Summerland

Nedelle & Thom (Nedelle Torrisi and the Moore Brothers' Thom Moore) are the answer to Owl & the Pussycat. That group was also a male/female duet featuring an indie pop chanteuse, Lois Maffeo, and a member of the Moore Brothers, in this case Greg. Not surprisingly Summerland sounds a heck of a lot like Owl & the Pussycat, with sweet songs built around quirky chords and loads of low-key charm. Nedelle's dulcet tones are very Lois-like, and Thom's songs are much like his brother's structurally. There are some cheery songs like "You Take Me You Break Me" and "Counting S**t," and some sad ballads like "Care for Me" and "Sun in My Eyes," all played and arranged simply and directly. Of course, there are differences. Nedelle comes from a jazz background and it leaks into a couple of songs here, like the café ballad "You Know" and the boppy "Sun in My Eyes." On "He Cursed Me," she even sounds like a much cooler Norah Jones, or at least she is mining very similar territory. Also, Thom doesn't take any lead vocals, but adds background harmonies here and there. Summerland is much less arranged than Owl & the Pussycat, too, relying on a simple guitar/bass/drums lineup with occasional Rhodes. Most of all the record sounds like a much-improved version of Nedelle's solo album, just like Owl & the Pussycat sounded like an improved Lois record.