What's a Girl Supposed to Do?

In honor of South By Southwest last week, there are a few all-girl bands that I think you should be listening to. Dum Dum Girls, Pearl Harbor and Best Coast are hailed as LA’s new lo-fi scene darlings.

Best Coast

Pearl Harbor

Dum Dum Girls

They make pop equal parts sweet and sour, referencing the mid-sixties girl group heyday with a little bit of bubblegum punk and some reverb thrown in for good measure. Their recordings are a bit drowsy but I can always hear a concise pop song buried in the layers of feedback. Best Coast has a sound that’s raw and minimalist – most of the songs feature only singer Bethany Constantino and her guitar. Dum Dum Girls are more fleshed out because they feature a full band but each song has restraint that withholds the emotional release of a full-on punk rock song, to great effect. Pearl Harbor are a little different that the other two – they use electronics and their droning love songs sound a little like the Cure on record. They proved at SXSW last week that they really can let loose and created cacophony in the way you would expect a garage band to, but with sweet edge.

Songs to listen to: “Moody” by Best Coast, “Luv Goon” by Pearl Harbor, and “Catholicked” by Dum Dum Girls