Sunday, 03 January 2010 10:16
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THE BRUNETTES, Auckland's reigning prom King and Queen of boy-meets-girl, bedroom doo-wop romps, have certainly been doing some evolving. 'Paper Dolls', the band's fourth and latest full-length effort shows signs that The Brunettes, whose sound and previous releases have seen their feet firmly grounded aesthetically in a kind of delightful 1960's throwback theme-park, seem to have leapt, head-first, into new territories - which sounds like it would be somewhat at home accompanying TRON. The band's candy floss pop tunes are still delivered with a coy sort of moxy by their core duo Heather Mansfield and Jonathan Bree. The lyrics are still sewn with wry humour and irony (wryrony?) - laced with plenty of clever clogs pop-culture references. |
After initial reservations towards this change in pace to the usual 'Brunettes fare, it's easy to get sucked into the hooks on display here. The basslines have a lovely liquid quality which really undertows the whole 'Brunettes experience, and Bree and Mansfield's voices are as sweet as ever. 'Bedroom Disco' is something of an electronic tour-de-force. Drums popping along, and fully embracing the “intimidatingly wide-array of synths” on parade over the course of the album. 'Magic (No Bunny)' is a stand-out track for me: with it's beat which seems to meander along yet still carry a sense of urgency, and the vocals that intermingle brilliantly together.
It's different to what you might expect in a 'Brunettes release, but 'Paper Dolls' still has the pop fundamentals down, and is well worth a listen.