Seriously, I hate the way she sings "Darling" I also feel like it's in every song. It's sounds like she sings it with a '50's country and western twang.

what's wrong with a 50's country and western twang?

Just what I was going to say.
Yes, she does channel old timey female vocalists. She's said as much.

Female singers are held to a higher standard on this board.

I'm simply not into '50s country n' western, I'm also not much into re-hashing what's been done. That's part of my problem with many new artists today, it's like they take something we haven't heard for a while and then try to emulate those who were better at it. Girls are another example of this, but the critics love them so who am I to challenge them.

I know every artist can't be groundbreaking, but at least make it your own. She & Him volume one didn't feel like "Whoa! Look what they did by spinning this on it's head." Instead, for me personally it just felt dated.

there's a reason certain styles of music are classic tho... like, sure Justin Townes Earle isn't doing much that Hank Sr. didn't, but i still love him.

Sinatra didn't do anything exactly new/groundbreaking, millions still loved him.

i think for certain styles of music and bands you can't always expect that much "groundbreaking". i mean look at Tallest Man on Earth, there's only so much deviation one guy fingerpicking on acoustic guitar and singing can pull off, but i still ove both his records.

I guess I've been in a Black Francis, Mike Patton, Tom Waits listening frenzy lately and that doesn't help. I just think of bands like The White Stripes, not groundbreaking but Jack still has unmistakable identity. If you played their stuff based on the dates of various influences of theirs be it in the late 70's for their later albums or much earlier side by side with their Bluegrass influences it would have blown minds. She and him not so much.

i'd agree with that, but as long as the music is enjoyable to me at it's core, that's all the more i really care on a surface level

Scored two for the show in my town today.
Thanks that heads up Solace.

Video is sorta cutesy-overload but she's nice to look at, so it's OK. I do really like that one shot where Zooey walks through the hoola hoops, does that wink at the camera, and M. Ward pops out of nowhere and starts wailing on the guitar.

For some reason her hair being all over the place in the video annoys me.

i want to hear this album.
d

They are a business, the video is stamped with Zoe as a marketing ploy to satisfy indie fanboys and sell their product. What you are felling is probably good judgment, feeling uneasiness/reaction to their product/production being pushed on you.

Good for you.

Listen to the last one, probably gonna be the same thing rehashed.

agreed. this duo is crap.

For some reason Pygmy's response to N.K. annoys me.

It's called pop music. Nothing wrong at all with making lightweight music (so long as one likes it) and striving for success.

You think it's the implicit sexism or the naive view of what exactly the role of a music video is?

I think it's the pompous and condescending tone.

i can't believe pygmy thinks women are often used for marketing. that is absurd and sexist.

That's a good answer too.

finally got around to watching the clip. she really is as cute as a button. has m. ward died his hair and lost 10 kgs?

album still isn't really doing much for me. pleasant enough, but nothing amazing.

pass it on to others. maybe it will do something for them.

stream Volume 2

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...oryId=124615798

digging it quite a bit so far. it's more lush than the first one.

their cover of NRBQ's 'Ridin' In My Car' is awesome, but i can't stand Zooey's voice on the chorus of 'Over It Over Again' (moreso the backing vocal tracks), had to skip that one.

sounds great. Does anyone have a decent copy other than the webrip?

legit 320 hxxp://hotfile.com/dl/33116685/b5b34ef/duoeleeela.rar.html

Thanks for the link.

thanks andy

I don't think this one is quite as good as Volume One but maybe part of it was that one was such a revelation. I mean we knew Zoey had a great voice from her performances in some movies but the songwriting was really great too. That being said I really, really love Thieves (the live version they did on Sound Opinions a couple months back was stunning). I don't really care for the cover of Ridin' In my Car but huge props as far as the song choice. Gonna Get Along Without You on the other hand is pretty great. I've not seen much mention of Don't Look Back but after Thieves it's my probably my next favorite.

This is pretty spot on. After a few listens to this its very enjoyable. Its a record I could easily put on with the wife and kid and dance around in the living room or just chill and eat dinner to. That said, I agree that the surprise has sorta worn off. Its exactly what I expected (and hoped) it would be, but nothing more.

FWIW, I think this is really good.

It's nothing revelatory, but it's fun.

Dig the 'Ridin' in My Car' cover.