Laura Weinbach of Foxtails Brigade has a voice like the sirens of Homer’s Odyssey. It draws you in with its sheer beauty and takes you places where you teeter on the edge of bliss and terror. Foxtails Brigade’s debut album, The Bread And The Bait, is chock full of dreamy chamber pop- with a sharp edge.

The San Francisco duo of singer Laura Weinbach and violinist Anton Patzner have a special project here. Think of Grimm’s Fairy Tales for a second. Before Disney got a hold of them, of course. Remember Hansel and Gretel and the cannibalistic witch? Foxtails Brigade captures that mood flawlessly, setting up the listener to feel comfort and distress simultaneously.

“Creeping Ophelia,” the lead track of the album, begins with sublime, delicate vocals and haunting violin accompaniment. Tension builds throughout the song until it ends in dissonant loveliness, revealing a darkness that lies behind the beautiful façade.

“Pan-Asian Delight” is another beautiful track. Its wailing violin background transports you to the time of the geisha, another mixture of beauty and suffering. The geisha, beautiful on the surface, has a spotty history of slavery and servitude behind the façade.

The title track of the album goes off in an entirely different direction, with handclaps and overlapping vocals, making it endlessly pleasurable to hear. It’s a short cautionary tale with moralistic lyrics like: “All the pennies that you pitch will surely never leave their mark.” It brings to mind karma and the effects of your actions on others.

The thing I like the most about Foxtails Brigade is that they recognize the façade. They use it and then rip it off to reveal their complicated dichotomy. They are also massively talented people who made an incredibly interesting album.

You can see Foxtails Brigade live on April 17 at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco for their CD release party. If you want to learn more about them or purchase their album, go here.