Search - Dean & Britta :: Back Numbers

AKA Step into Our Psychedelic Dreamworld

wm | ...onward....thru the fog! | 02/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'll admit it took me a while to get used to Luna. At first, I dismissed them as Velvet Underground clones (insert funny story about revealing my age here: the first time I saw them around 2000, I told the 30-something guy next to me at the show "these guys sound just like Velvet Underground". He says "who"?).



Then, Luna evolved, began sounding more like, well, Luna, and became a really good jam band. At the end of their run, they had more of a late Tom Verlaine sound than early Lou Reed sound (if I recall correctly, Mr. Television did, in fact contribute to some of Luna's later records), and Britta's influence became more pronounced.



Dean and Britta's first album is drop dead gorgeous, and served as a soundtrack for the entire lazy summer of 2003. It still sounds great now. I sent that record to a friend of mine, who sent me an email commenting "it's really mellow, but great". I replied something to the effect that's about what you can expect from a couple who write songs about Valium by the seaside, and themes along those lines.



I've only given "Back Numbers" a couple of spins, but so far, the mellow psilocybin trend continues. Oddly, itunes puts in the "easy listening" category. I think that's far too simplistic of a description, since there's a lot going on below the "easy listening" part if you just pay attention, but, you can also put this on as background music.



Echoes of Lou Reed and Tina Weymouth abound, but the album continues developing what's becoming that unique Dean and Britta sound.



Summer is just around the corner. "Back numbers" is already a strong candidate to become the soundtrack for the (hopefully just as lazy) summer of 2007."

Another perfect pop piece from Wareham & Phillips

Black Eagle Child | Wisconsin | 03/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While Dean & Britta aren't making groundbreaking music here, it's safe to say that they've got a very strong collection of songs here and a nice follow-up to "L'Avventura."



Like their 'debut' (of course, the duo had already been working together on the late Luna material, but "L'Avventura" is the debut of Dean & Britta as a 'new act'), these are slow, massaging tunes that'll get into your head and stay there. I put this CD into my computer's CD-Rom drive and when iTunes brought up the album info, they called it 'Easy Listening.' I wouldn't go that far, but there is definitely an easy quality to Dean Wareham's music since the end of Luna, and Britta Phillips is a perfect melodic accompaniment to Wareham's meager vocals.



The songs are all poppy and very listenable. This album doesn't ask for much from you as a listener, and so it's no surprise that I've been putting this on quite frequently...it's just so NICE to listen to. The lyrics are benign and often just subtly witty. And above all, the album is full of a kind of sentimentality (almost cliche) that the artists themselves seem to be well aware of, which gives them a certain ability to take liberties with what *would* otherwise be boring pop cliches. In other words, yeah this music has some sentimentality to it, but Dean & Britta are a couple of easy-going musicians and they don't take themselves too seriously.



Dean & Britta have pulled it off with the same success that "L'Avventura" saw and the result is this incredibly enjoyable "pop" from the periphery of the genre."

Very good album, recommended to anyone.

Christopher Ruble | Fort Wayne, IN | 07/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this album immediately, mostly out of obligation, because I love the band Luna so much (their old band), and wasn't sure what to expect from the post-Luna couple. Dean Wareham is not a young pup anymore and I didn't know how much he had left after 2 decades of greatness, but this album totally renewed my faith, and in fact is better than some of Luna's album, and more impressive is the way this album doesn't feel like a Luna album while still having the same feeling, with Dean's notes floating in the air and never hitting the ground. Pretty much every song is beautiful and well crafted with a hint of fun in much of the material without ever sounding like the two are forcing it, both sounding very natural together. Overall, I would say that the parts are maybe stronger than their sum; the album is good and the songs do fit well but somehow I don't consider the album great, just very good. Another thing that I love about Dean is that he always makes albums where every song is a least solid, and the music is great to play in all situations and far many audiences. Like much of Dean's work, this is one of those albums that is great to put in the background if you have a couple of friends over or are having a conversation and just need some sophisticated music to liven and enlighten the mood."