- Record Label: Blue Note
- Release Date: Jan 27, 2009
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Cheeky modernity hides beneath every glistening throwback.
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Vocalist Inara George and programmer Greg Kurstin have an affinity for all things pretty and vaguely retro, as her exceedingly pleasant vocals and his lush production attest. It's a formula, yes, but one that works over and over.
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Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future is a pop gem for the young at heart and proof that the duo possesses the serious musical talent needed bring their whimsical musical visions to life.
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Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future is a useful title for this record, which can feel like a stroll through Tomorrowland with an archly enthusiastic guide.
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Singer/songwriter Inara George and producer Greg Kurstin know how to craft a pop song. On their second album as the Bird and the Bee, George (the bird) and Kurstin (the bee) continue to juxtapose tongue-in-cheek lyrics with sugary vocals and quirky electronic effects.
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Under The RadarGeorge’s luscious voice and Kurstin’s distinctive production and instrumentation (he also rocks it out on Lily Allen’s new record and has played with Sia, Beck, and The Flaming Lips) lift The Bird and the Bee toward the heavens. [Winter 2009]
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MojoThis sequel ups their ante further; there's inventiveness here that rivals Girls Aloud producers Xenomania. [Apr 2009, p.103]
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Alternative PressIt almost doesn't matter what chanteuse Inara George--one half of the Bird And The Bee--is singing about on the duo's second full-length, Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, mainly because it all sounds so sweet. [Feb 2008, p.103]
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Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future is not an enormous departure from their self-titled debut; after all, why mess with a good thing?
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Like any other subgenre, it has its good and its bad, its watered-down faux bubbly and its liquid gold. And the Bird and the Bee’s second album, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, is on the liquid gold side.
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The duo's follow-up is a more relaxed affair. Though it, too, has cleverness to spare, the album is less cutesy and self-conscious than its predecessor. The beats are stronger, at times hitting with hip-hop force, and the music is fuller and more imaginative.
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Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future builds on its predecessor with even tighter concepts and hooks born of a naturally strengthening partnership.
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FilterIt's not Brasil '666 or Joao Gilberto, but 'Witch' still intoxicates in the saddest notes of blue. On the sunnier side, both 'Meteor' and the playful 'Diamond Dave' reflect where the band's at its best. [Holiday 2008, p.98]
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Some of the clever songwriting is still intact and that rescues an otherwise middle of the road affair.
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It's not a record to dissect or fall in love with, but rather a diverting, casual listen that brightens up the best part of an hour.
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Sometimes they get stuck in gilded lyrical vagaries, but simpler subject matter serves them best.
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While the duo borrows a bit too obviously from its influences at times, the album’s detailed production and stylistic shifts reward multiple listens, resulting in a pop album with surprising depth.
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This is pure NPR music, all neo-jazz melodies and martini-lounge flourishes without the sly bite of its predecessor.
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Perhaps executed a tad more carefully than it was conceived, Ray Guns is ultimately a flawed gem.
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There’s not a lot to get excited about, but it’s a catchy enough confection that should work well in gadget commercials, which was likely the whole point.
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Their second LP is all candy-coloured dreamscapes. Lily remains a spikier proposition.
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Q MagazineTart modern pop performed with a sly sense of homour. [Mar 2009, p.105]
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UncutHeady and infused with whimsy, their second full-length flows effortlessly from dreamy girl-group pop to electro-bossa nova. [Feb 2009, p.76]
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Like a Mojave Desert mirage shimmering tantalizingly before disappearing, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future is ultimately left little more than a string of sweet nothings, there for your fleeting pleasure. It's a pop tease.
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It’s a welcome change of pace from what comes before it, but it’s equally dull and is very reminiscent of Butterfly from Weezer’s "Pinkerton." Take what you will from that comparison.
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It's an intriguing blend of soft, Bacharach pop and jazzy harmonies, but is let down by lapses into knowing easy-listening that can sound insincere.
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Their songs carry bossa nova chord changes, analog keyboard bleeps and icy-cool chanteuserie from singer Inara George. So why is the second album by George and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin so soul-deadening?
User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 10
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Mixed: 0 out of 10
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Negative: 2 out of 10
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SergeyKMar 10, 2009The best indie album with female vocal for last years.