New column! New writer! New Tuesdays! —Ed.
Almost 10 years together, Deb and Steve, The Weepies, have this down: Folk-Pop
It’s sweet, it’s calming, it’s simple.
You may wax nostalgic or get an excruciating toothache; it’s a chance you take with these two. Happiness (the album with the adorable salt and pepper shakers) made me melancholy, Deb’s voice sounded more American folk country, feeling that at any moment she would sing a song written by Arlo Guthrie and add her own oddly optimistic New Englander slant.
Say I Am You (the album with the adorable bird couple) got sweeter, a little lighter, and her voice still grounded driving the song. Those catchy pop-folk tunes, “Gotta Have You” and “Take It From Me” would be on my mental record player for days. For anyone who has ever loved catchy upbeat pop-folk songs you would think that The Weepies were conjured in your dreams and left on in the waking hours.
Imagine a little girl learning music, locking her door, teaching herself to play guitar but she can already sing, that’s the picture Deb’s voice and style paints for me. Hideaway (the album with the whale), is full of happy harmonies, child-like vocals, acoustic-driven guitar, and some campy-fun drums (which I love) but it didn’t have what I was looking for… WEEPS!
That brings us to Be My Thrill (the album with a cow on it?) the fourth full-length Weepies album, was released in August of 2010 and has a title track which seems a little sped-up for them but is, as usual, just catchy enough to hold ones interest until the end. The lyrics to “Not A Lullaby” are heart-expanding:
This is just a quiet tune
to bring the light into your room
When I’m not right in front of you
to hold you in my arms
Who, after hearing this song doesn’t want to say “[He/she] wrote that for me?” Adding pop singer, Colbie Caillat, to the vocals in the smile inducing “I Was Made for Sunny Days (And I Was Made For You)” created a California-pop hit. All of that said, I may be biased (I am) but every song where Steve sings lead vocals falls a bit flat, as if they snuck his tracks in along the way—“Red Red Rose” is cute, “Be My Honeypie” modest. Their marriage seems a thing to be envied, their success with the last album also covetable, but this most recent endeavor may only prove to have six truly successful songs.
This pleasant, honeyed album speaks to their harmony and their candy-coated outlook, which when caught in the proper mood can be intoxicating. If you are looking for head bobbing, first kiss, romantic folk-pop, you’ve pulled the lever and lined up all the cherries and should wait for it to rain coins (and for the bells to sound.)
And if you are ready to hear them sing their little hearts out live, come to The State Theatre in Falls Church this Thursday (11/11) at 9:00pm. I’ll be there snapping my fingers and tearing up.
