In the last few years, lo-fi music has come back in a big way! The independent music scene is littered with multifarious musicians who record only on cheap equipment, reveling in their journey to creative freedom as they baptize each note they make in a pool of tape-hiss. This tape-hiss has a way of obscuring musical deficiencies and making redundancies forgivable. For some bands it can be a crutch and for others it can become a defining element of their sound.
This movement is not new to the independent music scene but it seems to go in cycles. In the 1980s, bands such as The Vaselines and Beat Happening utilized it with great skill. The 1990s showed a huge influx as home recording equipment became much more affordable and bands such as Sebadoh latched onto the tape-hiss as part of their aesthetic. Today, the lo-fi movement serves as a protest against the easy clarity of the digital recording equipment which anyone with a home computer can access. This has brought many bands more attention than they would otherwise deserve. I am glad to report that I Will Be by Dum Dum Girls is a fun record which does not fall into this trap.
I Will Be could be grouped in with some other new releases by bands, (such as She & Him and God Help the Girl), who fool around with the sound of the early 1960s girl groups. The major difference is that Dum Dum Girls, decide to overturn these conventions with peals of static and punk rock rebellion. These songs also address the concerns of characters who occupy the fringes of modern society rather than just focusing on love or other more established conventions.
The most important thing I can tell you about this record is that it is a lot of fun. Listening to it makes me reminiscent of the lo-fi movements of the past and the pleasing harmonies bring a smile to my face. These harmonies and the hooks which accompany them are the main ingredients which allow Dum Dum Girls to stand out from the current crop of lo-fi champions. Aesthetically similar bands such as Vivian Girls, Wavves and Times New Viking do not write great pop songs (even though some of them definitely attempt to). These bands rely on their lo-fi techniques to make them stand out and have been fairly successful because of it.
While Dum Dum Girls do stand out when placed amongst their peers, they are not an entirely original band in general. The songs definitely recall artists which you have heard before. While being a great modern lo-fi band is something, it still does not account for much in the grand scheme of things.
If you get a chance to listen to this album, give it a spin. I Will Be is a really fun 28 minute listening experience and there is very little to dislike about it. I believe it will be an even more enjoyable listen once the weather warms up and its bright, contagious energy can complement the summer.
