After six years leading her band Dum Dum Girls, Dee Dee (aka Kristin Welchez) decided she needed a change. She adopted the name Kristin Kontrol and began writing songs that reflected her love of '80s and '90s pop and R&B. After whittling the 60-plus songs she wrote during a rush of creativity down to a more manageable ten, she hit the studio with Dum Dum Girls guitarist Andrew Miller and Kurt Feldman (Ice Choir, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart) to work on her debut album. Released in 2016 by Sub Pop, X-Communicate delved into synth pop and R&B, offering a much brighter outlook than the oft-gloomy Dum Dum Girls. ~ Tim Sendra