The Dutchess And The Duke – “She’s The Dutchess, He’s The Duke” – Hardly Art
Price: $2.50
Hardly Art might be by favorite “indie rock” record label of the last ten years if for no other reason than the two long players they put out by this amazing Seattle band. In 2008 when this came out I was working in a record store and I remember putting this on for the first time and being blown away. Unfortunately, in my rush to find everything new that was good, I shelved this promo and completely forgot about it. Hearing this record again for the “first time” after my roommate bought it was just as amazing as when I jammed it in the store. I cannot emphasize enough how good this LP is.
The Dutchess And The Duke is the only band I’ve ever heard compared to the late Brian Jones that actually write compelling songs. Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison wrote harmonies that would raise the dead. Other than the Stone’s guitar solos, the thing that this band did so well was master a sound. It’s very easy for two-person bands to end up sounding flat, or to force extra noise into songs to try to sound full. Somehow, this LP did neither of those things. It has empty space that leaves haunting parts, but still has a sound that isn’t lacking. It sounds like there are intentionally missing instruments, but you’d be hard pressed to actually tell me what else needs to be added.
The three singles this band produced are all wonderful, but they really are an LP band. Every song on this album can stand alone, but melancholy songs like “Out Of Time” and “I Am Just A Ghost” really do get more power by being surrounded by the camp-song-sing-along quality of “Reservoir Park” or “You Can Tell The Truth Now”.
Check out Jesse’s new project, Case Studies, on Sacred Bones if you really want to feel like the world is caving in around you. I feel like putting a “RIYL” on this band would be doing them a disservice, but I’ve never met a Jagger or Cohen fan that couldn’t hum along to this record.
-RD
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