THE ESSEX GREEN
Cannibal Sea [Merge]
[Fans of Elephant 6 bands, Lee Hazlewood, and the Monkees' TV show take note.]

You've heard this before: From the "Pleasant Valley Sunday"-isms of "Snakes in the Grass" to the Dylan-lite rhythms that put the chug into "Rue de Lis," this is '60s-revivalism at its best and most charming. But it's a testament to the pop skills of this Brooklyn trio that they've built on the neo-psychedelic retro impulses of 2003's superb The Long Goodbye to come up with a record even more slight, yet even more mighty. Once again the band's three gifted songwriters vie for top honors, and this time it's Sasha Bell - her voice equal parts reedy and sweet - who takes the prize, thanks in no small part to the perfect construction of the Costello-ish "Uniform" and the out-and-out excellence of the hook in "Elsinore." But Chris Ziter and Jeff Baron are swinging hard too, and the entire record is like expertly framed travel footage filmed on exquisite Super 8 stock: You could curl up and live in the Lee-and-Nancy-meet-the-Smiths duet "Penny and Jack." No, this cannot in any way be called hip, but long after the synth-heavy records in mad rotation on the radio right now have disappeared beneath an inch of dust, Cannibal Sea will still sound fresh and beautiful. A must.
-Steven Hanna