Brunettes

Brunettes

Paper Dolls

Lil' Chief

The Brunettes have a meticulous craft in the studio. Writing pop songs, that most fickle of forms, requires a precision that comes naturally to the band, and their records ring perfection in every note. Their sense of fun firmly intact, The Brunettes inject their new batch of songs with a sense of modernity on Paper Dolls. Opener "In Colours" and closer "Thank You" are the entrance and exit into this world, as both sit comfortably with previous efforts; in between, however, principal songwriter Jonathan Bree augments his pop leanings with drum machines and an intimidatingly wide array of synths to fantastic effect. Lyrically, the album combines clever call-and-response levity, an undercurrent of smoldering romance, and a penchant for idiosyncratic storytelling. All are on display on lead single "Red Rollerskates," which finds Bree and co-lead vocalist / instrumentalist Heather Mansfield solving a relatively ordinary problem (Bree walks too fast for his asthmatic girlfriend) with an unusual solution (buying her a pair of red rollerskates and pulling her around with a rope). On "The Crime Machine," Mansfield longs to live as a 1920s kingpin, while "Bedroom Disco" lives up to its title as a stay-at-home party song. The album's title track combines surreal lyrics about a stationery fetish with Bond-movie string arrangements and guitar tremolo. A concise 35 minutes, Paper Dolls reaffirms the glory of a simple melody. "Thank you for the time," Mansfield sings to close out the record. So polite, those New Zealanders.