All Music Guide
"Long distance" doesn't only mean annoying calls from MCI, Sprint, and ATT marketers mangling your name. In the case of this sinewy New York trio, it's a tribute to perseverance. Riding high in 1998 with a wonderful sophomore LP, Apartment Life, and two fine songs in the hit film There's Something About Mary, the group suddenly found its momentum dashed. Dropped by not one, but two major labels, Ivy further suffered the nearcrippling loss of its recording studio, as fireman hacked it to pieces fighting a bagelshop blaze. Then two of its members became parents together, while the other found himself a critical smash with his other band, Fountains of Wayne. Had they a permanent drummer, doubtless he would have spontaneously combusted. And had Ivy surrendered, well, in words their Parisborn singer would understand, se la guerre.But Ivy refused to go "down in flames," and Long Distance is a charming product of belief that wouldn't be deterred (hell, even when we first heard this LP last fa...ll, it was only a Japanese import). While retaining their streamlined, catchy pop and Dominique Durand's gorgeous cooing, they've doubled the textural foundation while also amping up the groove and swing. Not really a dancemusic band, there's still an undeniable footshaking root to Ivy's smooth, limber rhythms, while the guitars shimmer and the bass undulates with deep bottom low end. These are the perfect beds for Durand's Frenchaccented vocals to lie in, as she alternates from dry and wet vocals that accentuate her blithe sensuality. Her performance needs to be this sweet, as the lyrics are unremarkable, encroaching on cliché; as we've seen so often, great singing transforms nothingspecial lines such as "And for a moment I'm back again/Remembering what you once meant" (the standout "Blame it on Yourself") into tiny daggers of honest emotion.But aside from Durand's star qualities, it's her hubby Andy Chase and Fountains pal Adam Schlesinger's writing and production that are the keys. Whether the wonderful neodeampop gauze of the opening gem, "Undertow," the lax triphop of "I Think of You," or the acousticamiable "Let's Stay Inside" (with Herb Albertlike trumpet from the great Eric Matthews, who really needs to make another LP), or the bossa novabreezy flavors elsewhere, these folks understand lithe and pleasant, smileproducing pop. Perhaps the group could come out of their sugarrush friendliness on occasion, as Apartment Life's more powerful, denser "You Don't Know Anything" did so well. But the absorbing production and inventive instrumentation/arrangements enliven. Read more Less
