Cannibal Sea [Reissue]

For a band from Brooklyn, the Essex Green has proved quite adept at blending the short and snappy, melancholy pop of the Hollies and Searchers with the subdued, sophisticated flair of the Left Bank, and topping it off with charming male-female vocal harmonies that echo pre-L.A. Fleetwood Mac (think MYSTERY TO ME), and the Mamas & the Papas. But the long-running band is by no means trapped in an idealized past: Essex Green has enough of a contemporary, pointed outlook to dodge any sort of "nostalgia" tag. CANNIBAL SEA, the band's fourth full-length, makes for fine rainy-day listening.