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- Summary: The Brooklyn neo-psychedelic pop trio of Sasha Bell, Jeff Baron, and Christopher Ziter return for their first full-length release since 2006's Cannibal Sea.
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- Record Label: Merge
- Genre(s): Pop/Rock
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 7
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Mixed: 2 out of 7
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Negative: 0 out of 7
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Jun 29, 2018Hardly Electronic is a mature and polished album from a band confident enough to let their influences guide their sound without overshadowing it. Longtime fans will obviously snap this up, but anyone with an interest in classically-minded pop arrangements and great songs will find much to like on this unexpected gem from the Essex Green.
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Jul 6, 2018At 14 tracks long, there are a few songs on Hardly Electronic that feel superfluous. But that’s a minor quibble, especially since we’ve been without new music from The Essex Green for a dozen years. ... And now, Hardly Electronic is here, and it more than makes up for lost time.
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Jun 29, 2018The record is good enough, and the band skilled enough, that even one year without a new album from them would feel like an eternity.
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Jul 31, 2018The Essex Green direct their flawless studies in pop to disconnected friends in the 21st century; even after 12 years, they haven't slept a wink.
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UncutJun 29, 2018Hardly Electronic comprises 14 impeccably jangling, harmonic pastiches of Bacharach, McCartney and Free Design, with only Sasha Bell's sardonic vocals striking a welcome sour note. [Aug 2018, p.27]
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MojoJun 29, 2018A first album since 2006 reflects interim activities. [Aug 2018, p96]
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Sep 4, 2018Not all the songs on Hardly Electronic are as affecting--and some of them are just good bubbly pop fun. There are some misses--the country-ish “Bye Bye Crow” isn’t very good--but most are at least solid and surprisingly fresh, and a few are much better than that.
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