"Lucy Gray" Sees Lukewarm Reviews

First Round of Criticism Hits Envy’s Debut LP

An ad heralding the release of "Lucy Gray."

By Will James

The verdict is in on “Lucy Gray.” After months of hype, the debut full-length by Long Island emo heroes Envy On The Coast was met with mixed reviews on the internet.

“Lucy Gray,” released on Aug. 7 by Photo Finish Records, was dismissed by some as a commercial dupe, at worst, or an innocent trend with little lasting potential, at best.

One of the most scathing reviews came from Matt Schild of Aversion.com, a site for punk and indie news:

“Dropping a 12-song dose of generic punk, 'Lucy Gray' gives folks at Alt Press something to shamelessly waste hyperboles on, record stores a new release to put on shelves until something better, or newer, comes along to take its place and underage kids a tour to go see instead of wandering about after curfew. It's not very interesting, intelligent or creative, but that's not important. The punk rock machine keeps turning.” (http://www.aversion.com/bands/reviews.cfm?f_id=3215).

Blake Solomon of Absolutepunk.net was somewhat more balanced, if not exactly warm. His split verdict is defined by his closing line, “It isn’t perfect, but it’s progress.” Or perhaps, it’s expressed more accurately by this duality from his introduction: “’I like Lucy Gray.’ I’m disappointed with ‘Lucy Gray.’”
(http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=255310).

Still, while Schild brushes off the album absolutely as a conspirator in a sinking standard in modern music, Solomon goes into specifics. He concedes that “Lucy Gray” is “superior” to Envy On The Coast’s debut EP, and says that singer Ryan Hunter’s lyrics “shine.” However, he also warns that all of the “good stuff” is concentrated in the first half of the album, and bemoans the weakness of the more mellow later tracks. In the end, he weighed in with a relatively moderate 76% rating.

A similarly mixed review came from Rich Taylor of Decoymusic.com, whose final paragraph seemed complex and potentially contradictory for a fairly agreeable 3.5 rating:

“While ‘Lucy Gray’ is a worthy attempt, I don’t think they quite live up to any of their current contemporaries. There are better bands out there playing better music, but if you’re after a band who favor a pop edge over experimental progression then this is a pleasant and enjoyable stab and is most definitely worth your time.”
(http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=24334&oldre...).

The friendliest review came from Glenn Gamboa of Newsday, who gushed, “Yeah, Envy On The Coast may belong to Long Island for now, but ‘Lucy Gray’ is too potent an album to stay local - or even indie - for long.”
(http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-ettop5322252aug07,0,4488...).

However, reviewers like Schild seemed to realize the same commercial potential and spit on it, smelling corporate MTV vogue. It is two different takes on the same quality. In Gamboa’s case, it was impressive enough to warrant an “A” grade.

In any case, Envy’s best friend on the web is their large, and sometimes cultish, fan base. Fans led a spirited revolt on the message board following Schild’s harsh article, responding with seven high personal rankings. They accused Schild of cynicism and attacked him for harboring prejudice against Envy’s genre and refusing to even discuss “Lucy Gray.” The plethora of reader responses to Solomon’s article were far less extreme, most of them agreeing with the critic’s temperate analysis.

Envy On The Coast’s fan presence is mightiest on iTunes, where supporters posted a whopping unanimous 29 five-star reviews. It solidifies Envy’s reputation as a populist band, initially famous for taking time to forge personal relationships with their fans at all of their shows.

So maybe “Lucy Gray” is meant to connect to existing fans; maybe it just isn’t appreciated by critics. We can still learn a few things from their writings. For instance, “If God Smokes Cheap Cigars” seems to be the most widely well-received track – Solomon devotes an entire paragraph to it:

“Envy On The Coast has always been sort of schizophrenic, and ‘If God Smokes Cheap Cigars’ has taken a risky formula and made it catchy, exhausting and delicate. The track has more parts than I care to detail, but the angular guitars and shrieks of the verses ease into the melodic chorus smoothly. And, the surprising vocal solo makes it painfully obvious what works for these guys. Calm us down for a few seconds and get our heartbeat back to normal, but once we’re quiet, crank up the action!(!) Don’t make us chill out for minutes at a time, I guarantee you’ll lose us (‘Starving Your Friends’).”

Also, the album closer, “I’m Breathing…Are You Breathing Too?” is almost universally condemned as a mistake, even on some of the message boards. Solomon also devotes an entire paragraph to how this song sucks. Taylor simply mentions it as a “messy, unnecessary jaunt.”

“Lucy Gray” has yet to be acknowledged by major publications like Alternative Press and Spin, both of whom have featured Envy On The Coast in their pages before. Maybe they’ll ultimately skip over it. In any case, Envy now has some idea where their friends are, and where they stand in this big, shambling mess of a culture.

Notes

by Anonymous on 08/12/2007 - 10:32am

this band does suck but if you like one emo band you might as well like them all

by sydney. on 08/12/2007 - 5:49pm

this band is amazing.and so are the guys who play in it.there is no reason they should stick to one specific idea or genre since they were influenced by so many different things.different music, art, literature, and people.
people being the sole basis for two songs on the album."Tell Them That She's Not Scared" is about Ryan's mother who fought off breast cancer last year.And "The Gift of Paralysis" is about one of the bands college friends who is paralyzed.

and btw.this band deff. does not suck.i also actually find it hilarious that you compare them to all the other "emo" bands out there.because to me, they're one of the most original acts i've ever heard.

by Will James on 08/12/2007 - 9:08pm

That is an interesting tidbit about the influences for those two songs. If I can confirm them, I'll take them into account while writing my review.

This little exchange is VERY indicative of the discussion going on right now on the web regarding "Lucy Gray."

One side would like to dismiss the band entirely as another teenage emo trend. The other side is populated by some pretty extreme fans who seem to consider Envy the best band in the world.

Personally, I believe that reviews should at least discuss the band and back opinions up, unlike the article by Schild. I think I made the same mistake in a recent review of "The Crisis" by Daze Off.

However, I think it's a little over-the-top to call Envy "amazing." Everyone seems to agree that the boys in Envy are "amazing" people - one of their prime marketing strategies (probably genuine, but possibly not always) has been to forge close relationships with their fan base. But good marketing does not translate to good music.

They should be taken seriously, no doubt. They have their strong points. But they are CERTAINLY not one of the most original acts out there, considering the entire spectrum of rock and indie music, outside the emo box.

Get ready for my review. I just need a couple of days.

by Anonymous on 08/14/2007 - 6:21pm

ENVY ON THE COAST ISNT EMO.

by Anonymous on 08/14/2007 - 9:56pm

they are emo, they do sound like everyone else around here, and they aren't very good. if they're a buncha saints that's fantastic, but i've never met them and don't really care. i just care about tunes, and they don't seem to have any worth caring about. if you find that hilarious then all i can say is that i'm glad the jokes on me then.

by Anonymous on 08/15/2007 - 2:06am

If you'd like to get technical, maybe Envy is part of a trend currently being described as "post-emo."

But, most of us aren't technical. Yes, they transcend some emo staples. But "emo" is simply the best word to describe their style, if it must be described in a single word. Yes, genres are trite and simplistic. But if a total stranger asked me about Envy, I'd describe them as "a popular emo band from Long Island." What else am I going to call them?

Don't even try to force the "indie" label for Envy because it's sexy and vogue right now. It's too much of a stretch. It's like calling your retarded son "autistic" just because it sounds better.

Is emo necessarily a bad thing? For some people. But I'd like to see Envy fans stop denying the obvious. Maybe a more proper defense is, "Yes, Envy has an emo core but they integrate some other influences really well." Or something smart like that.

Maybe the kids on Long Island are so poorly cultured that they see a band with some modestly distinctive traits and hail them as an entirely different genre. The truth is, very few bands in history have found success while totally defying genre. I think it's time Envy fans started talking about the band's successes WITHIN their genre, in Envy's case.

Finally, for clarification, I'm not accusing Envy of intentionally seeking a commercial emo sound. At some level, whether conscious or not, the musicians are aware of their influences and their inspirations. At some level, they rehash the music they hear. And that music happens to be AP Magazine fare.

Sorry.

by Anonymous on 08/15/2007 - 12:37pm

The genre is slowly killing me.

I've been listening to pop punk for around 10 or 11 years now, since its first real incarnations... but 10 or 11 years later it's getting old. That being said, I'm not a huge Envy fan. However, I am a musician, and I think there's a lot of good things to be said of this album. There are some weak songs but some of the songs have some very cool parts musically, and the singers voice which received absolutely no auto-tuning a la 99% of musicians on the radio these days, sounds pretty great for the most part.

The album wasn't super produced, it feels very raw. Maybe this is what they were going for. For what it is - which is the fact that everything on the album can and will be played on stage by the actual musicians - it sounds pretty nice and full. Most albums today have a shitload of production, and a lot of musicians can't play their own songs because they simply don't have the manpower. Running with a backing track is respectable if the musicians created the backing track, but it's just as respectable to not put anything on the album you can't actually play.

As far as pop punk goes, I think the boys of Envy are at least teetering on the edge of playing with the big boys. If you think the album sucks because it wasn't great all the way through... well I'd counter that by asking really how many albums are? I'd say 90% of the albums I've ever listened to if not more have at least 1-2 songs I NEVER want to hear and always skip over. Some of my favorite albums have songs like this.

Lastly, I had the pleasure of seeing Envy live. They put on a rockin' show... whether you like the music or not. Both the sound and energy are great, and the songs not being super appealing is less noticeable when someone puts on a kickass show.

At the end of the day, I think you have to be a total moron to say this album doesn't show some signs of great things to come. It's their first LP, for crying out loud.

When the hell is the music scene going to change, is the real question?

by Anonymous on 08/15/2007 - 1:17pm

thank god i'm a total moron.

by Anonymous on 08/16/2007 - 1:13pm

i'm a envy fan, and a musician. although i wouldn't call them a purely "original" act, they do have a distinct sound which to me, doesn't sound like every single other band. and if you say envy on the coast sucks based on their musicianship and/or craftsmenship, then you're obviously not a musician.. they do some pretty intricate and cool shit over their basic chord progressions. i love the new album.. in my opinion, tracks 1-8, 10, 11 are all great songs. great hooks, great vocals.. a lot emotion into the music. i can see them being the next Taking Back Sunday. say what you want about TBS, but they're doing quite alright for themselves nowadays.

by Anonymous on 08/16/2007 - 10:11pm

i literally cringe and feel very embarrassed for anyone who says "i'm a musician" in an attempt to add credibility to their psuedo-authoritative opinions on music.

if i could take back those words for both your sakes, i would.