profile] notagordianknot.livejournal.com 2011-11-19 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Now that you mention, the Dum Dum Girls show in Boston was a little cold as well. I didn't really know if that was just their thing or if it was more the effect of a half-empty venue who didn't seem all that into it.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2011-11-20 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe it's partly the thing they are going for - a kind of distant "cool" - but I'm not sure it's a good idea. Rock and Roll has to be more passionate, more chaotic! Or at least, more interactive with the audience. They were very aloof.

[identity profile] millionreasons.livejournal.com 2011-11-20 10:22 am (UTC)(link)
Have you heard The Shop Assistants and/or Motorcyle Boy? Veronica Falls sound very much like them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPy2YvMGH9A

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2011-11-20 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I love that song by Motorcycle Boy but had no idea it was by them! Yeah, Veronica Falls are pretty much a mash up of those two bands - but I like them... their album is really growing on me.

[identity profile] naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com 2011-11-20 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry to hear the Dum Dums were a bit cold. I really love the latest album (thanks again for the tip!). Could be many reasons for an off-night though.

I did chuckle that you said it's been awhile since you've been to a show anywhere as small as ULU. It's been awhile since I've been to one anywhere as big as that. ;) (Obviously so cool and underground, am I... ;))

I checked out Novella and quite enjoyed the 2 songs I could find but Veronica Falls are not really my thing. I would file them under "Tom Music".

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2011-11-20 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Dum Dums should have played the Victoria - now that would have been a perfect venue for them! I hope Novella release more stuff - I'm curious. I know what you mean about Veronica Falls as they do sound a bit like the Pain at Being Pure at Heart (and I know how you feel about them...)

[identity profile] zenithed.livejournal.com 2011-11-21 10:42 am (UTC)(link)
I would file them under "Tom Music".

The existence of this genre pleases me.

And yeah, I've got their album but not listened to it much yet.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2011-11-21 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I wonder what's in the Ollie Music genre...

[identity profile] reggaechicken.livejournal.com 2011-11-21 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
ooh, new music! i hadn't heard of those bands, i like what you shared.

too bad about dum dums, only in dreams is such a warm album! i haven't seen them on this tour (i was sick), so i'll be very curious to see what they're like. the last time i saw them they had like zero vocals, and it seemed like maybe they weren't comfortable being on stage?

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2011-11-21 08:01 am (UTC)(link)
They were very good vocals wise at the gig, but it really was Dee Dee plus the girls supporting her. I definitely think the downer vibe had to do with Bambi leaving - I'll definitely see them live again.