Interpreting the Masters, Volume I: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates

April 30, 2010 at 1:27 am
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Between a prominent placement in the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack, multiple parodies on SNL, and the webseries “Live From Daryl’s House”, Daryl Hall and John Oates are having a resurgence of popularity.  The Bird and the Bee continue this trend with their new album “Interpreting the Masters Volume I: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates”, covering eight of the duo’s classic hits along with one original homage.

It’s a bit disappointing then, that the album seems so one-note.  The album’s production, provided by Greg Kurstin (the “Bee” to Inara George’s “Bird”), seems mostly to blame.  The soaring blend of soft synths, 60’s tropicalia, and jazz that populates their two previous albums is nowhere to be found here.  Each track carries the same half-60s/half-80s blend of semi-distorted bleeps and boops, which gets tired after only a few tracks.  The re-interpretations of “Maneater” and “Private Eyes” make the most of the production choices, but slower songs (“Sara Smile” and “One on One”, in particular) suffer, dragging along and ruining the listening experience.

The album isn’t a complete misstep, though.  The opening track, “Heard It On The Radio”, feels like a lost Hall and Oates B-Side; I actually had to check that they hadn’t recorded the song originally.  It’s a fantastic eye into how closely The Bird and The Bee studied the music of Hall and Oates; it’s also a shame the rest of the album doesn’t have the energy of this single track.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

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