Patrick & Eugene "Don't Stop" (New Music 2010)

If “precious” weren’t such a pugnaciously pleasant word, we’d probably go straight for it in describing the music of UK duo Patrick & Eugene. After all, when you string together banjos and ukes, then top the charming scrum off with SPF100 pop vocals and a polka dotted display of whistles, bleeps, bloops and bongos it’s hard not to fall squarely into the adorable category, right?

But on Altogether Now, the US debut from these post-modern vaudevillians, that’s kind of the point. Patrick & Eugene specialize in music that mines a bottomless pit of playfulness, returning even the most jaded listener to their childhood’s more fanciful moments. Currently soundtracking national Payless Shoes and Laughing Cow ad campaigns, the latest set of songs from P&E exemplify the duo’s madcap aesthetic with zest, while somehow managing to tastefully hock soles and curds. Few others could pull off a similar stunt.

So it should come as little surprise that Showtime’s Weeds and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy also snagged some P&E to accompany credit rolls. Plus – with Volkswagen and the Coen Brothers beefing up the resume, the precious music of Patrick & Eugene is finding its rightful audience (i.e. everyone) with each passing plug. And while this email might not hold the same sway as, say, a spot on Burn After Reading, or one of those nifty VW Jetta commercials, we hope it persuades you to at least give this track a shot. Of course, that’s all it’ll take.

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