When I was a child sitting cross legged on the floor watching Saturday morning cartoons mere inches from the TV screen, I was obsessed with fun songs. The show didn’t seem to matter as much as the cool theme in front of it. The sounds of Speed Racer, the Banana Splits, Josie & the Pussy Cats, Scoobie Doo… even Hong Kong Phooey were running through my head as I raced up and down the street on my banana seat bicycle. Certain songs would just grab me by the cranium and shake themselves into my consciousness. Obviously, it wasn’t about some deep emotional connection; there was just a gut instinct that made me want to jump, shake, run, ride, and sing even if I had no talent at such things. They just put a smile on my face.

Fast forward a few decades and some bands continue to pull that out of me. Dressy Bessy is one of those groups. They just allow me to spend a bit of time in a ‘happy place’, and their new album King Sized is another notch in a good time measure stick.

First you have Tammy Ealom, whose vocals could be compared to the more fun version of the Breeders Kim Deal. Then you get John Hill whose rhythm guitar jangle from Apples In Stereo takes the lead with Dressy Bessy. What you get is joyous mix of power-pop, indie and 70’s – 80’s pub rock, all tossed into a blender and arriving in your speakers as the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll smoothie.

Lead single “Lady Liberty” suggests that life is just too damn short to live with negativity as Ealom sings “there’s no room for angry people / trying hard to get along / there’s nothing if not taking role, folding cards / if only Lady Liberty could say it all / I’ll bet she would.” Sure, there is a message, but it’s subtle and comes out in rainbow coloured bursts. Even empowerment tune “Get Along, Diamond Ring” with Ealom’s protagonist exclaiming “don’t give, give me, give me no diamond ring – ‘cause I don’t want it” isn’t angry as much as a simple statement given with rolled eyes and raised brow; a boundary not to be crossed.

Fact is, while Dressy Bessy is celebrating their 20^th anniversary this year, they’ve been on my bucket list for most of those. Between their music and videos I get the impression it would be an awesome experience.

Unfortunately, a decent fan base south of the border hasn’t translated into any visits north. Hopefully King Sized will afford them the opportunity to play NXNE festival in June, or even better, a solo spot at one of T.O.’s (Toronto) smaller venues…, because… well… it’s one show I would want to be near the stage for.

King Sized will be released Feb 5^th