It has been a while since a release from Wee Pop Records got lost on its way back from the sweet shop and ended up in Bluesbunny Towers yet here the lovingly packaged “Keep A Secret” EP from Let’s Whisper is.
Let’s Whisper are actually Dana Kaplan and Colin Clary doing a bit of moonlighting from the genuinely scary twee pop gods The Smittens (who have knitted many a musical cardigan for the big city bedsit dwellers). On this EP, they turn out to be even nicer than in their day job and are often so cute that they could be characters in a Japanese anime movie. Admittedly, “California Girls” does sound a bit subversive as Ms Kaplan’s voice goes simultaneously wistful and deadpan while “Snowy Sunday” turns out to be the kind of song that male singer songwriters in this no mean city often seem to be obsessed with performing (badly) but here the minimalist understated approach actually works. Maybe it was just a matter of wardrobe after all?
“Meet Me On The Dance Floor” reinforces the sugary sweetness taking things back to more of a level with a Smittens song and, even with Mr Kaplan taking lead vocals of “Holly In Wintertime”, you know you’re never going to find more forensic evidence of malice aforethought than the odd spot of blood on the reindeer hat.
No doubt the average iPad user would be brought to the peak of ecstasy by these songs but I urge caution. Don’t “they” all say that serial killers seemed to be nice people who kept themselves to themselves?