Together Again

A sentimental favorite lands at position number six. I first heard about the Greenhornes many moons ago while reading an article about bands that Jack White was into. Hailing from Cincinnati, they, along with bands like the White Stripes and Mooney Suzuki, were instrumental in the so-called Rust Belt garage blues revival of the early 90’s. Their 2001 self-titled album is still one of my favorites with irresistible hard rockers like Nobody Loves You and Lies.

It’s now been 8 years since the release of their last full-length and 5 years since their last EP. Where have they been you may ask? Well, half of them have been keeping busy backing up Jack in his main side project, the Raconteurs. Further, bassist Jack Lawrence (also known as Little Jack) has pretty much been JW’s right-hand man over that time, being featured in not only the Raconteurs but also Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose and other White side project The Dead Weather. Lead singer Craig Fox has been involved with a decidedly lower profile side band, The Cincinnati Suds.

My first thought when I heard they were re-banding for a comeback album was concern. How do you move forward when half of your band has spent the last five years selling out large capacity venues, headlining festivals and being nominated for Grammys under the wing of one entrepreneurial genius from Detroit while the others have been playing with…The Cincinnati Suds? Shouldn’t these last five years have stirred up enough feelings of jealousy on one side and superiority on the other to make this reunion doomed to fail? The answer, thankfully, is no and there are two reasons it didn’t. One, their new album was released on Jack White’s label, Third Man Records. Although I haven’t read it anywhere, I like to think that JW, as a fan, encouraged the group to reunite and record while giving them all the financial and PR support they would need. Instead of being the guy who ripped apart a great band, he’s the fan and friend who’s making things right again. Furthermore, band interviews confirm that Fox harbors no ill will toward his now famous peers, a testament to their friendship since high school. The second reason they didn’t fail is because they just know how to make good music. They open the album with British invasion-infused rockers Saying Goodbye and Underestimator. Fox turns then turns soul singer on the catchy Better Off Without It and then they change it up again with the psychedelic Cave Drawings. Their 60’s influences are clear as they have been throughout the band’s career and the album continues, cycling through these retro styles. For me the highlight here is Go Tell Henry, a sexy, psychedelic romp with a killer guitar riff. And any review of The Greenhornes would be incomplete without a mention of their signature keyboard component, best exemplified on the closing track, the bluesy Hard To Find.

I had the awesome conundrum a few weeks ago of deciding between seeing these guys and Portugal. The Man (see #7 on this list) as they happened to be playing the same night. I chose the Greenhornes because they were playing the soon-to-be-defunct Berbati’s Pan and because I figured P.TM would be playing here again before too long. After seeing them, I’m more than satisfied with my choice. Their new songs sound great live and they’re clearly back and better than ever.

Next we crack the top half of this list with Mickey Mouse, The Goodbye Man and Number Five.