I’ve had a lovely weekend hanging
out with friends and dancing – two of my favourite things. And now, some music!
Disc 1067 is…Volume 3
Artist: She &
Him
Year of Release: 2013
What’s up with the Cover? Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward
stare off into the distance like startled cats. I like the whimsy of this
cover.
How I Came To Know It: Volume Two was #56 on that Paste
Magazine top 100 indie folk album list I love so much. This led me to
exploring the rest of their discography. Of their six albums, this is one of
two that I liked enough to buy.
How It Stacks Up: I have two She & Him albums. This is the
lesser of the two, so…second.
Ratings: 3 stars
In the
land of manic pixie dream girls, Zooey Deschanel is queen. Being the star of hit
movies and TV shows wasn’t enough, and so she got together with fellow musician
M. Ward to form She & Him and prove she’s an accomplished musician as well.
Together
they sing and compose sixties style pop hits. The songs are upbeat, toe-tapping
ditties that would annoy me for being so perfect if Deschanel wasn’t so damned
loveable.
Volume 3
is their fourth album (they worked a Christmas record in there that isn’t
numbered) and if you know the early stuff there won’t be many surprises. This
is bubble gum pop with upbeat melodies and the wonderfully simple production of
early radio friendly rock and roll.
Prog and
grunge fans reading that last sentence might scoff at the silliness of it all,
but they would be wrong. When schmaltzy pop is this good, it transcends any shortcomings
of the genre. She & Him will put a smile on the face of even the most
hardened musical skeptic.
It all
starts with Deschanel’s writing. 11 of the 14 songs are by her, and the other
three are classic pop songs of their time. Deschanel’s writing is such good
stuff, if you didn’t know ahead of time which were the originals and which ones
were the covers, you’d never guess. She has a natural feel for how a song
should progress, and (like the classic composers) knows how to end a song with
something other than a fadeout or a flourish.
“Somebody Sweet To Talk To” is particularly
catchy, bringing in elements you might expect on a Shangri-Las album, with a
healthy dose of the Supremes. It doesn’t hurt that Deschanel’s tone is exactly
what you’d expect from the Queen of the Manic Pixie Girls; sweet and light.
When Deschanel sings “I want you” you’d
climb over barbed wire to present yourself for the opportunity. Hmmm…no, that’s
wrong. A voice like that would never make you climb over barbed wire. Maybe
delicately cross a patch of daisies.
The few
covers that She & Him have selected are perfect for Deschanel’s vocal
style. “Sunday Girl” is the poppiest
of all Blondie songs, and in Deschanel’s hands it becomes even sweeter. Deschanel
even sings a few of the verses in French and makes it…cuter.
“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” lilts away
in a way that is more romantic than sexy, but packs plenty of both. This song
is over sixty years old, but She & Him remind you that it is about young
love, and when performed right, will always feel fresh and young.
In
addition to some fine understated guitar work, M. Ward produces the album and
he wisely gets out of the way and lets Deschanel do her thing. He adds lighthearted
production, featuring a little electric guitar which is always more playful
than aggressive. Even when he’s playing an R&B riff, as he does on “Together” M. Ward keeps it cheerful, with
a clean picking style and just a hint of reverb that makes it feel a bit like
sixties surfer music, crossed with a healthy dose of Motown.
So why
only three stars? It was close to four, but too often I found myself wishing I
was listening to “Volume Two” where the songs are just a slight cut above.
Also, at 14 tracks it is right at the edge of being too long, and I wanted to cut
two or three of the lesser tunes to tighten up the overall impact of the record
as a whole.
Nevertheless,
these are minor quibbles. This album has put a smile on my face and a spring in
my step for the past four days. It may not have a lot of deep lessons to teach,
but we all need a little “keep on the sunny side” in our lives.
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