Too True

By teaming up with Brill Building veteran Richard Gottehrer (whose previous productions include Blondie and The Go-Go’s) and Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner (who plays guitar, synth, bass, and drum programming), Dum Dum Girls’ only real member—Dee Dee—set herself up for years of artistic growth. With Gottehrer’s production touches and Wagner’s instrumental prowess, Dee Dee lets her songs open up with each progressive album. Her earliest and most primitive sounds are still in the mix, but where early albums suggested a garage-rock queen, Too True incorporates more of a goth air. According to Dee Dee, the influences for the album came from The Cure, Madonna, the '80s Paisley Underground scene, The Velvet Underground, Siouxsie Sioux, Patti Smith, Stone Roses, and Suede. Still, Blondie sneaks into “In the Wake of You.” But tracks such as “Lost Boys and Girls Club” and “Rimbaud Eyes” reverberate into infinity, with strokes of The Cure at their most orchestrated. Looking for Dee Dee's heart? Try the slower songs like “Are You Okay?,” “Under These Hands," and the gorgeous “Trouble Is My Name.”