Here’s the text of Neil Agneta’s review of our album The Luxury Problem, as printed in issue 60 of the Big Takeover, which you should all be reading religiously if you don’t already.

The Long Afternoon, The Luxury Problem (Problematic Audio)

The Luxury Problem can be likened more to a warm-up session than a fully-realized album. Eston Martz manages to subconsciously (or maybe not) channel the golden throats of Peter Prescott and Roger Miller, but, sonically, The Long Afternoon are light years from Mission of Burma’s dazzling, post-punk escapades. The occasional Husker Du-ish tendencies that crop up here might be a safer path to pursue. In spite of the seemingly aimless jamming and riffola that clogs up so much of Luxury Problem, “That’s Not What You Said” and “On the Plane” offer glimmers of hope. Vaguely inspirational when they put their minds to it, the promise is there for something more impressing in the offing from The Long Afternoon.

As I wrote earlier, it’s a very fair review. A couple of points:

  • “Riffola” is the word of the year.
  • We never claimed to aspire to Mission of Burma’s sound, though they were certainly inspirational — I learned to play guitar by figuring out Vs. as best I could back in the day…
  • It’s a thrill to have my vocals compared (favorably) to Prescott’s and Miller’s.
  • I don’t hear the Husker Du thing, but it’s a nice reference nonetheless.
  • He’s right…our next record is going to be killer.

If you haven’t heard it yet, you can check out The Luxury Problem on emusic, iTunes, or Amazon.com if you still remember when music was stored on physical objects.

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