I think that She and Him is one of those polarizing bands; you either love them or hate them. I am in the former group, but I think people sometimes hate them because they get tired of Zooey Deschanel. Homegirl is everywhere.

A friend invited me to one of their shows back in 2008, and I agreed to go because I love M. Ward. I hadn't seen Elf, and I had no idea who Zooey Deschanel was. I listened to a couple of their songs, and bought a ticket last minute for $35. That was probably the most expensive show I had been to at the point with the exception of Warped Tour. Going to see a band you don't know usually kind of stinks, but this show was incredible. It was certainly worth $35. M. Ward is an amazing guitar player, and Zooey has a killer voice. They had 60's style backup singers, and both Ward and Deschanel played a million instruments (including the mouth trumpet).

I fell in love with them after this show. I bought the first album and listened to it non-stop. I was really excited when Volume Two came out. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed. The music was still as good as ever, but the lyrics felt kind of flat. I couldn't sense any real emotion behind them, which is what made the first album so good. Don't misunderstand me, though. The album was good, but I just didn't think it was great.

Thankfully, Volume 3 swooped in a couple months ago and saved the day. The emotion is back! After some deliberation, I can even say with confidence that this album is better than their first, and I thought it would be hard to top. The music still has the 60's pop element, but it veers off into different sounds a little bit, so it doesn't feel like the same album they've made twice before. M. Ward's Buddy Holly-influenced guitar is very distinct on this album, and I love that. Nobody else sounds like M. Ward. I kind of felt like he was missing from the last album a little bit.

Some of my favorite songs are "I've Got Your Number, Son," "Never Wanted Your Love," and "Together." Listen to it on Spotify and then go buy it.