Neo-psychedelic pop outfit the Essex Green were formed in mid-1997 after four members of the Burlington, VT-based Guppyboy — singer/guitarist Chris Ziter, singer/keyboardist Sasha Bell, guitarist Jeff Baron, and bassist Mike Barrett — relocated to Brooklyn, NY. Completing the lineup with drummer Tim Barnes, the group appeared at various New York City clubs before touring the East Coast with Aden and Saturnine, releasing a split single with the Sixth Great Lake in the spring of 1999. The Essex Green's full-length debut, Everything Is Green, appeared on Kindercore later that year, and a self-titled EP on Elephant6 followed in early 2000; concurrently, both Bell and Baron played in the likeminded Ladybug Transistor and, with the addition of Zachary Ward, moonlighted as the aforementioned Sixth Great Lake, releasing Up the Country for Kindercore. Bell (recording as the Finishing School) also released the lovely and overlooked 2003 album Destination Girl. In 2004, the Essex Green inked a deal with Merge and issued The Long Goodbye as a trio (Barrett having left the group), following it up with the finest record of their career, 2006's Cannibal Sea.
[by Jason Ankeny & Tim Sendra]
