As the South by Southwest Music Conference wound down last weekend in Austin, Texas, one of the surprise hits was the über-charming new group She and Him, whose amorphous name belies its familiar faces. The downhome-y but uptown-chic alt-country duo features actress Zooey Deschanel ("Elf," "Almost Famous") and indie-rock/folk cult hero M. Ward. The pair met on a film set and wound up making an album, "Volume One," issued last week on the hip indie Merge Records. A choice track is "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here," which kicks off with a rolling piano part à la the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" and turns into a bouncing, playful, sweetly sexy romp showing off Deschanel's Linda Ronstadt-like vocals and Ward's stylishly rustic guitar.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
