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Written by Mike Greenhaus
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Monday, 14 August 2006 |
The Duo
Play Pause Stop
Butter Problems/Reincarnate
Back when they were still playing basements, Joe Russo and Marco Benevento referred to their partnership as Organ and Drums. Years later, The Duo's trademark instrumentation is still in place, yet buried beneath an arsenal of keyboards, pyrotechnics and—most importantly—well-groomed songs. If Best Reason to Buy the Sun redefined The Duo as song-oriented hipsters, than its follow-up, Play Pause Stop, cements the paired performers' reputation as studio craftsmen.
The rare band able to massage its noisy improvisations into well-defined compositions, Play Pause Stop ages The Duo past the limitations of its original moniker without resorting to words. The album's title track, an emotionally charged rocker driven by Russo's army-by-way-of-Arcade Fire beats, is simultaneously The Duo's catchiest sing-a-long and one of the most mature statements to emerge from the Wetlands' final graduating class. Similarly, "Something for Rockets," a colorful blend of modern-rock and psychedelia, successfully recasts the spirit of its namesake band in an entirely instrumental context. On "Memphis," Russo even tries his luck at guitar. And, while choice numbers like "Echo Park" owe more to Elliott Smith than MMW, The Duo's transition from jazz to funk to indie-pop feels as natural as a liberal arts student moving to the big city following graduation. Mike Greenhaus
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Last Updated ( Monday, 08 January 2007 )
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