Sally Crewe of Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves sophomore effort, Shortly After Take-Off (12XU records), offers 13 catchy, taut and well crafted pop tunes by this Yorkshire born singer-songwriter with an excellent rock band to back her. Sally, an Austin, TX resident since 2005, credits how sights, sounds, and transportation, influenced her the most on this addictive CD. I met with her and her very large Labrador, Jack, to discuss the CD, Sally's favorite bands and Jack's take on her musical influences.

• What is Jack's full name?
His UK Kennel Club name is Kenzed Granite.

• How old is Jack and how much does he weigh?
He will be 6 on 15th July, which is Bastille Day in France. That's How I remember it. He's 85lbs.

• Jack's favorite toy is?
Our cat, Guinness. They love each other very much and make out at least once a day. It's really quite wrong. I've got photographic evidence.

• How did you find Jack?
At a pet shop in Essex, but he was born on a farm in Wales.

• How did you come up with his name?
We wanted to pick a name that wouldn't get him teased at school.

• Jack's favorite music is?
He likes LCD Soundsystem, although he's not so keen on their last record. He liked the one before with all the blippety blip sounds. He seems to like my band too. He comes and sits nearby when I play guitar in the house, and if we ever have an acoustic band practice in the living room he comes and watches, which is really quite off putting. I will be singing and he'll stare at me, so it feels like I'm serenading him, then it's hard to sing because I'm laughing, but he looks so serious, which makes it even funnier.

He was once asleep on the sofa when we were listening to WFMU, and they played 'Forget It'. As soon as my vocals came in he sat up and looked at the speakers, so I guess he recognized my voice.

• If Jack was in a band, what band would it be and why?
He'd be in The Sudden Moves because if he were a person I would marry him, like Linda McCartney. I'd invent a role for him just to have him on the road with me.

• What instrument would Jack play?
Keyboards and tambourine, with barking vocals mixed very low.

• Elaborate on what you feel influenced "Shortly After Take Off"?
My influences are definitely more non-musica—dreaming about and driving around in the various cars I owned during that period (TVR Tuscan, Lotus Elise, 1974 Aston Martin V8, Nissan 350Z, TVR T350C), conversations with friends, relationship stuff, all mixed in with lots of travel - long flights and jet lag seem to be good for writing. Many's the time I've rushed to the toilet at 35,000 feet to record a tune onto my cell phone.

Here are 13 albums I have been obsessed with at various points in my life in chronological order:

Wings - Greatest Hits (age 8)
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper (age 10)
The Cars - Heartbeat City (age 12)
The Beatles - Abbey Road (age 13)
New Order - Substance (age 15)
The Wedding Present - Seamonsters (age 17)
Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand (age 19)
Cheap Trick - In Color (age 21)
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (age 23)
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model (age 24)
Spoon - Girls Can Tell (age 25)
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Shake The Sheets (age 29)
XTC - White Music (age 29)

• I also would love to know if you recall the first single you ever bought? How old were you, and why you chose to buy that song?
The first single I actually bought myself was Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners in 1982, so I would've been 7 years old. I'm still a huge Dexy's fan. Kevin Rowland could sing the phone book and it would sound great!