Album: The Pierces

Alabama-born, New York-based sisters Allison and Catherine Pierce write sly, witty songs about such subjects as boredom, transvestism and secrecy, and perform them to arrangements of comparable eccentricity. They describe their music as resembling "a fever-induced gypsy dream that you have after drinking too much red wine while listening to a cabaret singer in a Southern speakeasy that is run by witches", but essentially they're combining the swing-band vocal group style of Manhattan Transfer with a modern alt.folk sensibility that incorporates glockenspiel, zither, strings and dulcimer. There's an edgy undertow to the lyrics, with the perversity of "Lights On" and the hint of menace in "A secret can be kept by two, if one of them is dead" colluding neatly with their weirdo, fairy-tale princess manner. "Nothing thrills us any more or chills us any more... life is such a chore when it's boring," they sing on "Boring", denouncing drugs and sexual peccadilloes as tedious - an accusation not to be levelled at this album.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Secret', 'Boring', 'Lights On', 'Three Wishes'