Agent Ribbons, “Birds and Bees” (On Time Travel and Romance, 2006)
It didn’t take much for Agent Ribbons to work their way into my heart. Natalie Gordon and Lauren Hess are so stylish and exuberant you could watch them with the sound off and be entertained—though of course, you’d be doing yourself a disservice. “Birds and Bees” is a case in point of what makes the pair so thoroughly listenable—Natalie’s guitar tone is as warm as a winter blanket, Lauren’s drumming simple but deceptively clever. And of course, there are the lyrics, whose lovey-doveyness is undercut by a devilish streak that finds Natalie objectifying her beloved the way countless male songwriters have done to their female muses.
Peggy Sue, “Lover Gone” (Lover Gone EP, 2009)
Though technically a trio now, rounded out by drummer Ollie Joyce, Peggy Sue was founded on the artistic partnership of Brighton lasses Katy Young and Rosa Slade (who go by the sobriquets Katy Klaw and Rosa Rex, though they really don’t need to). Perhaps the most striking part of this, the title track from their new EP, is its brevity—less than two minutes to recount a four-year relationship whose ending must have hurt but good. And yet, their delivery is alarmingly confident, even matter-of-fact; “Lover Gone” is sad and sobering for sure, but forgoes tearful confession for clear-eyed acceptance.
