Lon Gisland, and you

Last year, when I spoke to Zach Condon, he mentioned that there was an EP floating around somewhere in his head/apartment/studio, or on the pages of his notepad/diary/laptop, whatever. So the "Lon Gisland" collection is now floating around online, although links are scarce (we're nearing the official release date of Jan. 30).

You'll notice, right away, that Condon seems to be experimenting with a spare sound. That's OK, since "Gulag Orkestar," his debut full-length, suffered from a few overwrought marches. I'll willing to bet, anyway, that "Postcards to Italy" was the most popular song on the album because it was the most like a pop song; that, in turn, was because the brass was peeled back enough to expose that gooey, liquidy, warm pop center. Write some more good lyrics, Zach, and victory over the buzz-bin backlash is already at hand.