Customer Reviews

Electrified

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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As a grumpy old closet indie rock fan I must admit that I generally feel that the genre died after the sorry demise of Scotlands C86 scene. So imagine my sheer delight on hearing "Side 2" by Dressy Bessy on the radio last week whilst driving to work. I suddenly went from dreading another dreary day in my dimly lit cube to thinking how great my new polka dot dress looked with my shiny red shoes. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror, it was 8.23 on a rainy Monday morning, I was stuck in traffic on my way to what has to be the most tedious job on earth and yet I was smiling :-) This was a phenomonon! I checked out their labels site www.transdreamer.com and found out the album was coming out the next day. So, I decided that it HAD to be mine. What a discovery!! Beautifully crafted songs with excellent melodies and lyrics that can make you laugh or cry with every clever twist and turn. Tammy Ealom is a GENIUS! This is a record for everyone not just be-bobbed indie snobs, hipsters looking for a new fix or bespectacled book worms trying to be cool. Everyone who can tap their toes, clap their hands, hum, whistle, sing or dance should buy this record. IT ROCKS!!!

A record that featured Ealom's conversational and artless vocals could ever be too slick anyway; she has a way of sliding around the notes that gives her a charming punk-next-door appeal. Perfect for the kind of tough punk-pop numbers ("Side 2," "It Happens All the Time," "Small," and "Call It Even Later") that predominate on the album. The mood, as on Dressy Bessy, is angry and melancholy with only a couple of songs like the aforementioned "Who'd Stop the Rain" and "Electrified," a funky new wave groover that has some fine sassy vocals from Ealom, around to lighten the mood. The overall tone of the album, and the fact that they have made two records in a row like it, might be enough to chase away many of the band's original fans for good, but those who stick around will be treated to an album of fine, fizzy adult punk-pop with a mean streak and a broken heart. Dressy Bessy are as pure and true as ever. Totally fantastic really a good band that I highly recommend.

Here is how you learn to love Dressy Bessy: put a copy of ELECTRIFIED into your CD player and hit "Play." It really is that simple.

Dressy Bessy is excellent in many regards but outstanding in one: Tammy Ealom's effortless, almost conversational vocals. She "sings" in an almost minimal sense, instead emphasizing attitude and expression above anything even remotely related to vocal pyrotechnics. She has limited range, not a lot of power, and tends to fade when singing high notes. It doesn't matter. Probably ten thousand women could sing the songs Tammy wrote in formally superior fashion, but they would all pale beside her uncontrived way of tossing off the lines. She is a magician with lyrics and just to hear the way she utters a single word in the heart of a song-even words as simple as "Yeah" or "Oh" or "Hello"-can generate complete delight. There are other good things on this disc, but the reason to get it is Tammy Ealom. She constantly reminds me of other performers, like Deborah Harry or Julie Brown (the singer/director, not the VJ) or even Poly Styrene, but she manages to stand out as a unique performer in her own right.

Though the main reason to get the disc is to listen to Tammy Ealom, other things stand out about the disc. The songs, all credited to Ealom, are all at the very least pleasant, though to be honest, if she wasn't singing them, I probably wouldn't get excited about them. Guitarist John Hill lays down some great Ramones-like primitive guitar backgrounds and the rest of the band helps generate a lot of energy. I love the way this band makes me feel after listening to them. They are extremely upbeat, cheerful, almost joyous. They are here to have a good time and they don't really care if you would rather brood.

This album isn't going to generate a lot of attention, and that is a shame. This is a fun, fun album that people should be familiar with.

From the first second of this album, Tammy Ealom's "Hey!" that introduces Side 2, you're hooked, and will not let go until the hidden fade in reprise of Who'd Stop the Rain. Dressy Bessy began as part of the Elephant Six collective, and still retain a bit of that group's sound, in that some of these melodies could have come from girl groups of the Sixties. It's Leslie Gore grungified, without losing any of the sweetness. Yes, the songs aren't revelatory, the lyrics are your basic love songs. It's the enthusiasm with which they are presented that has you playing the disc six times in a row. I purchased this just in time for summer, and it was a perfect fit for the short sleeved, windows rolled down popsicle consuming days. What's better is how it thaws the frost off the ground in winter. Sadly, it doesn't heat up the car all by itself. But that may be another album away.

In what often seems to be a very long season of slumber on the current music scene inhabited by uninspired drivel Dressy Bessy comes along with a high energy, sassy, vivacious offering that can only bring a very welcome smile to ones countenance.

This is a gem of am album. Although the base sound of the band is evident throughout, this is a highly original and creative smorgasbord of an album with everything from romantic melody (She Likes It) to talking blues (Electrified).

In an age where the desultory moaning of Coldplay passes for high art this is a very refreshing change of pace. Dressy Bessy is a band alive with creativity, infused with attitude and ready to rock.

Classy, intelligent and fun, this is a great album.

Highly recommended.

I always put this in when im drinking by myself. It makes me dance all around my apartment until I get sick and vomit. Highly recommended! See them live to, since they tour all the time. These guys must be poor. Buy a new copy of this so they make money :)

Tammy can sure write some killer hooks. She's also really cool. One time I met her after a show and she let me hang out with the band backstage. Awesome! Anyway, I really like this record. It's even better than their last one, and that one blew me away. Definitey a must have.