MISB is coming up on its third birthday, and during that time I've been able to follow the growth of a few bands. While many of them surfaced, only to sink back away, there have been a handful which I've been glad to see actually grab some attention, and then hang on to make some more, even better music. the bird and the bee fit quite nicely into that category.

In case you haven't had the pleasure of listening to them yet, they're Inara George and Greg Kurstin, and they released their debut back in January of 2007 (I wrote about it back here). Now, two years later, after several enjoyable EPs, the pair is poised to release their sophomore effort, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, later this month.

The album's title (and graphics on the CD) sets you up for a futuristic retro space lounge-pop sound, and the beginning of the album's line-up certainly delivers, although it seems to fail to sustain it through the end. That's not necessarily a gripe - just an observation that the theme doesn't quite go the distance. In terms of the sound, if you're familiar with the their self titled debut, it seems to me that this new one has a denser texture to it where as the first seemed more of a lighter, airier feel. They do still retain their trademark sound though and it certainly is recognizable as them, they've just learned to add a little bit more to the mix.

I've been listening to the new one for a couple of months now, and although it doesn't come out until the 27th, I just had to finally share a few tracks with you. Here are a couple from the album, along with a favorite from an EP they released last year. They'll be touring in support of Ray Guns in February and March, look for dates on their page.




and an older favorite: