Ivy: Long Distance : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Ivy made their big move in 1997 with the cult classic Apartment Life, a collection of exquisitely moody, melancholic adult love ballads, all purred by Paris-born vocalist Dominique Durand in her fetching French accent. With plush keyboard and guitar textures from Andy Chase (also Durand's mate) and Adam Schlesinger (also in Fountains of Wayne), Ivy were poised for world conquest until they got stuck in typical major-label purgatory. But the long-awaited Long Distance continues the suavely bittersweet pop that made Apartment Life such an enduring pleasure. Any fan of Everything but the Girl, Saint Etienne or vintage Blondie should find plenty to swoon over here, whether it's the bossa nova lilt of "Let's Stay Inside" or the perky James Brown-via-Eric B. guitar lick of "Disappointed." And it ends with a fabulous cover of the Blow Monkeys' 1986 New Wave gem "Digging Your Scene." Durand coos the line "I'm like a boy among men" with all her usual deadpan elegance, ending Long Distance on an enigmatic, seductive and wildly appropriate note.

ROB SHEFFIELD
(RS 875 - August 16, 2001)