THE BRUNETTES

I'm off to pay some penance/make some amends on the chain gang today (almost literally), so I'll be short-cutting this post with a bit of retro cut-and-paste.

When I first wrote about THE BRUNETTES in September of 2006, these are some of the things I had to say:

"THE BRUNETTES are JONATHAN BREE and HEATHER MANSFIELD. They are from New Zealand...."

"What does the Brunettes' music sound like? Well, take it from their website: '... Boy/girl melodrama pop inspired by '70s New York punk and '60s girl groups.'"

"Elsewhere on the Brunettes' website, their music is described as 'bubblegum.' Yeah, maybe, a little. But if so, it's bubblegum that's already been chewed by somebody else -- somebody with rotten teeth and breath like a stench. Maybe that's what I find so charming about these two. No matter how pristine and calculated the song arrangements are, there's something undeniably ragged about the execution. Like they've planned it that way. Like maybe they record their vocals after a long night of devil-be-damned carousing. Cigarettes. Booze. Opiates."

That was my story, and I'm sticking to it. The Brunettes released a new album, STRUCTURE & COSMETICS, this past summer. Seems somewhat less ragged. Like maybe they gave up the opiates. Or the previously-chewed bubblegum.

THE BRUNETTES on MySPACE.

From the LP STRUCTURE & COSMETICS, 2007 >>>
[MP3] "Small Town Crew"
[MP3] [VID] "Her Hairagami Set"

From the LP MARS LOVES VENUS, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Bestfriend Envy"
[MP3] "You Beautiful Militant"

From the LP HOLDING HANDS, FEEDING DUCKS, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "Talk to Jesus"