The Green Pajamas

An absolutely essential collection of the Green Pajamas' early singles and previously unreleased tracks, 1997's Indian Winter is a handy refresher course for all but the most knowledgeable neo-psych fans. For the first several years of their existence, the Seattle group, led by singer/songwriter Jeff Kelly, existed only on the shadowy edge of an already obscure underground scene, releasing the occasional brilliant single or EP that maybe 100 people or so would buy. One of those singles, however, was 1986's brilliant "Kim the Waitress," one of the finest indie singles of the decade, and a song so brilliant that not even Material Issue could ruin it when they covered it on their first album. That early career apex leads off this 15-track compilation, and while it's the clear standout, nearly every song on the album is a spooky, jangly gem. The disturbing "I Have Touched Madness" and its flip side "Song for Christina" are also pretty wonderful. Unfortunately, the album doesn't contain any tracks from the Green Pajamas' self-released cassettes from this period, but simply by gathering the group's singles and compilation tracks, Indian Winter does the Green Pajamas' fans a tremendous service. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide