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Weird Dreams - Choreography (album)

Crocodiles - Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) 7”

The Hairs - I’ve Been Working Out 7”

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Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats 7”

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Gig Review

Dum Dum Girls/ Veronica Falls/ Novella
London, ULU

Article written by Ged M - Nov 29, 2011

Dum Dum Girls might have made a great album this year but the live show that promotes it is distinctly average. There’s no attempt to bond with the crowd and they offer only a half-arsed light show consisting of some back projected fractals so it’s no feast for the eyes (except for Dee Dee’s little leather and lace outfit…). Musically it’s a sprint through some of the highlights from the first album (like 'He Gets Me High' and ‘Bhang Bhang I’m A Burnout') before they play most of the current record. Dee Dee, is most animated only when mentioning hubby Brandon Welchez, whom she clearly misses. Then they do a really weird thing: it’s bassist Bambi’s last show with the band so, before the last song, management, partners, roadcrew and god knows who troop out on stage to present her with flowers and open a bottle of champagne. We watch them kiss and drink and fawn over each other while feeling no part of it, wishing they'd get things over with so we can all go home. If the show had any life, that incident snuffed it out. It’s like the most embarrassing leaving ceremony at work where you clap politely though you feel no attachment, having only stood next to the individual at the urinal and offered the odd grunt by way of greeting. Dum Dum Girls run through a perfunctory 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' and return for an encore of the more anthemic 'Hold Your Hand'. That ends the gig, and the tour, but the whole uninspiring event suggests that Dum Dum Girls are better heard and not seen.

Veronica Falls are the band that keeps giving with new songs that are as quick and catchy as the established favourites. There’s a strong sense of the lo-fi pop-jangle of Flying Nun records, with sweet girl/2-boy harmonies. They don’t lose their stroke for the length of the set, ending on the mighty ‘Come On Over’ and showing the headliners how a set should be played properly.

Damn Google! Novella aren’t a Finnish rock band, a prog/metal band from Missouri, or one of two Christian Rock bands. They’re three women - Sophy Hollington, Hollie Warren and Suki Sou - and a drummerman from London, making really impressive indierock. This is my first encounter with them – definitely not my last – and I sense the influence of My Bloody Valentine on the walls of noise being caressed out of guitars and organ in some of the early songs, while other songs suggest something sharper, harder and angrier, reminiscent of the Pixies and Breeders. That live performance plus their debut single ‘The Things You Do’ / ‘Oh Brian’ on Dirty Bingo suggest that these are a band to watch.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/dumdumgirls
http://www.novellaband.com/
http://www.myspace.com/veronicafallshard