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Dressy Bessy

There’s something about Dressy Bessy’s brand of blissfully infectious mod-pop that makes me want to wear bright pink and yellow and hold hands and go on swing sets in the springtime. Denver’s indie darlings, Dressy Bessy, has been making ecstatic, jangly music for over seven years, hanging on the fringes of the Elephant 6 collective (a coven which includes other indie favorites like the Essex Green, the Marbles, and the Apples in Stereo). Dressy Bessy was the perfect soundtrack choice for the movie But I’m a Cheerleader with its day-glo ’50s visual aesthetic.

On their fourth album, Electrified, DB covers much of the same ground as they did in their last, self-titled release, but this outing is even tighter and brighter. There are overt nods to girl-pop influences like in the song, “She Likes It,” where singer Tammy Ealom chirps, “Pretty girl, blocked by the front door / Unaware of the Go Go lore.” The repetition of bouncy syllables in the choruses continues throughout the album, with songs like “Hello, Hello,” and “Ringalingalingaling.”

Highlights here are “Side 2” and “Small,” with its sweet piano loop and somewhat nonsensical Alice-in-Wonderland theme. “I won’t fall / ‘Cause I’m too tall / To reach that small.” You’ll certainly want to jump down this shiny rabbit hole with Tammy Ealon and bandmates John Hill on guitar, Rob Greene on bass, and Craig Gilbert on drums.

Dressy Bessy may not be widely known around the country, but they are soundly adored in their home state. DB was voted “Top Underground Band,” in the Denver Post last year. Electrified is out on Transdreamer Records on June 14th, and DB will kick off a short tour in the western US on June 17th.

Dressy Bessy Tour Dates:

6/17/05 Denver, CO @ Gothic 6/18/05 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad 6/19/05 Phoenix, AZ @ Modified 6/20/05 San Diego, CA @ Casbah 6/21/05 Los Angeles, CA @ Echo 6/22/05 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill 6/23/05 Portland, OR @ Dantes 6/25/05 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern