8A - Monday, March 29, 2010

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

a

SHE & HIM
From Page 7A
heartbreak) all the while artfully main-
taining a sense of seductive mystery.
On "Lingering Still" the duo takes cues
from The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your
Hand." Behind a kitschy Hawaiian
melody, Deschanel murmurs the lyrics
"He's never gonna know me if he doesn't
want to just shake my hand" - arefresh-
ing take on courtship in a day and age
where 25-year-olds are singing about
their own personal promiscuities.
For those who are not a member of
Deschanel fandom (though if you're
reading this, there's a decent chance
you are), her adorable pin-up-girl vibe
may just be too much loveliness to han-

dle. The delicate tear between sweet-
ness and sickness teeters on the track
"Home." Deschanel is quite aware of
her hipster-twee charm and uses it
to its fullest potential here. Between
bouncy lyrics ("You're the nicest, nic-
est boy I've ever met / I think about
you, then I think about you again and
again"), lullaby melodies and twang-
soaked riffs, it's pop perfection for the
Deschanel devotee but cuteness over-
load for every other listener.
With Volume Two, She & Him dab-
bles with fuller arrangements and
boldly embraces its classic AM pop yet
modern smoke-lounge vibe. Sure, it's
more of the same, but when the same
consists of cleverly composed, soulful,
throwback melodies sung by today's
reigning indie queen, is that really such
a bad thing?

Southern rock
keeps on trucking

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So, She & Him ... which one is which?


UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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ive-By Truckers*'I ain't got all night.'" With a pro-
vocative and humorous concept,
mps out simple Cooley's deadpan baritone comple-
ments his characteristically rogu-
't solid jams o ish lyrics perfectly.
Adding a pair of X chromo-
latest album somes to the mix and providing a
nice change from Hood and Cool-
By EMMA GASE ey's respective drawls is bassist
Daily Arts Writer Shonna Tucker belting vocals
on the two-minute treat "(It's
e-By Truckers is a band's Gonna Be) I Told You So." Quick
lain and simple. These guys but fierce, the rhythm propels the
early doing what they're song around a swirl of slide guitars
to do. With and a bass line that doesn't relent.
log in the Tucker's scathing frustration
-digits, drips from her voice as she vents:
ave proven Drive-By "I'm all full up from the shit I was
ey're more fed / one day it's gonna be 'I told
tst a bunch TrUckerS you so: "
necks who The Big To-Do One of the best qualities of the
a few gui- Drive-By Truckers is that they
ords. Even ATO don't put on airs. Nowadays music
he depar- can seem buttoned-up, meticu-
of singer/guitarist Jason lously produced and painstakingly
n 2007, unofficial bandlead- calculated. The songs on To-Do
tterson Hood and Mike are obviously arranged well, but
haven't missed a beat. The the Truckers don't over-think it.
, Ga.-based band's newest Sometimes it's infinitely refresh-
The Big To-Do, capitalizes ing to hear a band just plug in to
erything Drive-By Truck- the damn amplifiers and kick it
es best, without sounding out with explosive guitars and a
ant or half-hearted. drummer who's got swing. This is
ead singer Patterson Hood a band that sounds like it was born
to his underlying morbid- to make rock'n'roll - and it seems
d flair for storytelling on effortless.
opener "Daddy Learned to . While The Big To-Do may not be
n the voice of a small child unmarked territory for the band,
father has died, he heart- when a simple yet excellent rock
hingly begins, "Daddy's songlike "SantaFe" strides in with
way and no one can tell a jangly acoustic guitar and steel
.y / Mama's been so sad / pedal, you can't help but think
Daddy learned to fly." Hood that this is what rock'n'roll should
childhood innocence, grief sound like.
derstanding, all the while Drive-By Truckers proves you
up by three larger-than- can't write off simplicity as slop-
zed-out guitars and a shrill piness or carelessness. Though the
Truckers will probably never be in
ey makes his first vocal vogue, you can be sure that they
ance on the album with will still pound out some of the
JayBoy," a songdetailingthe most melodic and dynamic rock
seasoned stripper: "'Which from the South, and have more fun
he Birthday Boy?' she said / than everyone else doing it.

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4 - 5:30 pm
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0

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