SISU
Blood Tears

The Dum Dum Girls have always caused me quite a bit of irritation and dislike, due to the flatness and insipidity of their musical writing and their blatantly derivative and impersonal sound, as well as their not infrequent indulgence in the most commercial self-promotion strategies. Hence my surprise at finding myself unexpectedly captivated by the notes of what is essentially a side project of one of the aforementioned girls, drummer Sandra Vu.

Even in Blood Tears, the pop vein is indeed overwhelming and macroscopic, but it is managed in a way that helps to shape a distinct musical identity and is accompanied by an antithetical tendency to experiment with less predictable solutions. From the very first moments of Counting Stars, it is also clear that the sound universe in which the debut of SISU moves is as far as one can imagine from the reverb-soaked garage-pop characteristic of the Dum Dum Girls' sixties brand.

We find ourselves in the much darker and introspective territories of the darker wave, one that is headed by Robert Smith and the depressive revolution of Pornography. Above all, the insistent pulse of bass, drums, and drum machines prevails, submerged in the suggestive dreamlike landscapes sketched by finely woven layers of synths and reverbs, interspersed with electronic and vocal flourishes. We are, in other words, in the realm of Soft Moon, KVB, Tropic of Cancer, the latest Tamaryn, early Blouse, and our very own Be Forest, to name a few contemporary acts.

The tracklist ranges from the electronic dominance of tracks like the hypnotic Electronic (sic!) or the atmospheric and minimalist Shotgun Running to the pure darkwave of Return the Favor, which seems to come straight out of the shadowy eighties. The pop and danceable soul of Cut Me Off is countered by the sinister and ghostly stride of Sharp Teeth, just as the tribal and obsessive rhythms of Let Go belie the effortless fluidity of the previous Sinking Feeling. The final title track shares with Harpoons the alternation and combination of gloomy electronic dusts and vast synth splendors, closing the dances opened by Counting Stars with its laconic bass loops and sudden shoegaze explosions.

Despite the structural simplicity and the search for melody that unite its ten tracks, Sandra Vu's debut thus presents itself as a fresh and personal work, certainly far more successful than the awkward repeated attempts that see her participating in the role of drummer.