Years ago, a cool co-worker made me a tape mix of a peculiar new group by the name of IVY. They struck me as a sort of 4AD sounding band, and of course I fell in love with them immediately. The tape she'd made for me was from Ivy's first ep LATELY, and songs like "Wish it All away" and " Can't Even Fake it" are faves even to this day! From there I got their album REALISTIC, and wallowed in their dreamy, ethereal sounds...loving it all!
Fast forward to 2001, and Ivy's come out with a new album called LONG DISTANCE. I didn't know what to expect, but NOTHING could have prepared me for their "new" sound- HUGE, droning, and TOTALLY ATMOSPHERIC! Songs Like "Blame it on Yourself","Lucy Doesn't Love You"and "Digging Your Scene"still retained that jangly IVY sound a bit, but it was in songs like "Edge of the Ocean", "Midnight Sun" and the incredible album opener called "Undertow" that I realized just how much IVY had "evolved" from its earlier days, and in a totally good way!
This new sound has been more or less the direction the group has gone, with albums like APARTMENT LIFE and IN THE CLEAR, as well as side groups like PACO expanding their horizons even more!
