I was going to take a break from a music post this week, but two albums have forced me to changed my mind.
She & Him, Volume One
I first heard about Zooey Deschanel’s album from Stereogum. I downloaded the sample track and subsequently let it sit. Then, I heard about the album on NPR’s Fresh Air about a month ago; Terry Gross interviewed Zooey and played a couple of the tracks. After all that exposure which had attracted my attention, I finally gave the album a listen recently and it blew me away. My expectations weren’t high–the novelty of actors-turned-singers has washed away, and it’s why (unfortunately) Scarlett Johansson’s record hasn’t earned any points from me (yet). But Volume One is beautiful.
Combine stripped-down folk-pop with a Beach Boys-esque affinity for false harmony, and you can roughly determine the space She & Him’s record occupies. The songs are diverse and brief, much like the mid-1960s pop-rock songs Zooey is channelling. “Sentimental Heart,” the album’s lead track, does much to showcase Zooey’s voice, and the piano/violin instrumentation with the vintage-sounding vocal effect seems like an indie-Motown hybrid that I didn’t think possible. Followed by the bouncy acoustic guitar-driven “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”, it’s clear the record is comfortable with genre-hopping. This happens a number of times, shifting from folk (“This Is Not a Test”) to crooner (“I Thought I Saw Your Face Today”) to surf-rock (“I Was Made for You”). One would think such a project would seem unfocused and directionless, but Zooey’s vocals somehow make the album a coherent and thoroughly enjoyable ride. The album marks the best debut I’ve heard in a while, and, beyond that, it’s an amazing thirty-five minutes of music.
The Dresden Dolls, No Virginia…
I found myself scared of the new Dresden Dolls record. Knowing it was a compilation of b-sides and outtakes, I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to the rest of the band’s corpus. Both The Dresden Dolls and Yes, Virginia… found a place in my heart that hadn’t been touched since I was a teenager–no small feat. I had heard two songs from the record prior to the album’s release: “Pretty in Pink,” an energetic Psychedelic Furs cover and “The Kill,” a song streamed on the band’s MySpace in the weeks leading up to the release. Both songs lived up to expectations, so I don’t know why I was scared of the record as a whole.
While not as addictive as its predecessors, No, Virginia… is a solid outing by the Dolls. “Night Reconnaissance” evokes the accusatory tone of Yes, Virginia…’s “Backstabber” with a melodic chorus; “Última Esperanza” is an internet-age romance story that manages to be technologically relevant and poetic at the same time. “Lonesome Organist Rapes Page-Turner” is a dark, literal journey in the spirit of “Sex Changes” and “Mandy Goes to Med School”–a song only Amanda Palmer can pull off with finesse. No, Virginia… is the solid album I hoped it would be. I can tell the songs will take some warming up to, and that’s time I’m happy to spend with such a talented duo. «»
