From the outrageously lush to the sublime, from Brazilian baroque to saucy soundtrack, The Bird and the Bee–L.A. duo Inara George and Greg Kurstin–make music that alternately teases and troubles the mind’s innate pop sensors. On Ray Guns, the pair draws upon the most innovative femme-fronted jazz-pop of yesteryear–Tropicalismo, ye-ye, Bacharach, and David–and injects it with a steadying dose of subtle electronics. The resultant pop perfection translates loosely to a contemporary version of the much-missed Kirsty MacColl or a more American Everything But the Girl–even on “Diamond Dave,” an inexplicably marvelous torch song for D.L. Roth. For those who gorge themselves on, let’s say, neo-retro pop, this is winter’s cocktail shaker.