Monday, March 5, 2007

The Essex Green


On Friday night I attended a FANTASTIC show at TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA. TT's is a dive bar with an occupancy capacity of 300 people, so imagine watching your favorite band as if they were playing a private party in your house. That's the feeling I got, and boy was it a rush.

You probably haven't heard of The Essex Green, and I take no pleasure in that like some pseudo hipsters do with their little-discovered bands. You probably haven't heard of them because they get no radio play and no mainstream publications write about them. I discovered them last year on Metacritic.com. And now I'm trying to get you interested in them too.

It's a five-person group. The lead vocals are shared between Sasha, the keyboardist, and Chris, the guitarist. The male/female vocal dichotomy makes for some diverse and interesting music, and at a live show, keeps things moving. The bass player is a female too, so that lends a nice visual interest to the show.

I'd describe The Essex Green's sound as indie pop, with some alternative chords thrown in. Think Belle & Sebastian meets 10,000 Maniacs meets The Bodeans. But, with a much fresher sound. They hail from Brooklyn, NY but carry an attitude anything but NYC -- they'd fit right in in my old hometown of Portland, Oregon.

Click here to link to The Essex Green's music page and listen to I Don't Know Why (You Stay). It was a highlight of their live show.
I'd be curious what you think.

No comments: