Jessamine were an interesting American psychedelic rock/garage rock/shoegaze/space rock band. They released a handful of great albums through the years, but their best album is perhaps ''The Long Arm Of Coincidence'' - an album that they released back in 1996 via Kranky. Jessamine pack a relatively unique sound that comes apparent in the relatively mellow and eerie drone-rock/noise rock/garage rock atmosphere that is inherently mixed with shoegaze, post-rock and psych rock elements.
The first track on the album is titled ''Say What You Can'' and it packs some fine low-tuned droney noise-rock/psych material with a relatively eerie and murky atmosphere. The track also has a mathrock feel to it to a certain degree, making it also one of the best tracks on the entire album. The second track ''...Or What You Mean'' interestingly starts off like a mixture of Om and Earth in the bass department, but also features some fine female vocals, making for some more eerie psychedelic atmosphere. ''Periwinkle'' surprisingly starts off in a same kind of droney stoner manner, and its pretty similar in structure, only that the previous track was perhaps somewhat better. The fourth track ''Step Down'' packs a fine low bass section and some great feedback laden guitar improvisation, and thus is a great track. Perhaps the best track on the entire album though is the lengthy over 10 minute long ''Polish Countryside'', which packs some droney and murky feedback laden basslines, as well as some fascinating avant-garde noise-rock/psych guitar and keyboard bits, making for an awesome piece. The penultimate track ''Schisandra'' on the other hand is probably the most fast paced track on the entire album, while the last track ''It's Cold In Space'' packs some fascinating and quirky indie-rock/art rock material for my ear.
All in all ''The Long Arm of Coincidence'' from Jessamine remains as one of the more interesting noise-rock/drone rock/psych releases of the mid-90s, and packs some fine material from start to finish. The album also tends to be somewhat of a genre mixer, with elements of space rock, psych rock, shoegaze, indie rock, art rock, drone rock, garage rock and so forth coming apparent throughout the duration of the album. This is of course a great thing and thus it remains as one of the best Jessamine releases for sure.
Some related links:
Polish Countryside - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBfy12HtK5s
Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/58474-Jessamine
