Ivy : Releases >>
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Guest Room >>
Ivy's decision to stick entirely to covers on their fifth album probably has much to do with the pregnancy of chanteuse Dominique Durand. But despite the fact that the band members didn't write a single note, they have made the 10 songs collected here their own, giving offbeat classics from sources as disparate as brainy punsters Papas Fritas, Serge Gainsbourg, and Kate Bush Ivy's own sophisticated, moody spin. If you weren't familiar with Steely Dan's "Only a Fool Would Say That," you'd swear that Durand, guitarist Andy Chase, and bassist Adam Schlesinger cooked it in their New York studio, giving the mellow rocker heretofore unimagined elegance. This outstanding, intelligent collection makes one wonder why the band isn't more popular. --Jaan Uhelszki
In The Clear >>
Long Distance >>
After years of postmodern pop posturing from dozens of would-be Portisheads and Bjorks, it's something more than a relief to see Ivy's third album, Long Distance, get a U.S. release. The New York-based trio's languid but richly emotional meld of trip-hop, classic French-pop touches (singer Dominique Durand is a Paris native), and indie adventurousness shine here, even while displaying the outfit's deepest melancholic vibe. Few singer-songwriters could put across a sentiment like that of "Disappointed"--Durand explains that she's bound to leave a guy--without coming off defensive or taunting. "While We're in Love" offers a similarly bleak, if enticing, future. Long Distance never burrows so far into its own melancholy as to render the effect merely selfish or cold; even if your situation is hunky-dory, you'll be hard pressed not to revel in the subtle empathy of these numbers. The sole nonoriginal, the Blow Monkeys' 1986 single "Digging Your Scene," demonstrates Ivy's ability to render a late-summer dayscape replete with slowly pushed merry-go-round and intimation of oncoming loss, all with a wink. --Rickey Wright
I Hate December (Remix) >>
Apartment Life >>
As the story goes, Ivy's singer Dominique Durand left her native France to move to New York City to better her English. Shortly after, she joined some fellow musicians, and voilá--the loss of the French is everybody's gain. Ivy take the breezy melodic structure of the Mamas and the Papas, kick in some Style Council-esque horns, add some of their own sense of style, and create one pop gem after another in the process. Apartment Life brims with Ivy's sophisticated songs: "The Best Thing," "I Get the Message," and "This Is the Day" all swing with a continental flair. But don't be fooled, this is not a sugar-soaked cache by any means. Durand's cynicism is front and center on "Quick, Painless, & Easy," showing the band doesn't live in a rose-tinted world. Their music just sounds that way. --Steve Gdula
I Hate December >>