REVIEW: “She & Him” combine for a foot-tapping sound
What do you get when you put a beautiful young actress and a chill movie composer in the same film? Well, you could possibly get a lot of things, but in this case, you get a musical duo whose refreshingly old-fashioned style not only gets you to tap your toes, but may inspire even a starving college student to go out and buy their album.
Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward met on the set of the film “The Go Getter” (2007). They performed a song together for the movie, and soon decided to form She & Him, an indie-folk band with two albums: “Volume 1” and “Volume 2.”
Interested to see if this actress could actually sing, I decided to listen to their first album, “Volume 1.” Right from the first track, I was immediately impressed with Deschanel’s voice. Not your typical female voice, hers seems a cross between Karen Carpenter and Nora Jones – perfectly fitting for the actress of “Elf” and “Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy,” and perfectly fitting for the music they perform.
Deschanel writes the songs and Ward produces them wonderfully. A versatile duo, they seem to be able to play many different styles of music, everything from simple acoustic sets to 50’s doo-wop to country. One of the incredible things about them is that while they are playing an old-fashioned style, they sound brand new. It is a little like Bright Eyes, in the 60’s, with a girl singer.
The second track, “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”, employs the use of an upbeat tempo, a lead guitar part uncluttered by distortion, and odd yet hilarious lyrics to remind you of all those teenage crushes we all had. And the video, although slightly morbid, leaves you in love with the youthful innocence that Deschanel and her music portray.
The rest of the album follows suit, you can mentally envision Deschanel in a poodle skirt dancing around the microphone while Ward coolly plays lead guitar.
Not to imply that all Ward contributes to the group is lead guitar. He produced the album, adding ingenious embellishments to Deschanel’s songs, using such techniques as a prominent violin throughout the album, playing a perfectly out-of-tune piano just for style on certain tracks, using a bass voice instead of a bass guitar and even what sounds like a kazoo solo on the third track. Either that, or she is just buzzing her lips.
The last track on the album is a real shocker, starting off with a very tropical feel. After being transported to a pacific island, you start to imagine the warm sand and beautiful women, and you can almost taste your fresh coconut juice – served in the coconut shell – when the lead guitar comes in, jerking you back to the startling reality – that you are, in fact, listening to an island version of the Beatles’ “I Should Have Known Better.”
I wasn’t sold on it at first, but after hearing Ward take over the lead vocals, dubbing his raspy voice over itself for a really cool effect, I decided I’ll let it go. Deschanel and Ward may not be Lennon and McCartney, but they do a decent cover.
Overall, I’d say it was a good album. Whether you are driving along the coastal highway or just doing some homework, it would be great background music. Or, if you are looking for a replacement for your girlfriend’s Sheryl Crow album that you impulsively threw out the car window after the four-hundredth listen, this gender-neutral album will do the trick. Just let her think you found these guys on your own, she’ll be impressed.
–rex.colin.mitchell@aggiemail.usu.edu