Boy Meets Girl… and harmony ensues

Since most pop music centers on the glories and heartaches of love, you’d think the male-female model would be more prevalent. But then a moment’s more thought and you realize that the charged environment of creativity and the grind of touring would argue for same-sex togetherness. The opposite sexes do tend to drive one another mad quicker, after all.

There have been boy/girl match-ups galore before – Sonny and Cher, Peaches and Herb, Steve and Edie, Louis Prima and Keely Smith and on and on.

Today there seems to be an epidemic of musical coupling, especially high quality duos. Here are three to explore.

SHE & HIM are indie/rock singer-songwriter M. Ward and ingénue actress Zooey Deschanel. Their new album is “VOLUME TWO,” appropriately following “Volume One.” It’s more of the same wonderful stuff, but grander and more assured.

The story’s told that after the two had collaborated on a one-off song for a movie soundtrack Deschanel was less than confident when she sent Ward some demo tapes of her singing her own songs. He was impressed, obviously, and with reason. The first album was worthy but suffered slightly from a thinness of tone and production. It also suffers from a comparison with “Volume Two,” in that the songwriting and delivery are surer and bolder.

Retro songs, production and arrangements are still the order of the day. “Thieves” starts the record with perhaps the most derivative song on the record, but its charms are irresistible. Bolero guitar strumming, sweeping strings and an inevitable and classic melodic structure combine with sad but stalwart lyrics to create a charming whole.

“In the Sun” shows a new tougher side to the duo, both in its sound and message. Though still bubbly and upbeat by most standards, it features a deeper bass sound with a guitar motif that approaches menace. But that’s as close as it gets to a darker mood, as the tone stays relentlessly upbeat. Other standout tracks include “Lingering Still” and “Home.”

The lyrics may bemoan lost love, but the arrangements never get bogged down in the least. A perfect soundtrack for tooling around in a convertible in the crisp fall air.

Well, make that two perfect soundtracks – JENNY AND JOHNNY are Jenny Lewis (lead singer of Rilo Kiley and solo artist) and her singer-songwriter boyfriend, Johnathan Rice. Their hugely enjoyable collaboration, “I’M HAVING FUN NOW” is a romping, more rocking version of She & Him’s pure pop vision.

It’s also more tart and up-to-date. While they trade lines, swooping in and out of lead and harmony parts, they trade snarky reproaches and retorts amid the cooing. They also get political, taking the banks to task and making no bones about their leanings.

But you never would know it from the music – relentlessly upbeat without the close-to-cloying ’60s girl-group shtick of She & Him. “Scissor Runner” is a corker of an opener, galloping out of the starting blocks. Yet they’ve got this to say:

Johnny: “She’s an artist painting a portrait all over my heart.”

Jenny: “Colors bleeding, so deceiving.”

“My Pet Snakes” is a winning combination of homemade custard and venom. “Switchblade” is a pointillist portrait of scuffling on the streets, told in positive-sounding couplets and sighing “Ah-h-hs.” “Animal” is a jarring bit of proselytizing about faith that gets kudos for being so unfashionable.

“Just Like Zeus” invokes another deity to make its point, while “New Yorker Cartoon” is a sweet love song fantasizing about being enshrined in one of the title’s subjects. “Slavedriver” actually flirts with a funky rhythm while it metaphorically plays with fire, borrowing slavery themes to make its relationship points. “Committed” closes the album, a demented little ditty set to the most rocking tune on the set.

This one ages well, too.

THE BIRD AND THE BEE are Inara George (daughter of rock immortal Lowell George, founding genius of Little Feat) and Greg Kurstin, a producer (Lily Allen) and synth-obsessive. I include them here more for their body of work, since their first, self-named record is really their best (the second is decent but easily skipped) and their latest is a very fine but not really vital cover album of Hall and Oates songs.

George really does have bird-like qualities, tempered by a wicked sense of mischief. Their eponymous debut starts with “Again and Again,” and 20 seconds into it and you know you’ve found something real and fresh. A singularly pure voice is suddenly joined by multi-tracked backing vocals, tempos stretch and compress in unexpected ways, and Kurstin provides a strange but very effective musical nest.

“F—— Boyfriend” is a coy come-on rather than a kiss-off. It seems both of the mid-21st century and part of the pop tradition. The rest of the album rolls out more surprises and delights.

Pick this one up first and then their third, “INTERPRETING THE MASTERS: A TRIBUTE TO HALL AND OATES,” which is a loving and innovative take on their best output. Their second is just OK, with hits and misses in equal number.

Boy-girl combinations abound in bands, too – see the New Pornographers, Arcade Fire, The Dirty Projectors and many others. It’s not yet de rigueur, but more than a novelty.

Perhaps we can “just all get along.”