I think my love for The Bird and The Bee somehow got lost in the musical clutter that has made up the past couple of years for me. I first became aware of the band back when I heard the club mixes for "F*cking Boyfriend." While I enjoyed the Ralphi Rosario/Jody den Broeder mixes, nothing about the band really stood out in my mind. Then, I bought tickets to see Lily Allen live (for the second time) in Boston at The Roxy. Who are "The Bird and The Bee?" Prior to the show, I bought their debut self-titled album (on Metro Blue Records) and basically shelved it until after the concert. Of course, after having experienced the supremely gifted duo (Greg Kurstin & Inara George) live, I was sold. Inara was just so charming as she conversed with the audience and when she sang - wow. Such a crisp, clean sound. I loved her voice. Together, The Bird and The Bee made beautiful music.
This was back in the summer of 2007. While I did follow the band via iTunes, seeing the release of the Please Clap Your Hands EP, "La La La" and a holiday release all in Fall 2007 ("Carol Of The Bells"), I inexplicably lost interest after that and by and large ignored all of their subsequent releases. March 2008 saw the release of the One Too Many Hearts EP, followed by a Live from Vegas iTunes Exclusive release that summer. December 9th saw the release of a new single from their forthcoming album. For me, it was "Love Letter To Japan" that temporarily reignited that spark that initially had drawn me to the band. It was uptempo, fun, had an awesome video...but I wasn't compelled to buy the new album (the band's Blue Note Records debut). Clearly, I had a musical brain fart!
Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future is an album that I NEED to get my hands on and STAT. Not sure why I didn't buy it when I first heard "Love Letter To Japan." While many bands today would have me begging their labels for club remixes, "Love Letter To Japan" was perfection just by itself. No remix necessary. That's why, when I heard about the band's upcoming 3rd album, I am expecting more pure pop perfection. Guiltless Pleasures Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates will be out on Blue Note March 23rd and will be lead with a single, "Heard It On The Radio" (which you can hear on Popjustice - they featured it as a 'Song of the Day' last week). While the rest of the album is made up of Hall & Oates covers, "Heard It On The Radio is an original song, written to bring out that same "oldie but a goody" vibe that resonates within the rest of the cover versions. Speaking of the cover versions, go and check out four 10 second snippets on Popjustice."There's definitely no irony," says Kurstin of covering tracks by the genius duo. "They're great songwriters and these are great songs." Couldn't agree more and I for one, think that The Bird and The Bee are the proper band to do Hall & Oates justice. As you can see, the band covers many of the classics. I can't wait for this album. In the meantime, I'm going to pick up their last album for good measure.
Tracklisting:
1. Heard It On The Radio
2. I Can’t Go For That
3. Rich Girl
4. Sarah Smile
5. Kiss On My List
6. Maneater
7. She’s Gone
8. Private Eyes
9. One on One