The Greenhornes played last night at the Bowery Ballroom with their classic mix of power garage sublimated through a doo-wop channel. Opened for by The Ettes and Fergus and Geronimo (sadly only a poor-man’s Greenhornes) the soulful trio, made up of Craig Fox, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence, took the stage around 9:15pm to a floor jam-packed with trusty fans.

The band claims to be straight up Nuggets rock n’ roll, citing such inspirations as The Kinks, The Who, The Zombies and The Easybeats. You can hear the traditionalist approach in their sound, but their acoustics and vocals are smoother than they’d like to admit. Their most recognizable song, “There Is an End”, whose claim to fame was incorporation into the feature film Broken Flowers five years ago, was  included into the bands set, popping up nicely alongside songs from their new  album **** released November 9^th of this year.

 

Greenhornes-Pattern Skies 128 by BestNewBandscom

“Pattern Skies” is hands-down most iconic of what The Greenhornes claim to sound like, and “I’m Going Away” is hands-down most iconic of what The Greenhornes actually sound like. Ironic, I know, considering both songs are fan favorites written by the same members; however what I specifically like about The Greenhornes is the effortless fluidity they transition in instruments and melody, finding places for rolling drumbeats, standard bass lines, and the uncharacteristically synched-up three-part harmonies that keep on appearing amongst new rock bands. I almost hate myself for saying this, because it seems damning despite my love for the band, but I think The Greenhornes illustrate how the “boy-band” is making a come-back. With some major exceptions: no more annoyingly inane lyrics and members can actually play their instruments, but it is unmistakable, once you replace a lead singer with a trio or quartet and replace a solo with a chorus-line of singing you are stepping into boy-band territory. It’s not as bad as it seems! The Greenhornes have a built-in likability factor and their songs are rhythmic and distinct (which is very hard to do now-a-days), a perfect fuse of 60’s rock with the 90’s pulse.