NICE Apple Pie 1993

By request

review

by Nitsuh Abebe

Apple Pie takes the evocative jangle of Nice's self-titled album a step toward the more varied pop sound of Randall Lee's next project, Ashtray Boy -- Lee drops his Lou Reed-y vocals in favor of Susannah Stuart's on a greater number of tracks, and the songwriting attempts to move through a greater number of pop styles. The resulting album has the same high quality and emotional efficacy of all of Lee's work, from the Cannanes to Ashtray Boy -- but since it verges on the great work of the latter, Nice's self-titled album comes across as a more "necessary" record.