Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham: Sonic Souvenirs
Review by Rob Levy

Label: Jet Set

Sometimes the best things come from two opposite sides of the spectrum. Such is the case with the latest Britta Phillips/Dean Wareham EP, Sonic Souvenirs. This EP features six tracks from their album, L’Aventura, cleverly re-arranged, re-tooled and re-recorded by ex-Spaceman 3, Sonic Boom.

This is indeed an interesting marriage of sounds. The coy, smooth sound of Britta Phillips meshes perfectly with the quietly happy, but somehow hushed and nervous sounding Dean Wareham. The songs they create are pop gems with sweetness and exuberance. Throw Sonic Boom’s reconstructions of these songs into the mix and you have a nice collection of extraordinary pop.

Britta Phillips achieved early notoriety in the eighties as the voice of Jem in the 80s cartoon of the same name. Eventually she grew up, moved to England and was the vocalist of called the ill-fated Belltower. She hooked up with Wareham in 2000, playing bass for his band Luna.

As a member of the seminal Galaxie 500, Dean Wareham became regarded as a pivotal force in indie music. His current band, Luna, has released six albums and toured extensively for over a decade now. Last year they put Luna aside to record L’Aventura, a snazzy album of duets, love songs and pop ditties. This EP is a further extension of sorts of their collaboration.

This is a well-rounded collection of songs. Put Pet Sounds, Serge Gainsbourg and Nancy Sinatra together, then mix in some sunshine and you’ll get an idea of what lies in store. You can hear the happiness all over the place. The EP begins with the silky smooth, "Your Baby (Can’t Stand The Rain)." Sonic Boom throws ambient effects, rainfall, quiet reverb and Britta’s best dark nightclub voice together, making this version much darker and sexier.

Eighties psychedelic shoegazers Opal are covered on the breathy "Hear The Wind Blow." Sonic Boom takes Wareham’s voice and makes it resonate above a neurotic, faint hum that makes everything more fragile and desperate. There is some nice crunchy guitar work lurking about in the foreground as well.

Buffy St. Marie's "Moonshot" is given righteous treatment. The string arrangements are beautiful and the vocals are just melancholic enough to make you hope for something great and fragrant. It's a powerful song with excellent harmonizing that darts in and out of the melodies, contorted by Sonic Boom. "Moonshot" offers a slab of perfect pop music, tinged with regret, hope and desire.

By far the best track on this collection is "Ginger Snaps." Sonic Booth gives the track more room with a new backing percussion track that makes the track almost (gasp) danceable. It features Wareham and Phillips at their cutest and most sugary. You can hear the infatuation and sexual tension bristling all over the place as they exchange verses and eventually snuggle, seep and splash forth colorfully over Sonic Boom’s back beats and snare drums.

The album can’t go on forever, but it ends on the perfect note with the very nice "Your Baby." Despite obvious sonic similarities to Paula Frazer, Mazzy Star or Mojave 3, it stands alone pretty well. It is another very quiet song in the vein of "Hear The Wind Blow." It features a mesmerizingly happy and sultry Britta Phillips singing in her best late-night-cigarette-after-sex voice.

Sonic Boom’ machinations have born terrific fruit. On Sonic Souvenirs he takes a handful of alluring and passionate love songs, fiddles with them just enough, but not too much, and molds a complete reworking that is lively, adventurous, shiny and new. He has managed to accomplish this without damaging Britta Phillips' intensely passionate vocals or impinging on Dean Wareham’s pop subtleties. This is just the right dose of sugar.