Miss Guy – Dumb Blonde

Who is Chicago’s Miss Guy you ask?  Well, aside from a distinguished career fronting hard rock outfit The Toilet Boys that I completely missed, he (she?) is apparently a highly respected DJ in the club scene.  In the solo realm, he/she does little to distinguish between the two, with his/her first EP, Dumb Blonde, jumping between personalities without discrimination.  In fact, pop-diva wannabe Miss Guy swaps between personas with such fluidity that Dumb Blonde falls victim to an identity crisis (which is fitting considering Miss Guy’s whole gender skirting gimmick).

The album roars open with the promising electro-punk title-track, but heads down hill not long after.  “Dumb Blonde” pushes a hip-shaking, feel-good vibe not unlike that of silly pop-punkers The Phenomonauts of The Aquabats.  It’s fresh, catchy, and instantly memorable.  If the album stayed this way from start to finish I’d say Miss Guy should keep an ear open for a knock on the door from It’s Alive Records.  But then “Take It Off” throws a wrench in the gears with a brain dead, 8-bit chirping, thumping club mix featuring lyrics that would embarrass the likes of Matt Toka (ouch).  I get that Miss Guy is aiming for a sense of mainstream parody and a degree of genre satire, but this is a sad case of emulation over imitation.  Take for instance the top 40’s inspired soft rock tune “Don’t Stop” or its neigbour “Magic” which both play out like a comedy act minus the punchline.  “Don’t Stop” doesn’t offer much more, but sounds like a masterpiece compared to the moaning, lo-fi crawler that is “Sometimes.”  Reality is that Miss Guy never overcomes the limitations of the genres he/she parodies.

Needless to say, Dumb Blonde starts with a bang and crashes fast and hard.  I suppose I should applaud Miss Guy’s experimental nature and chameleon-like willingness to turn on a dime, but Dumb Blonde is hopelessly clueless.  Varied without focus and satirically challenged, Miss Guy needs to figure out who he/she is before introducing himself/herself to a wider audience.