The Dutchess and the Duke

I really shouldn't like this record. There's much I should hate: instrumentation (and much, much more) off an early Dylan record, singer dude has a beard...

Yet the Dutchess and the Duke's (dead short) LP She's the Dutchess and He's the Duke (I think - too lazy to look; could be the opposite or maybe one of clauses starts with I'm) sorta sucked me in. Among the sad-sack "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" strums lurk some very nice songs, and they indeed find ways to surprise even in the rickety framework of their general conceit: the chorus of "Out of Time" has some surprisingly tangy 7th chords [yes, I'm get very muso-ish, sorry], and the 1:59 of "The Strangers" zips by like a guy-and-gal "Two of Us."

So, between this and Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, I have liked TWO acoustic bands this year. DOES THIS MEAN I'M OLD???

SIGH!