Dressy Bessy Review (Surge 9/18/08)

DRESSY BESSY, SQUAAKS, WICKED GIFT AT PIRATE'S COVE

By Michael Wood
For Weekly Surge

On Sunday, Oct. 5, Dressy Bessy - a playful punk/pop combo from Denver - played its second-to-last night of a two-week tour at North Myrtle Beach's Pirate's Cove. The band has been around since 1996 and has released six albums and has been featured in the film "But I'm A Cheerleader" and also "The Power Puff Girls" television show. Dressy Bessy is also part of the Elephant Six collective, which is a group of musicians that were very important to the independent music scene in the late '90s.

The opener of the evening was Myrtle Beach's own Wicked Gift. Wicked Gift has been playing around town since 2002. Singer/songwriter Phil Fox is the only original member of the band left in the current lineup. As the show was getting started, with Fox sitting on a stool, they took the idea of a casual start to a new level. Just as the first song was getting started, Fox went into an almost Indian-like voice solo and the guitars were moody and atmospheric, the song stopped short as lead guitarist Sam Favata took a bathroom break. He did his business, then came back to get the show on the road. No word on whether he washed his hands. They quickly jumped into a set of catchy pop tunes and the whole floor was filled with people dancing. Take bits and pieces from The Police, The Beatles, Talking Heads and They Might Be Giants and you have an idea of what to expect out of these guys. Fox's songwriting is professional-sounding, yet quirky. His lyrics are usually in a storytelling nature, and are always smart and witty. Drew Jacobs' bass lines are solid, yet spacious, which gives the outfit an aura of early soul and funk. Favata's leads are not too jam band-esque to make only Phish fanatics happy, but just noodle-y enough to make any music geek impressed. Wicked Gift gives the impression of four professional musicians that probably either currently or previously played the bar/cover scene but have this band as their real creative outlet. The Gift managed to kick-start the night in dance mode.

Up next was Squuaks, from Baltimore. They were on tour as direct support for Dressy Bessy. They play relatively diverse indie rock. The first couple of songs sounded like an amped up Television, or maybe Pavement, but with some obvious country influences thrown in. Guitarist Justin Custer wore an over-sized cowboy hat, sprinkling the country aspect. They managed to take rowdy bar rock and make it indie rock-friendly. By the middle of the set, Custer took over on keys for a few songs that gave them a bit of a new wave sound, which definitely added character to their outfit. After a few of the new wavey tunes they went back into rowdy rock, playing some tried and true three-chord rockers (see "Louie Louie" or "Wild Thing" as reference). They finalized, and summarized their set by having a nice power pop sound that would make Elvis Costello happy. They played with a lot of energy, and had the crowd dancing. The band was in good spirits, as it was the last day of the tour, and it was bassist Elena Fox's birthday. Most of the audience, guys and gals alike, were drooling over her.

Dressy Bessy

Headliners, Dressy Bessy, took no time sound checking, or even introducing themselves. They just went straight into their set. Everyone quickly and eagerly rushed up to the stage. They automatically had everyone dancing with their female-fronted, cutesy twee-pop songs. They were the epitome of fun. They play punk-pop songs that make you want to dance. Some of the songs were raw garage-punk, like a female-fronted version of the Stooges. Others were playful and innocent, much like The Vaselines. Like a real rock guitarist, John Hill (who also plays in Apples In Stereo) broke his A string during a solo and managed to finish the song, and later broke his D string, also during a solo. Now that's just impressive. During the song "Electrified", the title track from the album, "Electrified", all of the members of Squuaks bum-rushed the stage to help out on the song, using tambourines, clapping along, and one band member used two beer bottles as percussion. That was a definite highlight of the set.

All three bands delivered a good show and the night was consistently fun, however the climax of the night by far was Dressy Bessy, a band you don't want to miss if they come around again, unless of course you hate catchy songs and fun times.