Cannibal Sea
by The Essex Green
  • Record Label: Merge
  • Release Date: Mar 21, 2006
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

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  1. colint
    Apr 27, 2006
    10
    This is a pop masterpiece that glides effortlessly between folk, roots and indie rock. Sasha has a classic sixties vocal, and with lyrics like "Do you like my dress? It's from '74. Ripped from the girl who wore it before." you can see that she takes pride in her golden era inspirations. While there is a sixties style to the songs, they should only be compared in the sense that This is a pop masterpiece that glides effortlessly between folk, roots and indie rock. Sasha has a classic sixties vocal, and with lyrics like "Do you like my dress? It's from '74. Ripped from the girl who wore it before." you can see that she takes pride in her golden era inspirations. While there is a sixties style to the songs, they should only be compared in the sense that the decade's songs were timeless, as is Cannibal Sea. This is an album for the springtime, for a journeyman, for a sailer, for the city, and for the country too. So so sad that the US has glossed over Essex Green because they deserve to be heard. LOVED IT!!!… Expand
  2. TheBigCrunch
    Apr 29, 2006
    9
    A nearly flawless piece of sunny and sophisticated pop. Of the fifty to sixty albums I've heard that have been released in 2006, this is easily in my top five. Critics who have dismissed Cannibal Sea for simply being a reappropriation of previously used pop tropes have completely missed the point. Pop/rock endlessly recycles itself, and pure originality is extremely rare, and A nearly flawless piece of sunny and sophisticated pop. Of the fifty to sixty albums I've heard that have been released in 2006, this is easily in my top five. Critics who have dismissed Cannibal Sea for simply being a reappropriation of previously used pop tropes have completely missed the point. Pop/rock endlessly recycles itself, and pure originality is extremely rare, and frequently results in some fairly awful music. When judging a a straight ahead pop album like this (or the new Belle and Sebastian, or Gulliemotts, Elbow, etc...) the measure should be on how originally and effectively the band has reappropriated the core elements inherent in almost all pop/rock. In that regard, this album is something of a mini-masterpiece of sunny, breezy, excellently written guitar/bass/drums/synth pop music. If a better "summer" albums is released this year, I'll be shocked.… Expand
  3. mikeys
    May 5, 2006
    9
    An excellent cd to get for summer, I love it!
  4. time
    Mar 10, 2007
    7
    They have good songs but they can't even be spoken in the same sentence as Camera Obscura. In fact their more Incubus than anything. Of course they're better than Pavement. Listening to actual Pavement being demolished by construction workers is better than listening to Pavement.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. AllMusic
    90
    Cannibal Sea is the equal of anything the Ladybug Transistor have released (which is saying a whole lot), and is better than just about any indie pop or rock circa 2006.
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  2. Alternative Press
    70
    Essex Green do a fine job of staying on retro's good side. [May 2006, p.162]
  3. Dusted Magazine
    90
    For the most part, Cannibal Sea differs little from The Long Goodbye: the elements that made that album successful – tight songwriting, precise arrangements and elegant performances – are once again employed with aplomb.
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