Viva Voce - Loves You

Less a best of, more a sampler aimed at rectifying the oddly low profile of such a fantastic band, Loves You is a small but perfectly formed example of the work of Muscle Shoals duo Kevin and Anita Robinson. Sensibly, it draws heavily from their more ambitious and punchier albums of the last three years, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out and The Heat Can Melt Your Brain, and shows off what a good singles band they would be in the charts of your dreams, from the skewed, Grandaddyish psych-pop joys of Alive With Pleasure, to the R&B-inflected groove of High Highs. What media attention the pair do get focuses fascinatedly on their freak value as a married couple who write and record at home. This is perhaps because Viva Voce sound exactly as you imagine marriage would if you could hear it, switching between the blissed-out guitar licks and grungy stoned love of Lesson No 1, and the tetchy paranoia of From The Devil Himself. Loves You is a good place to briefly dip your toes, but really, you’re better off buying the albums and plunging yourself up to the knees.