Writing pop songs is no longer the modest discipline it once was. Or is it? Inara George (daughter of Little Feat’s Lowell George) and Greg Kurstin (a former piano prodigy), AKA The Bird and The Bee, is an army of two. They listen to everything, and answer to no one. Their self-titled debut miraculously struck a balance of the Brazilian Girls, Stereolab, Pet Sounds, The Magnetic Fields, Sufjan Stevens, Liz Phair and 2 Live Crew – no easy feat! Their latest album, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, is definitely new sonic terrain for the Los Angeles-based duo. While every bit as beguiling as their debut, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future retains its predecessor’s lithe melodies and Brazilian influences, but takes its stylish, ‘60s pop deeper into the psychedelic period of the Tropicalia era. The first single, “Love Letter To Japan,” is your passport to this wonderful collection of tinkling, minimal electronics, big hooks, and George’s eminently playful and seductive voice. You’d do well to check this out.