Music Review: Enjoy the sun with ‘Long Goodbye’
Artist: Essex GreenAlbum: “Long Goodbye
With the advent of neo-platonic thought, neo-Marxism, neo-natal medicine and even neo-Nazis, there’s a lot of neo- going on. With The Essex Green’s 2003 release “The Long Goodbye,” add neo-Garfunkel (and Simon) to the list.
This isn’t to say that they’re a nostalgic, throwback trio from the Village. Sure they might be from Greenwich, and they might sound a lot like they’re coming straight out of your mother’s record collection, but to leave it at that doesn’t do The Essex Green justice. For starters, their track “The Late Great Cassiopia” (available at www.essexgreen.com) has taken up residence on my MP3 player and stands as one of the best sunny day quad-crossing songs I’ve ever heard. The vocals on this album, courtesy of guitarist Chris Ziter and keyboardist Sasha Bell, are absolutely angelic and the harmonies are enough to make you think that you’ve awoke from a weekend of partying (I know what you do when school gets out) to enjoy a ham sandwich in the Bermuda Triangle with Brian Wilson, Mama Cass and the aforementioned Art Garfunkel.
The music on “The Long Goodbye” is a combination of every sunny folk-tinged act of the ’60s. In fact, a few listens through this album will convince you to drop out of college, buy a Volkswagen and rent a studio apartment in Brooklyn. And while I’m not publicly admitting to seriously considering such a wantonly irresponsible and Bohemian course of action, the temporary tattoo I picked up at the Volkswagen dealership is a powerful testament to just how good The Essex Green is. Their alt-country attempts on “Lazy May” and “Old Dominion” may be a little heavy-handedly retro, but they are able to redeem even their missteps by sheer earnestness. Overall this is a stunning effort from a really great band.
And who knows? With this album in hand, 2005 could be the year of your own summer of love.
Zach Pendleton is a junior majoring in English and reviews CDs for the Statesman. Comments may be sent to him at zpendleton@cc.usu.edu