From the opening guitar strum and, the softly spoken intro "Reservoir Park, 1, 2, 3, 4" to the closing sing along at the end of Armageddon Time, "Now I've got you by my side, and I'm feeling alright" The Dutchess And The Duke's, debut full length She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke careens along in it's lo-fi immediate glory like a combination of Bob Dylan, The Mamas & The Papas and early Rolling Stones swagger. With the familiar warmth of a lost 60's classic and the jagged edge of a modern recording, everything old is new again and sounding better than ever. Kimberly Morrison(aka The Dutchess) and Jesse Lortz(aka The Duke) holed up last fall at Magical Basement Studios in West Seattle with Bryan Standridge behind the board of an 8- track and recorded a modern folk classic. It's chock full of strummy acoustic guitars and percussion with more than enough pure pop melodies and sing along vocal harmonies to have you hooked after just one listen. I'm not the first one to sing their praises and I certainly won't be the last, jump on the bandwagon now, because this record really is as good as all of the buzz you've been hearing about it. One of my personal favorites of the year so far.

The Dutchess And The Duke - Reservoir Park
Buy She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke

The Dutchess And The Duke are out on tour now with fast rising folky buzz band of the moment, Fleet Foxes.
Be sure check them out when they come to a city near you.

07.07.08 - Washington, DC - Black Cat Backstage #
07.08.08 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church #
07.09.08 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
07.10.08 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall #
07.11.08 - Brooklyn, NY - Academy Records in-store
07.12.08 - New York, NY - TBA
07.13.08 - Brooklyn, NY - Charleston Bar & Grill $
07.14.08 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East Upstairs #
07.16.08 - Cleveland, OH - Now That's Class
07.17.08 - Lafayette, IN - Zoolegger's ^
07.18.08 - Rock Island, IL - Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor
07.19.08 - Chicago, IL - Cobra Lounge %
07.20.08 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry #
07.22.08 - Denver, CO - Hi-Dive #
07.23.08 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court #
07.25.08 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir #
08.09.08 - Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom (Capitol Hill)
08.09.08 - Seattle, WA - Wild Rose

# - w/ Fleet Foxes
$ - w/ Pink Reason. I hear you get a free slice of pizza when you buy a beer there.
^ - w/ The Mans, Big Willie & Lil' Suzie
% - w/ Sang des Loups

[WEBSITE AT HARDLY ARTS] [MYSPACE]

This week for 5 On A Friday, a a taste of what was "hot" this week.
(sorry no direct MP3 links today, all will direct you to another page where you can hear the song)

1:Sure, Amercian Idol wasted a lot of powerful technology to bring you Celene Dion singing with a virtual Elvis, but this was the one AI moment you truly needed to see.


2: Covering LCD Soundsystem's song All My Friends was one of the in things to do. Here are versions by by Franz Ferdinand and John Cale.

MP3: Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends (via Kwaya Na Kisser)
MP3: John Cale - All My Friends (via Let's Sexy Fighting)


3: Icky Thump. For me Jack White's been long past overkill, but he's still back with more. Here's the first single for the new White Stripes disc of the same name.

MP3: The White Stripes - Icky Thump (via Your Head's Not Right)

4: iTunes UK springs a leak allowing an early return of Bjork from the planet Iceland with more of her trademark soundscaping.

MP3 : Bjork - Earth Intruders (via Who Killed The Mixtape)

5: A baby spoonful of information about the new Spoon disc. The cover art for Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.