Dressy Bessy: "In Your Headphones"

Boy, that Pipettes dustup sure was much ado about nothing, huh? Turns out they weren’t the culmination of post-modern ironic feminism or a tongue-in-cheek statement against it. They were just making toe-tapping pop music reminiscent of a swinging little niche in the massive ’60s zeitgeist. What were we all so worried about?

I bet if you asked Tammy Ealom of Dressy Bessy to comment on the Pipettes’ wild (and short lived) success the answer would be along the same lines—something like, “What’s the big fucking deal?” After all, she’s been kicking out hooky girl pop largely unnoticed since the late ’90s. “In Your Headphones” is a prime example: from the revving engine and squealing rubber that begin the song it’s a single cohesive, syncopated blast of jumpy goodness. It’s essentially just Ealom chanting the title of the song, which could get a little tedious if a) it wasn’t a mere two minutes long, and b) there were no angular guitar lines poking out through the rubbery surface, giving it just enough of a post punk adrenaline jolt. There’s nothing whatsoever in the way of message here, but at least Dressy Bessy don’t have the temerity to suggest that there is. Related question: what are the underpinning sociological intimations of “Pull Shapes”?