She & Him (Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward)
Volume One
MUSIC REVIEWED BY BOB JONES

Volume One - Merge Records

First of all let's set the stage a bit. Matt Ward aka M. Ward is a critic's favorite guitarist/singer-songwriter for good reason. Deschanel is an ingénue from the silver screen who sometimes sings in her films. Zooey Deschanel has a fine voice and she penned nine of the eleven songs on Volume One. They are respectable songs but her delivery is a bit flat. That being said M. Ward may have saved her from being an object of ridicule like the number of actors who have made it on the Golden Throats series of discs that ridicule actors who have tried to branch off into the world of music. Ward did have to bring in Kiwi shoe polish by the tractor trailer load to polish this...eh… item. The one very major faux pas on Volume One was to record the Lennon and McCartney song "I Should Have Known Better." Now I have never seen any of Zooey Deschanel's films so I can't judge her as an actress but if she has the ability to throw herself into a character she may have been able to hold up her end of the bargain. Ward for his end of the deal worked overtime to not make Volume One a true stinker but I have a feeling that this one will end up in the dust bends and they will be relieved if it stays there.

Bob Jones is founder of Silver Platter CDs EST1998 in Fort Myers. For info or to suggest music, email recordreviews@comcast.net