Despite having over thirty albums to their name, The Green Pajamas remain something of an enigma. This is certainly not due to any lack of quality in their work.
Although they formed way back in 1984, this latest outing shows that founder members Jeff Kelly and Joe Ross are clearly still full of ideas. The band may have quit playing live but their Paisley-shirts inspire them equally well in a recording studio.
The PJs hail from Seattle but have strong Anglophile tendencies that have little to do with Grunge. For instance, there are strong echoes of The Kinks and The Beatles circa ‘66/’67. Art School Blues 1979 is like a sleepy remake of ‘Lola’ while the eight-minute High Tea With Miss Ava G is replete with Sgt Peppery strings and effects. The strength of songs like these lies in the fact that they are played as affectionate homages rather than as tired pastiches.
Chief songwriter Kelly says “I wanted to get back to that whimsy, psychedelia and experimentation” and he cites 1997’s ‘Strung Behind the Sun’ as the template he had in mind. I’d Rather Be In The Sun sums up the underlying blue sky thinking behind the record.
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Highlights are Why Did You Do It, a moodier and less obviously derivative piece; the psych-motorik of Just To This and the Byrdsian That’s Why Celia Can’t Fly.
Two Eric Lichter songs (Sunlight and Lovers Lease) are equally strong and the only other non Kelly number is the sprightly Down To The Ocean penned by Joe Ross.
The tagline for Green Monkey Records is ‘Northwest Underground rock 1980 'til the End of Time’. This fine album demonstrates that, while the heyday of Psychedelic Rock may have been in the 1960s, the defining spirit of the genre remains very much alive and kicking when played with this level of enthusiasm and skill.
The Green Pyjamas’ website
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