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The Bird & the Bee (& baby) played LA w/ John Oates (pics), releasing Hall & Oates tribute album (stream a track here)

photos by Ryan Barkan

John Oates & The Bird & The Bee & the baby @ the El Rey Friday night

The Bird and the Bee

The Bird and the Bee, a jazzy [L.A.] synth-pop duo, has a fantastic single (with an unprintable title) [“Fucking Boyfriend”] imploring a hesitant beau to be a real boyfriend already. It’s a sassy chastening of noncommittal dudes. But when vocalist Inara George sings it while very clearly pregnant, as she did at the sold-out El Rey Theatre on Friday, the tune has an even blacker sense of humor.

“This song has more meaning when I’m like this,” George said, pointing to her stomach to room-wide chuckling. Her husband, the director Jake Kasdan, may have protested that he made it official a long time ago. But it was one of many arched-eyebrow moments in a set of smart, fluffy pop made by two talents not taking themselves at all too seriously.

The pair’s El Rey set was heavy on Hall & Oates numbers, and though indie rock has long since resuscitated that band’s reputation as secret songwriting savants, George and Kurstin revealed them as crack arrangers as well. Kurstin’s an effortlessly gifted keyboardist, and alongside a sprawling backing band (featuring opener Juliette Commagere, very able with guitar and vocal duties), the group dug deep into hits such as “Kiss on My List” in ways that snide hipster peers couldn’t replicate. [LA Times]

The Bird and the Bee played L.A.’s The El Rey Friday (3/5), where John Oates made a surprise appearance during their Hall & Oates-heavy set, which is fitting considering that the duo’s new record is a Hall & Oates tribute album. Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates comes out March 23rd on Blue Note. The album has eight covers and one Bird and the Bee original. Their version of “I Can’t Go For That” is streaming exclusively below. That track, album tracklist and more pictures from the LA show, below…

The Bird and the Bee

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‘Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates’ tracklist
Heard It On The Radio
I Can’t Go For That (CLICK TO STREAM)
Rich Girl
Sara Smile
Kiss On My List
Maneater
She’s Gone
Private Eyes
One on One