The Green View is really rough around the edges. But that’s OK, because hey, it’s only rock and roll. In the age of overdub and auto-tune it’s sometimes easy to forget that that rock was always the scruffy kid in the class that wasn’t there to please the teacher but to burn down the school. And The Green View’s first release, “Assimilation – EP” is the kind of CD that lights the fire and keeps fanning the flames.
Whether they’re wailing about the plight of an elderly Kentuckian imprisoned in an old folks home yearning for some good ol’ white lighting (track #4 “Moonshine”) or belting out a cry for social change (track #3 “Doctor”) this band from America’s heartland will rock you. Sure they’re a grungy group of boys and girls (well at least Ashley Ferguson who’s the one girl in the outfit) that plug it in then bang it out but that’s the element that so many of today’s rockers have either forgotten or ignored.
The Green View is unapologetic in their approach. No one can accuse them of being over-rehearsed and stale because my gut tells me their production goal it to catch it while it’s hot instead of note perfect, but cold as a corpse. Their “Assimilation – EP” is not champagne, caviar and chamber music. Hell no, it’s double cheeseburgers, greasy fries and loud electric guitars. It’s blood on the multi-tracks and hair on the wall we’ve all been up against at one time or another.
This is why it’s such a shame that the one thing that drags this 8 song CD down is the mastering, or perhaps, the lack of. Levels are a bit uneven on some tracks and the overall fidelity is somewhat muddy. If The Green View makes another CD then I hope they take this to heart and find someone with the equipment and experience to solve these sticky sonic dilemmas. It’s no fun when your frequencies are butting heads like moshers in the proverbial pit.
With the exception of the mashed-up mastering issue “Assimilation – EP” is a commendable debut in an oversaturated sound garden. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know, The Green View is only rock and roll, but I like it!
For more information: http://www.reverbnation.com/thegreenview
