On their new album, the duo of Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore continue channeling the retro warmth of ’70s pop. But their lyrics can drip with sarcastic self-effacement, adding bite to their sound.
“Ladies Don’t Play Guitar” is more pointed. Here, Moore offers a send-up of female-as-male-muse, adding bite and an incisiveness that feels new for this band. “Ladies don’t play guitar/ Ladies don’t get down down to the sound of it,” she sings. “Maybe we can play pretend?” Moore, of course, does play guitar; on Yours Conditionally, she also contributes keys, piano, and some percussion. As she presents a caricature of a woman on the sidelines supporting her rock-star-lover’s dreams—“Ladies just need your love… I can be the archetype of whatever you’re feeling”—she undermines it immediately with her presence in the song.
The Fat Angel Sings 