In Your Car

Mainly infecting rock and roll, folk and electro, male-female duos are clearly the new trend in popular music. The hot leading chick and the less noticeable dude on synth/guitar seems to be quite the repetitive act lately. So when I came across the London-based Big Deal, my first impulse was to sigh and roll my eyes.

I found out how wrong I was as soon as I actually took the time to hear how they differed in themes, vibe and tune. Well, the main subject matter remains relationships, but in a very non-literal, conflicted way, as if inspired from their own story. Big Deal are guitar teacher Kacey Underwood and his ten-years-younger former student Alice Costelloe. Drawn together by their mutual love for 1990s alt-rock, which is to heavily influence their music, they make their first significant mark in 2011 with the debut Lights Out.

The duo's latest release is a peek to their second album June Bloom (coming out "surprisingly" in June). Unlike the rather more acoustic and simple tracks from their first volume, with "In Your Car" they show a more electric and versatile side. The fuzzy guitars and ferocious drums bring an awesome combination of a calm steady refrain and a frantic cavalcade of sounds, but the coolest feature for me are the syncing vocals, as they give the track a very rich distinguishing sound.

And if you want to know why you should never pick up a psychedelic-looking hitchhiking rabbit, be sure to check out the video.