Screaming Mimi - Dorothy Millette

  by Jonjo McNeill

published: 21 / 4 / 2007

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Review

The trouble with music fans is that they don’t know a good thing when it’s staring them in the face. Thankfully, every now and then a band will transcend the shackles of their local scene and grip the nation by its throat, demanding we take a closer look at what goes on round their neck of the woods, and helping unearth some absolute gems in the process. Sheffield has been kicking out first rate indie since before we started keeping records, but it seems only recently that the scene has come back to the forefront of the nation’s attention. And thank Buddha it has, for otherwise we may have missed out on this fantastic single from Screaming Mimi, an indie-glamourous five piece fronted by the impossibly sexy Loretta Chantry; a semi-wailing mish mash of Kate Bush and Deborah Harry dressed in period ball gowns and high heels. ‘Dorothy Milette’ then, is the band’s first ‘proper’ release following 2006’s split 7” with the also-brilliant-and-also-from-Sheffield Repomen. It’s a storming little number, taking us back to the 50's via 70's punk and 90's Britpop with an outrageous surf guitar riff jostling with punk drums and a snarling drawl of an organ. Chantry’s vocals are smouldering; produced perhaps intentionally so the lyrics become part of the sound rather than jumping from the mix, her soft tones retain an edge even when scraping the top of the range. ‘Dorothy Milette’ is the perfect single: instant, hook-laden and absolutely infectious, with enough layers to warrant constant re-investigation. A stunning A-side does not an essential release make, however, so it’s just as well they’ve thrown in the dreamy ‘Bumblebee’ as well – all pitch-perfect droning guitars, chugging bass and charming melodies, with an undercurrent of darkness infusing it’s almost perfect pop. Go and buy ‘Dorothy Millette’ the minute you finish reading this - beautiful, edgy, subversive pop music doesn’t come much better. Screaming Mimi are exactly what a great British post-millennial guitar band should be.

Track Listing:-

1 Dorothy Millette
2 Bumblebee