She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke

This garage-folk duo from Seattle understands that when simple musical elements are balanced with good taste and clever arrangements, something uniquely huge and wonderful-sounding can happen. She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke was recorded on old lo-fi gear with ‘60s electric-guitar tones, tambourines, acoustic strumming, handclaps, woodwinds, airtight vocal harmonies and classic song crafting. Check the singing on "Reservoir Park" and you can imagine what it might have sounded like if one of the Davies brothers from the Kinks was a sister instead. There's a warm, campfire intimacy in "Ship Made of Stone" and the almost anachronistic "Back to Me" plays with a Velvet Underground coolness that nicely contrasts with endearingly bittersweet lyrics of unrequited love. The lyrical phrasings on "Mary" are Dylanesque, but Morrison's indie-pop harmonies save it from sounding too retro for its own good. With so many hip, hairy, indie acts out there trying to mimic bygone cult icons like Marc Bolan and Karen Dalton, it's refreshing to hear a band like this one bringing something new to an old table.