F Good Greene

After catching Broken Flowers last night on DVD, I do believe the Greenhornes have found their true milieu. By all accounts they're wonderful fun to watch, and hopelessly derivative to boot. Definitely what you'd call a guilty pleasure, but one that holds infinite charms for those among us that thought the Rolling Stones sold out after their first two albums.

The early tunes that I had found had made them sound very urgent and garage-tastic. I was even set to see them once, supporting Holly Golightly at the Mercury Lounge, before a roommate of the hour had a weird panic attack, and in any case the show was sold out. Which is my way of saying that I sort of thought that maybe it would be fun to see them but (wisely, it turned out) decided not to commit.

It's a decision that I'm regretting a little more after hearing them on the sountrack, both with Holly and without. It's about woozy enough to nestle on a disc next to some jazzzzz, but immediate enough to send you down the record shop with a jones.

Or, to put it another way, Bill Murray (never, "Bill" or "Mr. Murray", just "Bill Murray", if you're the Wu-Tang) suits the music, walking the fine line between charming and confused. But there is no line between charming and confused!, sez you. Maybe not, but there's definitely a disputed grey area, like there used to be in the sand between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Whatever, there's quite a lot of work goes into appearing so nonchalant and hip to everything, and then being all confused by a marshmallow man or a punch in the face or whatever.

The Greenhornes, anyway, are the band for that conundrum.

The Greenhornes - "At Night"
Purchase "East Grand Blues" here. It's a "grower".

(Postscript, of sorts, unearthed during the googling process. Gari N. Corp's Wu-Name is "Flailing Fanatical Killer". True that.