Yellin' & Kickin' It: Dressy Bessy

GIVE DRESSY BESSY CREDIT for truth in advertising: You'd expect a band named after a Gen X toy doll to have a catchy retro power-pop sound and a thrift-store aesthetic, and the group doesn't disappoint.

"When I first started the band I was really into '60s bubblegum like The Monkees and The Hollies and early Beatles. Something you can dance to and sing along with," says bubbly frontwoman Tammy Ealom from her Denver home.

Dressy Bessy's new release, "Holler and Stomp" (Transdreamer), moves things up a decade, featuring lots of '70s power chords and even more harmonies, though "Shoot, I Love You" is rollicking '60s bubblegum with a call-and-response tambourine in the chorus.

The slashing guitar riffs on "Dressed the Part" seem taken from the Shonen Knife songbook, a comparison Ealom bristles at and adds, "We used to get lazy comparisons to No Doubt since they had the big female vocalist at that time."

Meanwhile, "RoundDABout" features a sound from a British GPS message. "That whole song is inspired by that. We toured the U.K. two years ago in a Volvo with a GPS unit. And I recommend it; it's the only way to get around in London. I think it's a deep woman's voice; the rest of the band thinks it's a guy."

But musically, the group's influences aren't stuck in the past — well, not entirely. "I'm now really into this band from Norway called The Jessica Fletchers," Ealon said. "We toured a few years ago with them and I've just become obsessed; they really get it as far as harmonies. And a lot of AC/DC's come out of our stereo here."

Maybe it's that AC/DC influence that gives Ealom's sweet singing voice such a snarky twang, though she figures her vocals "are influenced by Miller Lite and Marlboro Light, mostly."

After the darker new-wave sound of 2005's "Electrified," Ealom said for "Holler and Stomp" that "we just wanted to go back into the basement and really work it out with overdubs and harmonies. This is the first album I've been able to sit down and write without any drama or pressure to get an album done; it was just me sitting down and talking about me and being a girl. Songwriting has always been my way of getting back and jab without the person knowing, and this is the first album where I don't have any conflicts."

Dressy Bessy is Ealom's full-time musical gig, though guitarist John Hill spends half his time as part of the equally poppy Apples in Stereo. But Ealom said the band recently added "a third guitar player/keyboard/percussion/cowbell [guy], and he's our main harmony guy now, too. He helps me when he does the low stuff; it helps me do the high stuff live."

Combine that with a new touring drummer and "we've basically got a new band coming out with this album," she said.

As for the live show, Ealom promises, "It'll be very high energy. ... Some of our best crowds and shows are in D.C., and we've played the Black Cat quite a bit."

And with five albums to draw from there probably won't be room for any covers, though Ealom jokes, "Sometimes people will request a song which we haven't played in five years. That's kind of like playing a cover."

» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; with Squaaks and Hot Lava, Tue., Sept. 30, 9:00 p.m., $10; 202-667-4490. (U St.-Cardozo)