This post is from Out the Other's 2010 Bonnaroo Artist Previews, where I will be posting previews of all the musical acts playing the 2010 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Please check out and subscribe to the full site to learn more about all of this year's performers.
It's weird that I love Zooey Deschanel so much as an actress, but find that my feelings run much more lukewarm when it comes to She & Him. I still remember first hearing about the project and perking up immediately at the prospect of anything involving M. Ward - my experience with Deschanel's singing was basically limited to her shower scene in Elf, but I was sure after Ward's Post-War that anything the guitar player touched would be audio gold. Then the duo's Volume One was released in 2008, and I was disappointed when I heard how focused the album was on Deschanel as a lead singer, with only a few songs prominently featuring the Him half of the vocals. It felt too much like a Jenny Lewis or Neko Case album to me - both female singers tend to leave me yawning - and while Deschanel's voice is certainly a different and more interesting flavor, it still doesn't have the quirk and sparkle of the young performer's acting talent.
Volume Two was released a few months ago and easily followed its predecessor's lead - again, most of the songs are Deschanel's compositions, cutesy retro-pop with the windows down, cruising down a beach-bordered highway. It's nothing show-stopping or life-changing (not that M. Ward's solo material is either, but he certainly comes closer to transcendent moments), but what it is is perfectly lovely pop. Both volumes One and Two are the kind of record you want to put on the turntable on a sunny, breezy day, which means I can only imagine She & Him is the kind of act you want to hear in a sunny, breezy field at Bonnaroo. They aren't the kind of band that makes you want to belly up to the stage in the midst of a sweaty crowd, but I'm sure they'll sound like nothing short of perfection if you find yourself scoring one of the coveted grassy, shady spots on the festival grounds. And at the very least, both She and Him give you something nice to look at.
"I Was Made For You"
"Me and You"
She & Him will play the This Tent on Friday from 5-6:15 p.m.
I'm not much of a fan of "She & Him", but I love the work Zooey did with Von Iva on the "Yes Man" soundtrack. Anyone that loves 80's New Wave might want to check it out.
Posted by: Tim "Wonderbread" Swift | Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 11:26 PM