While Hardly Electronic is still piping hot in the New Releases bin, The Essex Green have announced reissues of two of their equally fantastic earlier full-lengths! The Long Goodbye was the group’s Merge debut and is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year; it will be pressed to limited-edition white Peak Vinyl and includes an album download plus three rare digital bonus tracks. Similarly, Cannibal Sea comes with a download including three digital bonus tracks, and will be pressed to opaque blue Peak Vinyl.

The reissues are out July 20, which is right around the corner! Pre-order both in the Merge store individually or as a bundle, or pick them up from the merch table at one of The Essex Green’s shows on their summer and fall tours.

Listen to & share The Essex Green’s The Long Goodbye now

Debut follow-up albums have a dreaded reputation for falling short of their predecessors. The Essex Green bucked the odds and delivered a masterwork release with The Long Goodbye in 2003. The band’s core trio of Sasha Bell, Jeff Baron, and Chris Ziter were fresh out of the influential Elephant 6 stables with their stunning twin releases, a self-titled extended play and the classic full-length Everything Is Green. Compared to the psychedelic swirl and sunny disposition of Everything Is Green, The Long Goodbye was a mature and incredibly thoughtful endeavor that emphasized the core members’ evolution in songwriting and arrangement.

Listen to & share The Essex Green’s Cannibal Sea now

The nucleus of EG came out firing on all cylinders with renewed focus and musical precision on the group’s fourth outing, Cannibal Sea. While previous releases tended towards the Brian Wilson approach of utilizing the full studio and all the attendant aural tricks, on Cannibal Sea, the band sounds like a cohesive live unit. Through it all, The Essex Green stay rooted in honor of all those cool Nuggets compilations, with nods to early Soft Machine, Arthur Lee, The Left Banke, and all the dusty $1 record finds in some desolate resale shop just off a two-lane blacktop on Route 66. Ambitious, passionate, and brimming with grace, Cannibal Sea may be rife with metaphorical description, but justice is served after one listen.

The Essex Green on tour:
Aug 01 Montreal, QC – Casa del Popolo
Aug 02 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall
Aug 03 Boston, MA – Great Scott
Aug 04 Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory
Aug 06 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
Aug 07 Washington, DC – Black Cat Backstage
Aug 08 Athens, GA – Athens Popfest
Aug 09 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room
Aug 10 Thomas, WV – Purple Fiddle Cafe
Aug 11 Toronto, ON – The Drake Hotel
Aug 17 Burlington, VT – ArtsRiot [FREE]
Aug 24 Pine Plains, NY – Huichica East
Sep 26 Seattle, WA – Fremont Abbey
Sep 27 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
Sep 28 Eugene, OR – Wildcraft Cider Works
Sep 29 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Oct 01 Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon
Oct 03 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
Oct 05 Dallas, TX – Double Wide
Oct 08 Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
Oct 09 Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village
Oct 10 Cincinnati, OH – The Woodward Theater
Oct 11 Pittsburgh, PA – Andy Warhol Museum Theater