She & Him
Volume One
Say what you will about the doe-eyed indie actress turned doe-eyed indie rock starlet mini-genre that seems to be exploding as of late, but Zooey Deschanel (the “she” behind She & Him) seems to be bucking the trend being set by her contemporaries by, well, not sucking. On Volume One, Deschanel teams up with go-to cutesy musical genius M. Ward and prevails with a collection of originals and covers that are pure, saccharine-sweet alt-country goodness. Sure, there is the occasional flop (see their cover of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”), and sometimes things get just a wee bit too adorable (“Black Hole”), but the better chunk of the disk is a simple, delightful throwback to vintage country greats like Patsy Cline, Dusty Springfield, and Loretta Lynn. I guess we should have seen this coming after that duet with Will Ferrell back in ’03.
