Long Goodbye
This group's area code may suggest an ordinary Brooklyn address, but its spiritual home is harder to place. On "Old Dominion," the trio visits the pastoral California coast to indulge in some bright harmonizing in the style of theMamas & the Papas; "The Late Great Cassiopia" takes a jaunty stroll through theKinks' tree-lined London streets; and the misleadingly titled closing track, "Berlin," actually signals a summer spent in Baja, with its leisurely verses and light touches of Latin percussion recalling the naïve baroque pop of theAssociation. Maybe it's not so much a question of place as time. The follow-up to the group's ambitious 1999 debut,Everything Is Green, is a diverse and engaging work, expanding on the delicate psychedelic touches of its predecessor while updating the Essex Green's vivid '60s influenced pastiche.The Long Goodbyeis all over the map and it's wonderful.--Aidin Vaziri