Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings And All

Another day, another female singer-songwriter likened to Cat Power. Maybe in some respects, but Virginia-bred Thao Nguyen sounds a rather more care-free soul. Gaily skipping through bluegrass barrooms and country fetes, We Brave Bee Stings and All is laden with as much sunshine-fuelled pop as is possible for your bleak, midwinter senses to handle. However, we all know the best pop tunes have a dark underbelly; the best love songs aren't really love songs at all. As the beautifully woozy Geography fades to Thao intoning "my blood is thin with aspirin", it's clear there's more going on under the surface than a cursory few listens will reveal. An album you can listen to, or one you can dance to and "shake, shake, shake the frame of this house," as the bouncy chorus of Bag of Hammers instructs. A difficult contrast to pull off, but one deftly handled by the little girl in the big cowboy boots. Stomp away. [Darren Carle]