She & Him

The blogosphere is full of commentary on the new She & Him record, Volume One, but I'll chime in anyway. For the unfamiliar, this is the new project from indie stalwart M. Ward and actress/musician Zooey Deschanel. I was as taken by the initial single as anyone, and still recommend it. Fans of indie folk/pop, grab it below if you haven't:

She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

Now, as for the record... mixed feelings. I'm generally impressed with this effort, and I applaud their building on classic influences and styles. Fans of retro pop will think some of the material sounds familiar even the first time through. Rather than a 13 track album, however, Volume One seems like it would have been stronger if it had trimmed the fat a bit.

I generally like Deschanel's vocal contributions, though they do occasionally fall flat. I could have done without the all-too-recognizable covers at the album's back end; they may be fun to perform and record but I found them distracting. I think I audibly groaned when Beatles cover "I Should Have Known Better" came around, and I adore the Fab Four. Maybe it was just too obvious? Despite its faults, I'm on board. Overall, a good debut that may have suffered a bit from overreaching.