Eleanore Everdell and Jason Friedman of The Hundred in the Hands

The Hundred in the Hands recently released their eponymous debut, which is now streaming in its entirety for free on Spinner. In lieu of a regular review and because we love lists, here are our Top 10 reasons to enjoy this record:

10. They are a duo.

Two-man bands are all the rage this year, with acts like Sleigh Bells and Chromeo. (For recent ad hoc duos featured on FP, see: Jay-Z and Eminem, the late Ali Farka Touré’s and Toumani Diabaté and Nas and Damien Marley, and Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek).

The duo arrangement saves overhead, spurs creativity, focuses audience attention, and minimizes tension (or at least reduces the number of voting members). Of course, the two-person group is nothing new in pop music, dating back decades to the Everly Brothers and Simon and Garfunkel, whose music got an indie second life thanks to Sufjan Stevens and All Delighted People, which appropriates “Sound of Silence.” In the band’s beloved 1980s, dynamic duos included the Pet Shop Boys and The Eurythmics, whose “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” informs “Pigeons,” one of the album’s liveliest tracks (see #4)

9. They love the 80′s.

Try not to rewind 25-30 years when you hear their Four on the Floor drumbeats, synth sounds, electronic hand claps, and the mildly distorted guitar tones that borrow from The Police (“Lovesick), The Edge (“Commotion”) and Pink Floyd circa The Wall (“Dead Ending”), technically released in 1979: a good year. Finally, The Hundred in the Hands reminds us of eponymous efforts from neo-80′s acts like The Postal Service and the xx. Take that, VH1.

8. They love the 90′s.

Hello, Elastica! Also, they quote Nirvana’s “All Apologies” in “Dressed in Dresden.”  Yea yea yea yea.

7. They like the night life, baby.

This moody music is best served after midnight. Several songs on Hundred in the Hands reference the moon and the dawn. And if you missed these hints, see the video for “Pigeons” (#4 below).

6. They fulfill our self-fulfilling prophecy.

Like economists, weathermen, and gamblers, we like to see our predictions pan out. We’ve touted Hundred of the Hands, highlighted their videos and are pleased that the album bears out our sentiment. Sometimes, as in Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom,  the reality matches the hype

5. They are ‘Killing It.’

‘Killing it’ is a favorite saying at FP to describe a feat of effortless excellence. On Hundred in the Hands, the phrase gets its own chorus: “We were killing it, isn’t it awesome?” Royalties, please.

4. They like birds

We like songs about birds (e.g. Blackbird, Three Little Birds). And Andrew Bird.  And bird watchers like Franzen. And like the members of The Hundred in the Hands, we are New Yorkers . Thus we like -or at least endure- pigeons.

3. They cause a commotion

2. Jason Friedman

Duos leave no room for slackers. Co-architect of the band’s sound, Jason Friedman provides guitar and programs the drums, leaving a sonic backdrop for…

1. Eleanore Everdell

Lead singer and keyboardist Eleanore Evedell is the epitome of elegance. On both lead and backing vocals, her breathy, whispery, chanty Ice Queen persona matches the frostiness of the music. On a few songs, like the waltzy “The Beach” and “Gold Blood,”  she lets her voice rip.  Also, her accented annunciation lends an ESL polish to words like “A-gi-tat-ed” and makes “Last City” sound like “La Cité.”  (Take that, Nico; take that, Bjork). And when Ellie sings “I’m a wolf and I’m frantic in love,” we shudder in our shoes. Alexis Krauss, get jealous.

The Hundred in the Hands is on tour this fall, with shows this week in Boston (Wed. Sept. 29), New Jersey (Thu. Sept. 30), and New York (Friday Oct. 1).

The Hundred in the Hands