Those Girls

Two of underground pop music's loveliest artists, Low and k., combined forces to create this pleasant little record. Two previously unreleased tracks from each group are here and, surprisingly, k. nearly outdoes the veterans in Low in a friendly face-off of heart-rending, forthright ditties. The Low songs are bathed in mild static and boosted treble by Time Stereo honcho and His Name Is Alive frontman Warn Defever, while k.'s tunes are lovingly handled by Tara Jane O'Neil and Tony Lockwood. While Low's "Those Girls" and a tempo-tampered re-recording of "Venus" are nice enough, k.'s "Regular Girl" bests anything she recorded with Ida, and her cover of Flashpapr's "Were We to Dance" survives the Defever remix treatment with nary a scratch. All in all, Those Girls is a compact package of four charming, unassuming singalongs. Recommended.