When She and Him release Vol. 2 on March 23, they will most likely be showered with accolades again. I don't think there's a critic, male or female, that could look into Zooey Deschanel's face and tell her that music is too cute by half. And there's no doubt that they deserve quite a bit of this love. But while The Mynabirds' debut is still 3 months out, I already feel bad for the band. The inevitable comparisons to She and Him are tiresome even before they begin.It's not hard, though, to see the legitimacy of such comparisons. The Mynabirds' lead single "Numbers Don't Lie" is a beautifully produced piece of golden AM pop. But the key difference here is in the voices. Zooey Deschanel's voice is as precious as it is strong. But Laura Burhenn, a golden-haired chanteuse, has a voice that is husky and breathy in equal measure. It croaks and squeaks in all the right places. And the voices ultimately define the tenor of these projects. She and Him is cute in its relentless resurrection of Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry. The knowing little winks at the irony of the project always bothered me (though I did really like the album). But the substance of Burhenn's voice gives the whole song a kind of sincerity that She and Him frequently lacks. She actually sounds like an heir to Springfield or Gentry instead of a reverential tribute artist.
And whereas She and Him dealt primarily in elementary emotional distinctions (I love you or I wish you loved me or I miss you), The Mynabirds paint with a more nuanced brush: "If you want to be right/I will let you be right/You know that the numbers don't lie/Two wrongs will not make it right." Burhenn sounds contentious here; she wants the fight to end so she's willing to compromise but she can't help but pointing out one final time that she's right. This woman is no supplicant to the whims of love.
The Mynabirds' debut What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood is out on Saddle Creek on April 27th, which cannot possibly come soon enough.
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