The Essex Green – Everything Is Green

A longtime favorite that I never thought I’d see back on LP, The Essex Green’s ’99 debut is a baroque psych-pop essential from ranks of the Elephant 6 family. The record has found a second life with new reissue outfit Dust and Memory, started by Meritorio Records label head Álvaro Lissón. The label’s focus appears to be psych-pop curios, not from the depths of the ‘60s, but instead from the ‘90s and ‘00s. It’s great to see a focus on more recent gems and The Essex Green is a perfect place to start. Everything is Green followed the band’s charming debut EP and a single with The Sixth Great Lake. A split release with Elephant 6 and Kindercore, the record would result in the band’s signing to Merge a couple of years later. Here, though, the band retains their ease and small scale wonder, a pop record dipped in the delights of the ‘60s, but echoing the grandeur in a snow globe feeling that The E6 often captured.

The band doesn’t skimp on arrangements on Everything is Green. It’s wrapped in a dizzying blend of brass, flutes, strums and sonorous, soaring harmonies. The band picks from the gilded tiers of the past, pilfering Van Dykes Park, The Mamas and The Papas, Left Banke, Sagittarius, and just a touch of the Ye Ye pop and Girl Group swoon. The E6 legacy often gets categorized by the Athens core, but like their fellow outliers from Brooklyn, The Ladybug Transistor, The Essex Green bring an understated beauty to the mix that can get lost in the ramshackle ribaldry of the core. Pressed to replicate the original issue, the new version is on transparent green with full liners. Keep an eye on Dust and Memory, they cap out the year with this and another gem from Minneapolis’ Magic Castles. Can’t wait to see where they head next.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.