Pitchfork

All right, those of you with "Boy/Girl Duos" in the "Improbably Relevant 2008 Trend" category in your office pool can probably start eyeing that early White Stripes Sympathy for the Record Industry 7" on eBay. Beach House, High Places, and the Kills have all brought it this year; add to the pile Swedish husband/wife act Wildbirds & Peacedrums, who will release their debut album, Heartcore, on the Leaf Label in late April.

You can peek at the gist of Heartcore on "Doubt/Hope", where former vocal improv student Mariam Wallentin (ostensibly Wildbirds) gets odd and impassioned over Andreas Werliin's (Peacedrums) slyly complex snare work. Hands are clapped, shakers are shook. This live version (number nine from new-ish Scandinavian blog "Handheld Shows", in which musicians are videotaped performing songs on the street), doesn't stray too far from the album track: Werliin's pattering provides rhythm, atmosphere, and weird spectacle as the not-at-all-how-you- pictured-her Wallentin's yelping-- classically trained, technically precise yelping-- conjures up all manner of weird blues and gypsy incantation. Imagine Björk's Debut seriously fiending for a rhythm fix. Go ahead Europe, just sit there drinking your espressos like nothing's happening. We dare you.