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The Bird and the Bee

Please Clap Your Hands

(Blue Note; US: 25 Sep 2007; UK: Available as import)

“You’ve got the brains / I’ve got the looks / Let’s make lots of money”


So goes the immortal Pet Shop Boys song “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)”. The Bird and the Bee applies a similar aesthetic to their music-making: Greg Kurstin plays all of the instruments while Inara George does all of the vocals and looks pretty. Following their well-received debut LP in January, they deliver the year-closing Please Clap Your Hands EP, and—shock and awe—it sounds a lot like their debut. It also shares another interesting aspect of their debut: quality songs. “Polite Dance Song” comes off like Zero 7 doing an angry cover of a Maroon 5 song, and it works quite well (especially with George cooing out terms like “crazy-ass beat” with total conviction). “Man” carries the same wistful vibe of U.K. act Bat for Lashes, but with a distinctly European keyboard-flair. “The Races” is a fine song by itself, but in following “Polite Dance Song” and “Man”, it comes off as something of a musical retread of what preceded it (debut LP included). Yet it’s the retro-styled pop of the infectious “So You Say” that is the clear winner: sunny background vocal harmonies intermingling with “96 Tears” keyboards and a distinct dance aesthetic. The fact that it closes with a less-schmaltzy take on the Bee Gee’s “How Deep Is Your Love” is an added bonus. They got the brains & they got the looks: just watch them make a lot of money.

Rating:

Evan Sawdey began contributing to PopMatters in late 2005 after contributing for years to his college newspaper The Knox Student. Evan became the Associate Interviews Editor for PopMatters in the summer of 2008, and then the full Interviews Editor a year after that. Since joining, Evan's work has been quoted/featured in a wide array of publications including SLUG Magazine, The Metro (U.K.), the Gulf Times, Soundvenue Magazine (Denmark), and multiple national newspapers. Evan has been a guest on WNYC's Soundcheck (an NPR affiliate), was the Executive Producer for the Good With Words: A Tribute to Benjamin Durdle album (available for free at GoodWithWordsAlbum.com), and wrote the liner notes for the 2011 re-release of Andre Cymone's hit 1985 album A.C. (Big Break Records) as well as the re-release of the JoBoxers' 1983 debut album Like Gangbusters (Hot Shot Records). He is a current member of The Recording Academy. He resides in Chicago, Illinois. You can follow him @SawdEye should you be so inclined.


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The Bird and the Bee - Again & Again
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