Arthur & Yu: In Camera

Label: Hardly Art

It happens. When you run a record store, you’re deluged with new CDs, many of which you never listen to (we should all have such problems, I know). Overwhelmed by it all, you end up focusing on and listening to the ones that everybody wants to hear and know about (Spoon, Interpol, White Stripes). Then one day something comes in the mail called Arthur & Yu. You tuck it away and forget about it. But you notice the pretty artwork, see that it comes from a label distributed by the great Sub Pop, and decide to give it a listen. Next thing you know, you’re playing it again and again and again …. We get albums like this every once in a while, and it’s one of the best parts of this job. This is the debut from Seattle’s Arthur & Yu, and it features some shining boy-girl harmonies, lovely instrumentation and melodies that will bring to mind Luna, Lee and Nancy and many other classic pop artists from long ago. In Camera is loaded with hooks and style, but it works best because of its eccentricity. The songs sometimes hover in that area we call “twee,” but Grant Olsen and Sonya Westcott are determined to keep things rough around the edges, with plenty of reverb and flashes of psych, like a cross between Syd Barrett and Nico. It’s the perfect summer record, and I hope you’ll all check it out. You’ll be glad you did. (James)