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Dum Dum Girls add gleam of ’80s to pop

Dum Dum Girls Too True Sub Pop B

The first thing you notice on the latest from Dee Dee Penny’s Dum Dum Girls is that an ’80s new wave glimmer is beginning to edge out the garage-pop fuzz of earlier Girls albums like I Will Be and Only in Dreams. It’s subtle, perhaps, but is a pleasant development.

Penny’s vocals are still echo drenched and dreamy, and the arrangements are more often than not as sweet as a bag of jelly beans over the 10 songs here, which range from the late-night, synthy propulsion that drives “Cult of Love,” to the mysterious ode to aimlessness “Lost Boys & Girls Club.”

Hot tracks: “Are You OK?,” “Too True to Be Good,” “Cult of Love.” - SEAN CLANCY

Soundtrack Li’l Abner Masterworks Broadway B+

Al Capp’s band of hillbillies jumped from the comics to an Arkansas theme park to the Broadway stage and eventually to the big screen when Li’l Abner became an award-winning musical. Now, Sony adds the soundtrack of the 1959 film version to its Masterworks Broadway catalog.

When Dogpatch, USA, is declared the most unnecessary town in the nation, it’s up to the hillbilly residents like Li’l Abner and Daisy Mae to save it from becoming a nuclear test site.

With its energetic, funny songs, it’s a fun listen that seems light and inconsequential until you listen to some of the lyrics.

The story seems silly, but it’s also at times a pretty sharp satire on politicians and the government. “The Country’s in the Very Best of Hands” is still very accurate, more than 50 years after it was written.

The songs are infectious and most are pretty amusing, particularly “Jubilation T. Cornpone,” an ode to Dogpatch’s Civil War “hero” led by Stubby Kaye as Marryin’ Sam, and 18-year-old old maid Daisy Mae (Leslie Parrish) worrying that “I’m Past My Prime.”

Hot tracks: “Jubilation T. Cornpone,” “I’m Past My Prime” - JENNIFER NIXON

Various artists 2014 Grammy Nominees Atlantic B

Grammy Nominees comes out every year with an assortment of the award nominees;

this year’s edition debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200 album charts. Among the 18 tracks there is a striking diversity of material from Grammy winners such as Kacey Musgraves, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Lorde and Daft Punk.

The Grammy losers are here, too … Imagine Dragons, Robin Thicke, Bruno Mars, Sara Bareilles, Pink and more.

If you like compilations of hits, this is as good as any.

Hot tracks: Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven,” Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” Musgraves’ “Merry Go Round,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love.” - ELLIS WIDNER

Linnea Olsson Ah! Gotterfunk Productions A-

Throughout most of this beguiling album, Swedish songwriter Linnea Olsson and her cello are the only sounds one hears. Oh, sure, there’s a handclap or a whistle here and there. The only exception is the title song, which features Frederik Johannson on a hand drum.

Stripped down? Stark? Nah. Olsson takes advantage of the studio to overdub her voice and playing. This means you hear whole string sections and, as she taps the bow on the strings or taps the body of the cello - voila - a rhythm section!

Twee? It could have been, but Olsson’s voice captivates, as do her songs about longing and love won and lost. Fans of Tori Amos, Andrew Bird, Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush should find a lot to like here.

On “All 4 U,” she sounds giddy as she sings “I was helpless as I walked toward you/I was talking nonsense/I got dizzy when I looked into your eye-eye-eye-eye-eyes.” The wonderful “Never Again” is a haunting lamentation.

Hot tracks: “All 4 U,” “Never Again,” the minimalist “Summer,” “Ah!” - ELLIS WIDNER

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Wig Out at Jagbags Matador B+

Stephen Malkmus has always been an enigma, both in the pioneering indie-rock band Pavement and with his band The Jicks. On Wig Out at Jagbags, Malkmus may seem more straightforward, but trying to follow his winding logic will still get you lost.

On the first single, “Lariat,” he declares, “We grew up listening to music from the best decade ever - talkin’ ’bout the Eight-ti-ties,” after admitting, “We lived on Tennyson and venison and the Grateful Dead.” In “Rumble at the Rainbo,” he waxes nostalgic about mosh pits over jangle rock and a reggae breakdown before getting to some punk.

Luckily, he keeps the trip entertaining.

Hot tracks:“Rumble at the Rainbo,” “Lariat.” - GLENN GAMBOA Newsday

Style, Pages 25 on 02/11/2014

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