Album: The Puppini Sisters, Hollywood (Verve)

Sadly, The Puppini Sisters have abandoned the more modern repertoire - '40s-style versions of pop hits like "Wuthering Heights" and "I Will Survive" - that gave them their original quirky appeal.

This album of period movie show-tunes is simply an exercise in retro-kitsch, which isn't quite as enjoyable. They're swimming up-river all the time: their "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" lacks the coquettish appeal of Marilyn's original, and their vocal arrangement of "I Feel Pretty" tests the limit of its melody in a queasy manner. Nor are their attempts at musical idiosyncrasy as successful as those devised by Benoit Charest for their debut album: here, the wobbly musical saw added to "Moon River" is just plain creepy, though the hillbilly fiddle and ukelele treatment of "Get Happy" works better. And the French-language setting of the Godfather theme, "Parle Plus Bas", is the best idea here.

Download this: Parle Plus Bas; Get Happy