Alternative rock is alive and well in 2USband‘s full-length, Don’t Come As You Are. But, make no mistake, this is no Nirvana tribute. Rather, it’s a melting pot of influences ranging between alt. rock and indie pop. It’s a very pleasant mixture, the product of two competent musicians — a couple from Norway.

Everything is produced in their home studio, then sent off to the States for mixing and mastering. The songwriting and production quality are certainly impressive, given the project’s homespun origins. The instrumentation features some majestic guitar solos and the female vocals are a delight.

The songs are very varied, featuring unusual rhythms, layers of percussion, pristine-sounding acoustic guitar, wailing solos, and wonderful vocal interplays between the two musos. 2USband is a wonderful duet with amazing pop sensibilities that never sounds cliche or as if repeating themselves or others’ work. There’s a cinematic quality to their songs that’s wonderful and powerful.

Overall, we are dealing with a very pleasant indie pop album that’s well worth airtime on the radio!

Horns up: Immaculate songwriting and production.

Horns down: None really. What’s good is good!