The Bird and The Bee
Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
Blue Note
By Mike Randall
Whether or not you know it, you’re familiar with Greg Kurstin’s music. As one of those chameleon-like uber-musicians, he’s produced records and contributed to work by Beck, The Flaming Lips, Peaches and Lily Allen in a variety of forms. On his own, along with vocalist Inara George (daughter of Little Feat’s Lowell George), he’s half of The Bird and the Bee, combining modern electronic textures with retro 1960’s pop, Brazilian bossa nova and breezy tropicalia for legendary jazz label, Blue Note.
On their second full-length, Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, the jazz elements are hidden but the hooks are not. Ray Guns is a musical kaleidoscope of carefree grooves with the vibe of a chilled gin martini, built from keyboards, acoustic guitars, electronic handclaps and digital percussion. Simultaneously cheery yet emotionally detached, George’s gliding voice perfectly complements Kurstin’s lounge-y production in a hip Feist-meets-Regina-Spektor timbre, meaning no matter what style they’re playing, it’s still clearly The Bird and the Bee.
That strength in consistency is also a weakness, however. Even though each song is packed with interesting sonic elements, the sound eventually runs together by formulaically locking into lounge-y verses before blossoming into bright melodic choruses. Lyrically hollow, what comes across as stylish doesn’t equate anything substantial whatsoever.
But that might be just the point. Ray Guns is an airy, light listen that doesn’t call for any digging beneath the surface. From the highly danceable “Love Letter To Japan” to the circus-y “Diamond Dave,” there’s little mystery involved - it’s meant to be fun and elegant. Even when cloudiness creeps into the subject matter, there’s room for cheer. Despite George singing “You're a rascal and a rove, a villain and a crook/Still I tug at your line, I'm a fish on your hook/I should be better, but I'm worse” during “You’re A Cold,” Kurstin recalls the reggae-pop sunshine of Allen’s “Smile.” As if that weren’t enough to wipe the pout off your face, a saloon-like harpsichord solo by Kurstin doesn’t let you get too down.
Although the weightless nature will be a draw for some, the instances the band mixes it up are the record’s brightest moments. During “Polite Dance Song,” George sings, “I’m begging you to get up and dance/It’s such a kick-ass beat,” and she might as well be describing the song’s Afro-Cuban rhythm. It’s heavier than anything here, and leading into the espionage-sounding “Witch,” it provides Ray Gun’s most intriguing sequence. The Zero 7 ambient trip-hop is the most distant to the sun-kissed remainder of the album, but it helps break the ennui of down-tempo dance-pop and hip-hop beats over keyboard lounge.
Producers typically aren’t known for making great records because they get so bogged down in the details. What results is a fragmentation of ideas and sounds that come across lifeless, or over the head of a casual listener. With Ray Guns, Kurstin does the opposite - he’s so melodically gifted that it comes across as too basic, and too accessible to a casual listener. Everything sounds overtly familiar, but that just might be because the track you just heard is so memorable and catchy. As great as a pop song can be, it might not be a bad thing to challenge themselves and their listeners and dig a little deeper into their dark side. That’s where they’re the most kick-ass.
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