Under The Influence

Children of the ‘80s that they are, singer Inara George and producer Greg Kurstin have chosen Daryl Hall & John Oates for the first volume of Interpreting the Masters, a sly move that reveals both their age and intended audience -- i.e., ex alt-rockers raised on new wave and now settling into a tasteful, hipster middle age, hauling around kids dressed in Ramones t-shirts -- and a reflection of Hall & Oates’ increasing reputation as soul-pop songwriters and record-makers.

The Bird & the Bee manage to make these very familiar hits sound fresh without radically reinventing them. That in itself is a much trickier move than turning these all into slow acoustic dirges, but it’s better still because these arrangements are true to both Hall & Oates and George & Kurstin.

The heart of the album lies in these covers of ‘80s staples: they shift the spotlight just enough to prove how good both the original song and singles are, and by never drawing attention to their own performance and arrangements, the Bird & the Bee prove just how good they are too.

For their second album, 'Wake Up...It's Tomorrow', Strawberry Alarm Clock built upon the solid writing and musicianship that inevitably carried over from the 'Incense and Peppermints' project.

In retrospect, it is baffling as to why they were relegated to the "one-hit wonders" file, as their most social and musically relevant statements had yet to be made.

The album does fit together in an odd way, and was more of a musicians' record than a producer's record -- and had more people heard it, they might've been remembered in subsequent years as a band and not just as an AM radio phenomenon with a funny name.

I went through a period where I listened to a lot of Mercury Rev, All Is Dream and Deserter's Songs in particular. In the early days I'd get the strangest feeling that I'd heard it all before. I have no idea how it worked but it felt like I was listening to something from deep in my childhood. The more I listened the more the songs became associated with Mercury Rev.

This album didn't do that to me. This sounds like Mercury Rev from the get go. That's not a bad thing, they have a unique sound and it's a pleasure to listen to. I think this is one that with a bit of work will stay with me.

Ha! In A Funny Way just did that Beach Boys thing - that drum sound like in Bat For Lashes.

It's so hard to classify anything these guys do. I love it, I really do. It's like they're able to strip the music back expose just the stuff that effects us. Then they rebuild with a layer of absurdity in place of traditional content. Those that don't try to understand are put of by this layer and those of us that do are left scratching our heads trying to figure out what it is that makes it so damn effective.

Music Midas Touch.

A few moments in and I really wasn't sure about this (one should choose carefully what one listens to first thing in the morning - it can be a delicate time). At the end of the album now and I just have the typical complaint to make - far far too short. 18 minutes for Pete's sake - what a tease.

In some ways it reminds me of My Own Flag - another far too short work. This is a lot like a lighter (and heavier in some ways), more electro version of that masterpiece.

Each track is a glistening little pop beauty that hits you like a train and is gone again before you even get a chance to right yourself. It's not really 8-bit but the essence is there - that's all it takes to get me interested.

Short, precise, punchy, hard rocking pop gems. I'm having trouble accepting that this is from the mid-90s. Well, not really but it's definitely aging well (sounds like it's knowingly trying to sound a bit old... if you know what I mean).

You don't have to look much further than Th15 L1ttl3 P199y to get a good idea of how powerful the hooks right alongside a demonstration of their more experimental ambient sound. Pop over to the next track, 5trun9, if you'd like a closer examination of the experimental work on here; reminds me of Fear Factory in a way.

Honestly, there are so many damn clever addictive little hooks on here I really don't know where to start. Helpfully, the whole thing is so concise you just start at the beginning. Once it has started you can't turn it off until it's over.

Not that it has anything to do with anything but all of the song titles are written in a semi 133t style. W1ck3d!

First impressions scream Beck - his voice is really similar in parts and the production is quite different from your run of the mill work. Generally quite mellow, certainly the first half is anyway. The deeper you get into it the rockier it becomes - eg 850 Commando (I knew a guy that had one of those once, probably still does - hell of a bike).

The keys in The Dartmouth Soundsystem sound like a Check Your Head era Beastie Boys lick. I just noticed that there are lots of electronic beats in the production. The more I listen the more diverse I realise this is. I prefer the more downbeat stuff, there are lots of lovely layers in the production. Having said that I enjoyed You'll Never Come Back which verges more on black/sludge metal.

Of course, the style of the track doesn't really matter. What matters is that there are pop hooks, and he has those in abundance.

These cats are set to make a bit of an impact. It sounds like a whole bunch of really cool old bands; Stone Roses, Cure, Joy Division, Velvet Underground etc all mixed up and put together in a new way. In fact, that's what makes this stuff cool. It's the nostalgia kick. It's much like how Wolfmother burst onto the scene to remind us about all the great Sabbath era music.

The production is rather lo-fi, far more so than one is used to these days - not that that worries me, I get sick of everything sounding polished and shiny.

I really hope these guys get a chance to show what they can do.

I didn't look at the year on this album when I first listened to it. I had my suspicions (the first track, You're No Good, has a distinctive Joy Division vibe going on) that it was old but in all honestly if you had told me that it came out this year I'd have believed you without batting an eyelid. It's precisely what so many bands are trying to sound like now - and this lot had it sorted in 1981.

Hey, I've heard that sound in UFO before - it's been ripped for a modern track that I just can't think of right now. Actually, there are lots of little bits in here that I'm sure I've heard sampled all over the place.

Indie funk rock stripped down to the bare essentials. What a great sound - makes me want to get up and dance.

Strangely Fleetwood Mac / The Eagles were the first things that came to mind on first listen. It's not quite what I expected. That's not entirely true because I'd watched a couple of their videos on youtube a while back and I now recall it being something like this. I was introduced to these guys through their exceptional live acoustic album, Radio Radio TV Sleep (one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard). This is much rockier - actually that's why I've put off listening to this for so long, their acoustic stuff is just so damned good I figured it would be impossible to top.

I think I still prefer the raw stripped down innocence of Radio Radio TV Sleep though there's plenty of lovely stuff to explore here. The 70s sound is definitely carried the whole way through the work. I like their chunky guitar distortion. Some of the tracks, Music In Me being a prime example, are adorned with that beautiful string sound that I've come to demand from the Norwegians.

Yeah, it's growing on me - agreeable sounds for the rest of my summer.