CD of The Week

Kirstin "Dee Dee" Gundred has been on the cusp of indie stardom ever for the better half of a decade now. While former bandmates have achieved accolades all their own (Frankie Rose) and former contemporaries have put themselves out to pasture (Vivian Girls), she has been carefully cultivating her craft as the creative force behind Dum Dum Girls, building one of the more consistently rewarding portfolios of any songwriter in recent memory. After 2012's stellar End of Daze EP, she has returned to long form with Too True, another solid outing that continues to show off her chops even if it doesn't necessarily take her to the next level.

Jumping ahead a decade from the hazy Echoes of Bunnymen on Daze, True is awash in the swagger of prime '90s Britpop and swirls of post My Bloody Valentine shoegaze. Early taster single "Lost Boys and Girls Club" is a slo-mo strut worthy of the best of Blur, while late album highlight "Under These Hands" cranks The Catherine Wheel anew. Throughout, Gundred's lyrics are solid, shifting from the portraits of personal loss that defined 2011's Only in Dreams to chronicles of artistic growing pains and the fruit they can bare.

"What a vivid sound," she declares on "Little Minx," another True standout. While Dum Dum Girls' sound still has yet to fully surprise, it never fails to engage and entertain. With the right stories behind that sound, sometimes vivid is all you need. See Dee Dee and the girls in Philly on March 23rd at Johnny Brenda's.