In their first record since dissolving indie-pop staple Luna (and second release as a couple), Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips take the classic girl-guy dynamic and spin it into something a bit more modern. On Back Numbers, it’s easy to see why Dean was so smitten with Britta in the first place ย she’s both a temptress and a kitten, one who purrs and seduces throughout this collection of acoustic guitar-dominated balladry. Pal Sonic Boom, who twiddled knobs and remixed tracks from their first record, L’Avventura, has reared his head a bit on this one, too, but not in any grand fashion. Back Numbers has occasional electronic elements, as displayed on the sparse opener โSinger Sing,โ but this is a melodic record that screams lounge chic. The slow-waltzing โWait for Meโ is airy and sweet, and flirtations run rampant during โSay Goodnight,โ a stand-out track that Phillips wrote. Dean and Britta trade choruses, playing coyishly off one another ย the odes to Gainsbourg and his ladies are apparent, but not redundant. A few obscure covers (of the Troggs, Lee Hazlewood) up the cool factor, but it’s the intermixing of Dean’s dry delivery with Britta’s sultriness that ultimately yields that old-fashioned โopposites attractโ feeling. Back Numbers is wholly romantic; it’d work well with that bottle of French wine, but keeps the stinky cheese at bay.
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 2, 2007.