Having won the favor of indie and dance music critics alike, I’m going to have to coin a new genre just for The Bird And The Bee. Ready? Retro-futurama-faux-bubblegum-pop. Like it? I do, like totally.
The Bird And The Bee’s self-titled debut sounds like Thom Yorke on massive doses of Prozac (and Progesterone) or maybe a Stereolab/Beach Boys collabo. Producer Greg Kurstin sprinkles happy bells, xylophones, triangles and spacious tambourines over Casiotonic drumbeats, warm (and sometimes fuzzy) analog-ish synth sounds and acoustic guitar strummings, weaving a magic wall-to-wall carpet under singer Inara George’s pure mellifluous vocals and intentional clichés.
The duo tempers their syrupy-sweet and contagious pop with lyrical ironies on songs like “F*cking Boyfriend†and “La La La.†And, despite their clean and pretty exterior, these songs are anything but unsophisticated. Jazz-inspired vocal arrangement, dub, motown, bossa nova, classical, crunk, new wave and jazz standards are only some of the ingredients in Kurstin and George’s ear-candy.
There aren’t any bad songs here and in general the choruses are the real payoff. “I’m A Broken Heart,†a lilting ballad told from the organ’s much neglected perspective, and “My Fair Lady,†a song about pining, are especially pleasing.
Out now on Blue Note/EMI Records, The Bird and The Bee's currently on tour with Lily Allen. Listen on their Amazon or iTunes.
by DJ Scribe
