"Sirens" by DA & The Jones

DA & The Jones is a pair of singer song writers from the far west of Echo Park, Calif. (Why is it so many artists come out of California? It must have something to do with the warm weather and laid back attitude that helps artists flourish.)

The pair, Daniel Ahearn and Mindy Jones, have been working as a pair since 2011. So really, this is a bit of a younger group. The released their debut EP, Electric Love, was released in 2013 and the first single, Break My Heart, was featured on the television show Pretty Little Liars.

Sirens is their first full length album of what's sure to become their signature brand of folksy pop.If you think that sparsely accompanied music without a full band behind the vocals isn't music, well, thanks for reading and you may wish to check back next time...

Ahearn & Jones in Oil.

What quickly becomes apparent when the first track, which is also the title track, begins playing is that Sirens is a bit different than most music being performed by the under 70 set.

So, for lack of a better word, and forgive me Pokey LaFarge, this music seems to be of the retro bent.

At its heart, this is a record full of pop songs about love, entanglements, and the normal sorts of things you would expect them to sing about, but music is like a painting. There's a lot more to the art than just picture you paint. There's the style.

Instead of a highly produced pop sheen with hooks and anthemic choruses, this album is sentimental and sparse. The harmony vocals carry the day with assists from finger picked arpeggios on an acoustic guitar, the piano, and every make and manner of rhythmic instrument.

If I didn't know better, and I don't, I'd swear that this record was recorded over lunch and recess breaks in the music room of their local elementary school.

But the lack of a specific setup of band members and instruments, the haunting vocals, the sentimental lyrics, and the strange rhythm instruments is what gives this record its charm and what sets it apart from the pack. There have been about a thousand pop songs about losing your girlfriend released this week, but how many use a rhythm gourd to do it?

Release: 3/4/14
Genre: Folk, Pop
Label:  DIY
Run time: 32:53
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Tracklist:
1) Sirens
2) Doubt My Love
3) Could've Had It All
4) I Owe you
5) If Only It Could Be
6) Love Lights The Way 3.10
7) Make It Right
8) Undone
9) Take Me Home
10) Crazy Along The Way