Seventeen Evergreen are cognitive computers, singers and multi-instrumentalists Caleb Pate and Nephi Evans. Both now residents of a breezy land of lush trees and Pacific shores otherwise known as San Francisco, their name was chosen for its sound and symmetry – it is taken from a lyrical couplet in a psychedelic song by an early incarnation of King Crimson.
The band are undoubtedly a refreshing and unique proposition. They explore themes that, it’s safe to say, are truly their own and are making music in their own individual space.
Conversations pondering the likelihood of intelligent non-human life forms in the vasts of the universe, sci-fi love, and urban lament of the mundane working world soon turned in to lyrics, and, ultimately, the main inspiration behind their debut album, Life Embarrasses Me On Planet Earth.
An organic electronic/rock hybrid, sonically kite flying amongst Boards of Canada, My Bloody Valentine, Pink Floyd & Pavement, the album was a genuine whole, a rich & considered tapestry that weaved a kaleidoscope of possibilities in to a psychedelic, breathy, almost mystical soup. As lead singer Caleb put it, “We were interested in expressing an Eno-esque nostalgia for the future, a message of escapist optimism amidst technological and financial meltdown, and a disappointment in humanity near and far.”
The album was released in the US on the bands own imprint Pacific Radio Fire in late 2005 and released internationally in 2007. Sadly, despite critical praise, the album has yet to achieve the sales recognition it undoubtedly deserves. However, our favourite Californian electronic/rock pop duo, are currently holed up in a cabin somewhere in the verdant hills of California, hard at work on their second album and the future is, as they say, unwritten.
In all, where others cough and splutter, Seventeen Evergreen float, slowly and calmly along life’s path, savouring the beauty of every rose along the way. With the release of their debut, Seventeen Evergreen, allowed you too to peer over a cosmic garden fence and see life as they perceive it.
Spend a minute with any Seventeen Evergreen track and you’ll be greeted with the sirens of the forest, the stars in the sky and the vibrations of the ground dancing together in the ether to form an intricate yet consummate aural feast for your stereo.
“Seventeen Evergreen may be about to follow in the footsteps of such indie-oddball crossovers as Mercury Rev, Flamin’ Lips and Midlake” The Independent 5/5
“mixing rock and electronics they mine the same louche, special box of ballads as AIR, early 1970s Pink Floyd and Sparklehorse, but with a definite West Coast twist that suggests hallucinogens ingested under desert skies “ The Times 4/5
“a mix of shimmering but off-centre pop melodicism with sci-fi whimsy and low budget electronica…; ethereally sublime” Uncut 4/5
“It’s great…;dreamy, quirky, croaky-voices, mildly smacked-out arty slacker rock somewhere between Grandaddy and Pavement” Sunday Telegraph 4/5
