Customer Reviews

She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke

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Wow.

Believe this - The Dutchess & The Duke have cooked up what might be the most perfect guitar pop record in years and years.

The product description is pretty right on - the obvious sonic touchstones are the best of mid-60's rock - Stones, Beatles, Kinks, Dylan - with an emphasis on male/female two part harmony and some neat contrapuntal acoustic guitar parts. These dudes have definitely studied their Brian Jones as well, with neat minimal overdubbed 12-string guitar lines and other touches of musical color.

What the product description doesn't capture if how wonderful and captivating the songs of She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke are. With the exception of the last song (ironically titled "Armageddon Song"), the songs are all quite dark thematically, but leavened with super-memorable melodies and some dark humor. There's not a song on this record I skip, and most have been subject to numerous rewinds. Smart, wry lyrics are just such a rarity these days. After a few plays you'll want to sing along and after a few more you won't be able to help yourself.


So, so good. I just hope we don't have to wait too long for the next installment!

When rounding out albums of the year, I would be remiss if I excluded `She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke' by The Dutchess and The Duke, a retro 60's female / male duo with a strong fixation on the sounds of early Rolling Stones and Dylan. The uncannily catchy songs are based on traditional folk and blues rhythms and feature many sing-a-long melodies.

The album is a consistently entertaining listen from the opening chords and hand claps of "Reservoir Park" to the downtrodden tales of gypsies and the other miscreants that inhabit the songs of principles Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison. Standout tracks also include the Leonard Cohenesque "I Am Just A Ghost" and the eastern tinged "The Prisoner." `She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke' is available on Sub Pop imprint Hardly Art.

Excellent, excellent album. I got this on a whim from Zune Marketplace (I know, I know) and couldn't have been more surprised. I'm not sure how to describe the genre well, but if you liked Dylan/Rolling Stones/any acoustic folk-rock, you'll enjoy this.

My husband heard this in the car one night and loved it so I bought it for an extra Christmas present. He really enjoys it tho I find it sort of wierd I couldn't find it in local stores but found it on Amazon.