Mynabirds is fronted by Laura Burhenn, formerly one-half of Georgie James, and produced by Richard Swift, who recorded the debut Mynabirds album What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood with Burhenn in Oregon. “Let The Record Go” is sort of a Motown stomp, with Burhenn’s smoky voice lending it additional power. The accompanying video starts with the same tension in the song, as five icy, well-dressed women sit down for backyard tea and (birthday) cake. It fits the song: A little cold, a little vintage, etc. But it ends in a full-on cake fight.

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John Davis stepped out from behind the drumset when his beloved D.C. outfit Q And Not U went RIP, launching the short-lived follow-up project Georgie James. That band with Laura Berhenn saw John on songwriting, vocal, and other instrumental duties, releasing one solid album before calling it a day and paving the way for Davis’s next evolutionary leap: the solo LP It Was Easy, under the moniker Title Tracks, on which he plays and sings everything, save a guest vocal by Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell on a pair of tracks and a sax line by Kriston Capps on another. I happened to catch an early Title Tracks set when John opened for Cymbals Eat Guitars at Glasslands in Brooklyn some months ago and left impressed, with both A.C. Newman and Elvis Costello on my mind. In April we pointed to a 7″ John released via Dischord in anticipation of this full-length debut It Was Easy. The angrily ebullient “Every Little Bit Hurts” appeared there and again on the forthcoming album, kinetic Costello guitars in tact. Download that below, and listen of the New Pornographic “Piles Of Paper,” to get more of a sense.

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The ex-Q and Not U drummer/Laura Burhenn co-writer’s ebullient “Found Out” is available at his new solo project’s MySpace. It appears with the also streaming “Every Little Bit Hurts” on a brand new Dischord 7″.

The excellent “Project Song” project, from NPR’s All Songs Considered, launches its second installment today with x-Q and Not U drummer John Davis and Laura Burhenn’s New Pornographic indie pop project Georgie James. An interesting choice to follow-up the inaugural masterclass with hailed, esteemed, and prolific love song tunesmith Stephin Merritt, but we’re not complaining; Georgie James has made a splash around here with their far-flung folk/power-pop confections, showing enough chops to meet the challenge of such a two-day track writing experiment.

Same drill as last time: NPR provides the studio, the instruments, and the materials for inspiration (here, a Phil Toledano picture of a bare room with a large pile of books in its center, and the phrase “Something Joyful”). They dubbed the finished song “Monument,” an upbeat piano and handclaps ditty, plenty joyful in that stripped and pre-psych ’60s AM-pop style. Dig the Muppet-esque, harmonized “la la”s on the outro. Check it over at NPR.

It’s a no good very bad day for ex-Q and Not U drummer John Davis and Laura Burhenn in the new clip for “Need Your Needs,” an indie-pop blast we dubbed “one part New Porno, two parts new wave” a few months back. Directors Eric Cheevers and Scott Mueller have Georgie James contending with bizarro, evil twins who steal guitars, vandalize gig posters, and attempt to drop a potted plant on Laura’s head.

Places is out now on Saddle Creek, and “Need Your Needs” is still stuck in your head, eh? Here’s the takeaway:

Georgie James – “Need Your Needs” (MP3)

Georgie James isn’t the name of a person. Well not a real one, anyway; Georgie James is the name ex-Q and Not U drummer John Davis, and new musical partner Laura Burhenn, gave the idealized, non-existent songwriter possessed of all the defining characteristics of their favorite artists (“The Kinks, Richard & Linda Thompson, The Jam, Simon & Garfunkel, and some Shake Some Action-era Flamin’ Groovies,” they say). After a few listens, though, it’s clear they forgot to name a pretty key and apparent ingredient in the Georgie concoction: the New Pornographers. John’s embraced his multi-instrumental abilities for Georgie James, and the far-flung folk/power-pop he and Laura concoct can be, at times, downright pornographic. Check the chugging Rhodes shuffle of “Cake Parade” for a start…

Georgie James – “Cake Parade” (MP3)

And for another look, have at “Need Your Needs”: one part New Porno, two parts new wave.

Georgie James – “Need Your Needs” (MP3)

Alotta goodness rising from the ashes of D.C. dance-punk outfit Q and Not U; next to Georgie James, there’s Harris Klahr’s project President, with debut Take Music out 9/4 via Friends Records. Have a listen to Harris’s stuff at MySpace.

Back to Mr./Mrs. James: Although you can’t hear our fave “Long Week” at MySpace, there is one more (“More Lights) from the LP streaming there. Places is out 9/25 on Saddle Creek. They’re touring, too — check the dates after the j.

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