The initial concept behind Dum Dum Girls' first full-length was to set the record in an Italian women's prison film from the 1960s. Though only single "Jail La La" (the would-be LP's title) deals with actually being imprisoned, it's an oddly appropriate fit for the Dum Dum Girls' aesthetic: leather, cherry red lipstick, a classic girl-group sound that nods to drag races as much as malt shops. Because of an image licensing snafu, the original concept was scrapped, and in its stead is I Will Be, a blistering half-hour of menacing, witty bubblegum pop.
Originally, Dum Dum Girls was a one-woman show. Kristin Gundred (stage name Dee Dee) first introduced the project as a bare-bones experiment, taking lo-fi 60s pop and beating it to all hell on DDG's self-titled debut EP. But unlike your average bedroom artist with a four-track and a thing for the Ronettes, Dee Dee was writing songs that were as catchy as they were well-rounded, even when buried under a thick layer of scuzz. (She accomplished the same with the Mayfair Set, an equally scuffed collaboration with Blank Dogs.)
I Will Be still retains her EP's grit, but smartly updates the sound, enlisting three new members (including ex-Vivian Girl Frankie Rose) and hiring Richard Gottehrer (co-writer of the eternal "My Boyfriend's Back" and producer of records by seminal groups like the Go-Go's and Blondie) to produce alongside Dee Dee. The result is a more accessible version of Dum Dum Girls, bolstered by terrific harmonies (three of the four girls contribute vocals) and a crisper rhythm section. Most notable of all is the production: No longer a lo-fi group, DDG are now a rock band, and an occasionally ferocious one at that. Gottehrer and Dee Dee are perfect foils: She protects the song's fuzzy edges; he enhances the pure pop pleasures with a more textured bite.
All of this technical detail would be lost, however, if it weren't for the fact that these songs are genuine earworms, both unfailingly hip and often wonderfully associative. Most adhere to a deep romanticism that details the various incarnations of love, from the fatalistic ("Yours Alone", featuring guitar work from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner) to the overprotective ("Everybody's Out"). There is an air of disaffection that peppers a lot of these songs (for example, "Oh Mein M" is sung entirely in German), but they never end up feeling too cool for school, with their giddy bounce often fostering a more inclusive feel than anything else. The quick highs, dissatisfaction, and longing can't hide how terrifically fun most of I Will Be is.
But in the end it's ultimately Dee Dee's show, her voice often deeply mysterious and feminine and other times coy and a little perilous. And as good as she is at anchoring a two-minute burst of rattling exuberance, the closing cut finds Dee Dee doing an ethereal rendition of Sonny and Cher's "Baby Don't Go", adding a real sense of fragility that undercuts the exquisite nature of the whole gritty thing. It's a grand little final gift from a record that's absolutely packed with them.
