It’s pretty obvious by now that Girl Groups are back — and I don’t just mean rock bands with female singers and musicians. I mean bands that evoke the famous Girl Groups of the 1960s. Today’s Girl Groups tend to channel the sweetness of that sound through the loudness of garage rock, however. Dum Dum Girls are one of the finer practitioners of this sort of music, and the band put on a fine performance Friday night (Oct. 14) at Chicago’s Empty Bottle, with catchy vocals and crunchy guitar chords. The concert came with an excellent bonus: a thrilling and energetic opening set of shoegazy rock songs by Crocodiles. The main Dum Dum Girl, Dee Dee (aka Kristin Gundred), joined Crocodiles onstage for one stage, ending it by kissing Crocodiles singer Brandon Welchez (who happens to be her husband). The first performer of the night, Colleen Green, was a lo-fi amateur in comparison with what followed; pretty voice, but she needs an actual band.
