Dum Dum Girls' leader Dee Dee is gradually transforming into a masterful rock songwriter and potential real-deal rock star. "Lord Knows," the first single off of their upcoming EP, End of Daze, is gorgeous, measured, and confidently paced. Above all, it is beautifully sung, as Dee Dee's voice has acquired the extra levels of velvet brooding necessary for her new, darker material to cast the shadows it's striving for. The chorus of "Lord Knows" is simple, like most of Dee Dee's lyrics: "Oh boy/I can't hurt you anymore/Lord knows I hurt my love." But the ache in her voice, and the echoing "Crimson and Clover" chord progression she sets it against, causes the song to radiate a melancholy violet-sunset glow.

[from End of Daze EP; out 09/25/12 via Sub Pop]