Seventeen Evergreen – ‘Life Embarrasses Me On Planet Earth’ (Lucky Number) Released 06/08/07

Keen to capitalise on the widespread acclaim of July’s ‘Lunar One EP’, Seventeen Evergreen have re-released their eagerly anticipated full length debut, ‘Life Embarrasses Me On Planet Earth’. Multi-instrumentalists Caleb Pate and Nephi Evans mix cognitive computers with artificial intelligence to provide a snapshot of the human condition in a dystopian society experiencing technological meltdown. Full of haunting disappointment and collective self-consciousness the San Franciscan duo paint a disturbing picture of a not too distant future that would see Orwell and Kubrick chuckle arm in arm saying “I told you so”. Cinematic paranoia is delivered intravenously through a combination of rock and electronica, repackaging a collective vision shared by the likes of Pink Floyd and Air. Comfortably oppressive and sparsely immense, instead of leaving you numb, ‘Life Embarrasses Me On Planet Earth’ radiates a divine beauty and emits a comforting warmth whilst re-igniting Brian Eno’s notion of “a nostalgia for the future”.

The astronomical soundscape of ‘Life Embarrasses Me On Planet Earth’ is introduced through ‘Music Is The Wine’. Its dirty electronica and deep unmoving vocal launches a seemingly resigned monotony into orbit and plays a huge part in establishing the immensity of Seventeen Evergreen’s sound. Blasting off into an un-chartered galaxy of noise is the second track ‘Constellation’ which, in stark contrast to the busy clamour of the first, instils an extremely lonely sense of isolation into the mix, through vastly floating electronics that take on a truly space-age guise. This isolation is continued throughout; ‘Sazerac’ which could pass as the private thoughts of an abandoned and forgotten Major Tom and the ever growing ‘Grays’, which acts as Earths digital distress signal via a series of dirty synths and beats.

However, this isolation is contained or at least made bearable by cocooning the listener in layer upon layer of spaced out self medication. ‘Lunar One’ and ‘Haven’t Been Yourself’ all appear to be searching desperately for a better place and a brighter future while appreciating the beauty of the present, albeit far away from terra ferma. Slow moving, mood altering and ominously echoing, until ‘Ensoniq’ recognises that the state of play is not what was once promised and brings about a form of closure, signalling the beginning of the end, yet still retaining a comforting blissful ignorance. But ‘Life Embarrasses Me On Planet Earth’ isn’t the detached piece of futuristic electronica it might be perceived to be. There are a lot of personal touches and elements to the tracks; all but three of the songs have lyrics and the majority utilise guitar and other ‘standard’ instruments, particularly ‘Sufferbus’, one of the most intense tracks on the album.

Yet concluding the album is the detached instrumental ‘Andromedan Dream Of An Octaroon’. In many ways it’s a big full stop to Seventeen Evergreen’s sobering prediction of mankind’s self-imposed destructive future. Vast and minimalist in instrumentation, which allows for increased impact, it’s all at once recognizable yet extremely unfamiliar at the same time. It’s an intriguing album that allows the world to catch up with itself. It’s not a cut and dry vision of doom and gloom but mixes unrestrained beauty with distressing sounds and styles to create a mood of regressive uncertainty. A stunning debut and one that can more than hold its own alongside the like of Moon Safari et al.