The Brunettes Structure & Cosmetics by: Dean Van Nguyen Mon:03-Sep-07 Label: Sub Pop Year: 2007 WB rating 63 out of 100

I should resist writing “New Zealand’s best husband and wife act”, the tagline which graces most articles written about The Brunettes; they’re better than that. Over the course of three albums, the duo have produced some interesting pop music with their unusual harmonies and affinity for the sweetest sixties sugar pop. On this, their first album on indie powerhouse label Subpop, their music has been injected with a bigger budget, leading to more fleshed out arrangements pushing the group towards baroque pop, experimenting and learning as they go.

This sound is perfectly summed up in the album opener ‘Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth’. If the single ‘We Are The Pipettes’ signalled the arrival of The Pipettes, another Phil Spektor influenced sixties throwback pop group, then this track could do the same for The Brunettes, or at least herald their introduction to a bigger audience. Combining all the goofy charm of their previous releases with layers of beefed up guitar and Sufjan Stevens-esque horns complimenting their delicate nature, it’s the perfect vehicle for the band to highlight their new, fuller sound. Lyrical gems like “B-A-B-Y, I love to call you baby” only underline the track’s retro charm. ‘Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth’ seamlessly blends into ‘Stereo (Mono Mon)’ which quietly introduces Heather Mansfields soft vocals before its audience has even noticed the song has changed. It’s an incredibly self assured way to open an album, heights that are rarely reached again throughout the record.

Their voices have never been naturally complimentary. Mansfield’s sweet but often seductive twee pop tone doesn’t always gel with her husband Jonathan Bree’s, which can oddly flirt between Ian Curtis-like darkness and Greenday’s pop-punk. In fact the album’s highlight ‘Small Town Crew’ sees Mansfield take solo vocal duties, the melody floating alongside acoustic strums. When Mansfield’s hits her stride with a series of “La la la’s” filling the gap between verses its clear that she should be the primary vocalist here; an accordion solo underlines the bands will to experiment, paying off hugely.

Things fall apart slightly when the group slip into auto-pilot, like in the boring “ooohs” that close ‘Credit Card Mail Order’.  The final third of the album does little to hold attention. ‘If You Were Alien’ is a stab at Deerhoof’s bizarre lyricism, but comes off as sounding like a bad karaoke routine or something that belongs on stage at a variety show. ‘Wall Poster Star’ contains a string section of Sea Change sized proportion, wasted on an uninspired piece of songwriting that generally plods on without a hint of memorable melody. The only real surprise is on the title track which closes the album. It’s a dusty, atmospheric piece that sounds like it has been taken straight out of Sergio Leone’s songbook.

Overall Structure & Cosmetics disappointingly plays simply like the next step in The Brunettes evolution, rather than a particularly great record. The arrangements are fuller, the production cleaner and for much of the time the group meet their new challenges with incredible self assurance. Fewer and fewer group’s these days are peaking after their third album but here we might have found an exception to the rule.