Greenland is Melting struck my fancy because it has an interesting name, said he who shall remain nameless, as he gets far too much credit as it is for feeding me good music. Well, the same thing happened to me. I got this CD in the mail with a nice handwritten note (that always does sway me, I have to admit.) I clicked on the cute name, not knowing at all what to expect, and out popped the most folk-ish, bluegrass-ish, country twanged folk I’ve heard in ages. And I loved it from the start. I sat back and enjoyed it. But as the album progresses it starts turning into almost something else, before coming around that corner once again, with ”Jaundiced Eye” bringing the whole thing back to its roots in the end. All in all, the trip Greenland is Melting takes you on in Our Hearts are Gold, Our Grass is Blue is a bittersweet romp through heartbreak and friendship and old time stories about just regular life and death and what lies beyond it all.

Songs like “No More Sorry Songs,” “The Kitchen Song,” and “From City To Town” really show off this trios’ harmonies and the trademark way their voices slide in and out of the words of everyday lyrics. Lyrics like: “I swear I’m sick of sorry songs and sobbin on the phone and guitars can only distract you from yourself for so long.” (from “No More Sorry Songs”) But by the time you get to the middle of the album it starts to go all indie-country, in a nice way. “No One Wants To Die” still has plenty of bluegrass in it. But track eight, “Already Gone” is what totally sold me on just how versatile this band really is.

Greenland is Melting trades off lead singers, they don’t identify anywhere that I could find who sings what. Karl Seltzer, Will Dueease, and Shaun Pereira make up this band and even thought there’s a real difference in their voices, they really make it work without trying to sound like one another. I love that. It echos in their music as well. The banjo and guitar are often at odds with one another. There’s just no attempt to clean up all the sharp edges; it’s the vocals that often carry the songs. There’s no noodling around here, it’s plain and simple music in it’s most honest form. There’s no guitar solos, no long harmonica intros even though the harmonica playing is top notch. I find myself turning to this record at the end of long days when I’m just too tired to deal with much. And that’s not to say that this music is simple-minded or unskilled, don’t get me wrong. On the contrary, I find it to be the kind of music that makes the most sense to me, to the music of my own growing up years, to the songs we sang in our family. So in that sense, it’s a sort of comforting album. And Our Hearts  are Gold, Our Grass is Blue has a cool version of the old folk song “Wayfaring Stranger” on it. Don’t miss that, my dear readers, xoxo

go to their Bandcamp page and download the whole darn album for free!
Tracklisting
1. From City to Town
2. No More Sorry Songs
3. No More Apologies
4. The Kitchen Song
5. Everyone Wants to Go to Heaven, But
6. No One Wants to Die
7. Hotel Floors
8. Long Sad Story
9. Jaundiced Eye
10. Wayfaring Stranger
11. Blood on the Banjo

Go See Them!
Oct 2 2009 8:00P The Atlantic w/ Jon Gaunt, Me & the Devil and Coffee Project Gainesville, Florida
Oct 3 2009 8:00P Coolifornia w/ Jon Gaunt, Me and the Devil Tallahassee, Florida
Oct 20 2009 8:00P Common Grounds Gainesville, Florida
Nov 6 2009 8:00P Wonderroot w/ Jason C. Waller Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 7 2009 8:00P Sweet Melissa’s Savannah, Georgia
Nov 14 2009 8:00P Shantytown Pub w/ Little High Little Low Jacksonville, Florida