She & Him have to be the wet dream of lovers-of-all-things-Indie. Zooey Deschanel, the actress you can’t help but fall in love with, and M. Ward, the troubadour you can’t help but tap your toes to. Together, on their debut album Volume One, they forge full steam ahead on the long trip back to 1970’s radio. Consisting mostly of songs written and sung by Deschanel, Volume One is a musical time warp; you didn’t have to live through Carly Simon or Dusty Springfield to hear that Deschanel and Ward did. They both have a nose for the nostalgic; we get it. Paying homage is one thing; trying to recreate the past is another. In the moments where Deschanel is left to her own device her voice sounds out of place, like an actress trying to play a singer, a category in which she could have scored a Razzie win for worst impersonation if Scarlett Johansson hadn’t already come along and staked her claim. Ward’s masterful at getting the most out of less in terms of the production value, and his guitar work is as stellar as ever, which make the album listenable. But that can’t save it in the memorable department; in that department, Volume One is on the verge of total bankruptcy. The original compositions are perfectly suited for that elevator descent to hell, or if Locke or Desmond were looking for an alternative to Cass Elliot’s “Make Your Own Kind Of Music” down in the Dharma hatch. But I don’t know how much that’s saying. She & Him’s take on the timeless “You Really Got A Hold On Me” is almost criminal, it’s that bad, and let’s not even mention—ok, we’re doing it—the crucifixion of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” Almost as bad is “I Should Have Known Better.” Perhaps that should be their mantra when dealing with the deities of rock; when the urge for bad karaoke strikes them, stay far, far away. If we’re to take Volume One as a natural precursor to Volume Two here’s to hoping they’ve put away their songbook of the standard’s of 1973 and try something of their own.