Places is the debut album from boy/girl combo Georgie James. The band is the brain child of John Davis and Laura Burhenn, both of whom already having extensive musical experience. The latter has released four solo albums on hew own label Laboratory Records and Davis was the drummer with now defunct Washington DC outfit Q And Not U. Their friendship was forged through a mutual love of poppy 60s classics and the pair have been writing together for the last couple of years, Davis concentrating on guitars and drums whilst Burhenn picks out beautiful melodies on the piano. The indie world has been eagerly anticipating their first offering. Has it been worth the wait? Let’s find out…

The album comprises a good solid backbone of US alt-rock which is then fleshed out with lighter Beatlesque harmonies and 60s melody. This might seem an uneasy juxtaposition but it really is a winning combination. A perfect illustration of this being the anti-war “Cake Parade” where Burhenn sings scathing lyrics over a lovely poppy sounding piano – “The sun has gone looks like a perfect day / To put our soldiers in an early grave”. This really sums up the whole album, excellent song writing often featuring socio/political comment, wound up in perfect pop. This is a difficult skill to master but the duo appear to do it effortlessly.

Really, there are too many highlights on this album to run through them all, but there are a few standouts. The aforementioned “Cake Parade” being one. The others being “Long Week” (a great piano led rocker), the hazy “Hard Feelings” (Davis doing a passable impression of Arthur Lee being backed by The Byrds) and the superb “Cheap Champagne” – “They sell us pretty pills to take the pain away / They let us wash it down with cheap champagne” sings Burhenn, just like Blondie circa Parallel Lines. Brilliant!

If there’s one criticism of the album it’s that maybe it’s a track or two too long. Perhaps this feeling would be eased had Burhenn taken more of the lead vocals. Certainly Davis is more than competent in this department but it is Burhenn’s wonderfully dulcet tones that really bring the songs to life. But really that’s nit picking as for the most part this is a damn good record. And for all you indie snobs out there, it’s on Saddle Creek. What more do you want?
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Links
Georgie James [official site] [myspace]