Florida
Bob And Veronica's Big Move
(WhipWray)
What do you imagine the sounds of Florida to be like? If you're one of those people who have only visited the state on a college spring break and stumbled around in a drunken stupor while getting burnt to a crisp after forgetting to remember sunscreen, Florida probably recalls the aural memories of too much bad MTV music mixed with the sounds of your friends churling behind palm trees on your way back to the hotel. It might also evoke the memory of booty-bass thumping out of the trunk of cars as they passed by you and your said friends as you stumble home, the low-end tweaking your already banging headache.
However, if you are one of those people who preferred to cruise through the everglades on an air-boat, sucking in life and spitting out light waves and wispy clouds in your wake, Bob And Veronica's Big Move will probably sound a lot like what you'd want to be hearing as a soundtrack. A little-known trio (but hopefully not for long) out of the UK, Florida create lush little pop tracks with male/female vocals that sound breathlessly easy. Imagine Black Box Recorder without the fixation on sex and death (and with a bit more worldly music touch musically) and you're getting close.
After a somewhat overly-buzzing beginning track, the album takes off in earnest on "Theme From Florida: Part One." It's on this track that some slight samba-esque percussion and simple strummed guitar and keyboards provide a shimmering background for the excellent duet of Annie Gilpin and Bobby Hacker (who also team up on several other tracks). It's a delightful, escapist romp, and the lyrics only add to the breathy feel. Coming back strong on "Too Late," the track takes on a rather driving rhythm and more of an electronic feel while once again the duo adds quick harmonized vocals.
For a full-length debut on a tiny label, not only are the songs quite clever, but the production is even all around as well. On "Someone Shares My Dream," an upright bass sample plunks along for the main rhythm, while "Me And Home James" again takes on a woozy feel and might as well be the sequel to the aforementioned "Theme From Florida." You can almost hear "Hello Stranger" being piped out over the loudspeakers of a cruiseline, with the swaying female vocals and gentle island-sounding instrumentation. Not quite as straightforward rock as the aforementioned Black Box Recorder, and not quite as electronic as Lali Puna, this trio has created a fine first album of 9 tracks and I'll honestly be surprised if some label doesn't snatch them up quick. They're good, and hopefully more people will hear them in the future.
Rating: 7.5
