I just got through giving the new Green Pajamas CD a spin and I'm liking it a lot! It's hard to find the words to get across what a quality production this album is (album in the best sense of the word), it's unlike so many modern releases that try so hard and polish so much that they shoot themselves in the foot artistically or become a stillborn gimmicky pastiche. This however is a beautifully balanced album, Byrdsian in it's hooks but with a genuine identity; every original song (and they all are originals) brings something to the whole! Jeff Kelly's lyrics rival Robert Hunter for making me wonder about possible realities underneath, and the variety of instruments are complimentary, never introduced to prop up a swaybacked composition.

Oh heck, enough trying to think in rural metaphors, I just really dig this set! I think it'll be a grower too; if only the robots that program 'country' radio would slip any of these tracks into their playlists people like myself who tuned them out about when Shania Twain rode in might just come back like when Foster & Lloyd or The Mavericks were charting. I'm glad this great group took this particular detour, and if the PJs were to continue on this same trail I can't imagine anyone being too disappointed. 'Father, Father Do You Wait' is my personal fave track so far, while 'Last Night Was Like The End Of The World' comes a close second.

Available from Green Monkey Records

or via the Green PJ's Secret Day website.