1" l:!:!! a ae@technewsiit.com I Tuesday, April 19th, 2016

Reviews:

Little Green Cars leans atmospheric on new album ‘E'phemera

Soren Spicknall
WIIT STATION MANAGE R

For the last few years, Little Green
Cars have been a quietly brewing phenom—
enon. Originating from Dublin, the group
built up a regional following on the strength of
their two debut EPs, both self—released in 2008,
and signed with kingmaking label Glassnote
(home of Mumford & Sons and Phoenix) in
2013. Their debut full—length, Absolute Zero,
spawned two singles which became mainstays
of college radio in the Southeast US, and led
to festival sets at SXSW Lollapalooza, and
elsewhere. You’d be forgiven right now for not
knowing their name, but in a few years’ time
that may no longer be the case.

For a band on the cusp of such
mainstream success, Little Green Cars are not
afraid to switch up their formula. Their latest
album, Ephemera, was released more than a
month ago, but after finally being able to spend
some time with it, many pronounced differ—
ences from its predecessor justify a late review.
While Absolute Zero is heavily influenced by
American folk rock (hence the band’s success
in the same territory as groups like Dawes and
Delta Spirit), Ephemera mostly takes an alter—
nate approach. With a few exceptions, gone are
the layered, mixed—gender choruses of “Harp—
er Lee” and “The John Wayne”, replaced with
solo lead vocals from Stevie Appleby and Faye
O’Rourke that largely define each melody on
their own. This new album is less percussive,

 

Photo courtesy of Little Green Cars

too, awash in electrified reverb reminiscent
of something from The xx. The lyrical subject
matter inside reflects those musical changes
wonderfully, introspective and largely dark in
tone.

Though Ephemera certainly marks a
shift for Little Green Cars, that shift seems to
be a sidestep rather than a clear upward pro—
gression. Industry snobs will be happy to know
that Markus Dravs’ radio—friendly production
work has been replaced with a less layer—heavy
mix from Rob Kirwan, resulting in perfor—
mances that could reasonably be replicated
live with only the five current members of the
band. However, that close production style has
revealed that the group’s electrified shift lacks
vigor at times, and some of the compositions
on Ephemera tend to blend together, some—
thing that only happens on Absolute Zero if
you are paying zero attention.

If this new direction is the future
of Little Green Cars, they’ll need to innovate
more on their next album to keep the attention
of their fans and critics. Absolute Zero, while
not for everyone, was an unmistakable work
that set the tone for the group’s rise to promi—
nence. Ephemera, on the other hand, is more
palatable to a wider range of “indie” listeners,
but even its strongest moments are unlikely to
get stuck in your head or have the same public
staying power as anything from the better half
of their previous work. 6.6/ 10

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Photos by Soren Spicknall