The Brunettes

On album opener (and strongest track) "Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth,” boy-girl duo the Brunettes slyly put out a statement of intent: "I love to call you my baby/I don’t care if it sounds cliché.” That they embrace clichés is abundantly clear on the record — the Brunettes are content to spend the majority of this record swapping "I love yous,” "I adore yous” and "sha-la-las” over pleasant-sounding acoustic guitars and Sufjan-esque wood wind sections. Tongue-in-cheek may be what they’re going for but it’s neither droll nor stimulating if the songwriting plain and simply needs work. "If you were an alien girl/I’d kiss your alien lips” shouldn’t have been allowed to make it as a line on one of the album’s most prominent tracks ("If You Were Alien”). Give this a pass unless you have a soft spot for cutesy poo, argyle sweater-wearing acoustic pop.