Ten years ago The Brunettes emerged as fresh-faced leaders of a bonny retro revival. Auckland duo Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield dressed like it was the 60s and sang like it was the 80s. They
used percussion, strings and brass to create clean music that harked back to a time when teens tossed their fringes to live bands at the community hall.
Four albums later, The Brunettes are still as tuneful and charming but now sit comfortably in the hugely popular indie-pop landscape that has sprung up around them.
On new album
Paper Dolls
, they zap their kitsch-but-classy tunes with some modern electro; there are still plenty of singalong tracks like bouncy opener
Colours
, and
Bedroom Disco
. But they are less B-52-style pop than their earlier hits like
B-A-B-Y
. Some tracks, like
If I
, are so subdued they're like lurking thoughts rather than songs.
Lyrically, the album is nostalgic and giggle-some.
Red Rollerskates
is about Bree walking too fast for his asthmatic girlfriend - they solve the issue by towing her around on skates - and
Bedroom Disco
, is as its name suggests, about shamelessly dancing in one's room.
On final track
Thank You
, the impeccably polite Brunettes thank their fans and friends for all the support - the friendly people who gave up their couches, the peanut shakes they had in the Southern states and side-straddling through Amsterdam. But really their fans should thank them, for again delivering a refreshing album and a chance to bop.
Jacqueline Smith
