Mates of State

The music of Mates of State has always been playfully innocent and unabashedly upbeat. Since forming a decade ago in Lawrence, Kan., the husband-and-wife duo of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel has released a string of sticky-sweet studio albums with hooky synth lines, two-part harmonies and bounding rhythms. But on their latest CD, Re-Arrange Us, Gardner and Hammel show that they've grown a little older and wiser, with their richest and most reflective collection of songs to date. The band was recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on Apr. 4, 2009.