Alerted to its impending arrival by EW of all places, I'd been expecting the release of Keren Ann and Bardi Johannsson's pet project Lady & Bird for several weeks before it actually hit the shelves here in the States. In that period, a smattering of mixed reviews came out and a partial from the last track floated around the blogs...removing a lot of the hope I had for the record. Fortunately, almost everything I'd read and heard before the album came out was wrong.
Beginning with moments of shimmering 60's folk and pop, it winds its way through psychedelia and back, invoking a feeling along the lines of what you'd expect from a husband and wife duo record made in Britan in 1967.
The songs Keren and Bardi have written themselves shine as the backbone of the record, leaving the stage set for their two particular covers: The Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says" and the theme from M*A*S*H, "Suicide is Painless". In the hands of Lady and Bird, the latter becomes the epic 60's ballad that would have it was meant to be, had it come in time for the summer of love.
An excellent example of the tone of the record, check out "Walk Real Slow":
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Comments (1)
FIRST!
Yes. I concur.
G.
Posted by: djgirth | July 6, 2006 2:43 PM
Posted on: July 6, 2006 14:43