Criminally overlooked (by me), this record has been sitting in the review bin for far toolong. Released last year, Sound Go Round, combines Dressy Bessy’s love for 60’s pop with post-modern word play.

If the record has a shortcoming, it’s that it starts off great and gradually loses some steam. The first song (“I Saw Cinnamon”) is a perfectly polished pop nugget which grooves along with a sweet vocal and fuzzed out guitars. Its successor (“Tag”) is the polar opposite with only a thin guitar and vocal carrying an undeveloped idea. Still, it’s charming. The next song “There’s A Girl” bursts out of “Tag” and restores the bounce to Dressy Bessy’s step — a slick bassline bubbles under Tammy Ealom’s fetching vocals.

Ealom’s voice is somewhat similar to Liz Phair’s in her melodic yet flat (I don’t mean tone wise) delivery. The catchy refrains and elliptical lyrics of “Buttercups” strengthen this comparison.

Occassionally, Dressy Bessy wander here and there. But with so many fine, loose pop songs present, one can hardly fault them for indulging less catchy instincts.

–TA