Lollapalooza is here in my hometown of Chicago this weekend. As always, there are a ton of great bands on the lineup, but at the moment my favorite among them is the Dum Dum Girls. Frontwoman Kristin Gundred writes some damn fine pop songs, and on the two Dum Dum Girl albums that have been released so far, producer Richard Gottehrer, the grand old man of the girl group genre, who’s worked with everyone from the Angels (of “My Boyfriend’s Back” fame, way back in 1963!) to Blondie to the Go-Go’s, puts together a lush, textured production that’s a great match for Gundred’s aching, sensual vocals. It’s the girl group sound imaginatively updated, and it has real sophistication and bite.
A bunch of their songs totally kick ass, but I’m choosing this one because I think it’s their best video. As soon as I as saw it I recognized it for what it was, an homage to Yoko Ono’s classic, disturbing, groundbreaking 1964 feminist performance art film, “Cut Piece” (here is Ono’s film and here’s an essay about it).
Without further ado, here is the Dum Dum Girls video of one of their best songs, “Coming Down.” If you’ve got tickets to see them tomorrow, I’m officially jealous!
