Comprised of perhaps the most intriguing husband and wife pairing since Jack and Meg announced they were really brother and sister (honest! no, really, come back!), Portland, Oregon duo VIVA VOCE'S lo-fi, but seethingly excellent recent album "The Heat Can Melt Your Brain" had W&H in raptures a few short months ago and served notice they would be THE wonky outsiders to monitor in the near future.
New single "Wrecking Ball" merely re-inforces this line of thinking. Recorded in - of all places - Nashville (their temporary home en route from Alabama to Portland) and is anything but lo-fi, shy OR retiring. It IS, however, a corker: wobbly '70s synth and scything guitars from hubby Kevin, tambourines a go-go, and a great chugging beat (rdeolent of everyone from Pixies to The Go-Gos) providing the perfect backdrop for wife Anita's sultry, cool-as-a-cuke vocals to glide effortlessly over the top. Actually, on second thoughts, there IS a weirdo, lo-fi middle 8 bit, but it's crucial to the plot and beautifully executed in its' own right.
|
So, at a time when most people are only interested in getting the festive season on the road, we get an unexpected late runner in the single of the year stakes. Who says the fella with the big beard doesn't rev those reindeers up early every now and again?
|
