Review: ‘Songs for People’ has something for everyone
Why The Greens out of Morgantown aren’t already a household name is beyond me. Yes, they’re a little schizophrenic, incorporating everything from good ol’ bluegrass undertones to 60s hippie rock and a little 90s grunge. But what The Greens lack in consistency they certainly make up for in substance.
The trio (yes, a sound this big comes from three dudes) consisting of Andrew Tuck on guitar and lead vocals, Ben Sweeney on bass and vocals and Nathan Yoke on drums, percussion and vocals, has been kicking it around West Virginia and surrounding areas for the better part of a decade in an effort to get audiences off their feet and grooving.
The band’s most recent effort, an album titled appropriately, “Songs for People,” is an homage to the every man, with tunes like the heavy “Power Forward,” about a man who can’t seem to catch a break but always manages to find his way back to his beer and the Pearl Jam-esque “Flesh Light,” a song about the trials and tribulations found along the road of life — and trying to keep your chin up along the way.
“Songs for People” also takes full advantage of West Virginia as a backdrop for these stories about characters we probably all know.
Tuck has a bluesy voice that is playful, sweet and grungy at the same time, at times reminiscent of Eric Burdon of War and The Animals fame (yeah, I’m old — don’t judge), other times he channels Tom Waits and every once in a while a little Zack de la Rocha sneaks in.
When Sweeney and Yoke add their magic, something truly beautiful happens: music that makes you feel good.
And who doesn’t need a little “feel-good” music in their lives? In essence, The Greens are a little slice of heaven and, to borrow a quote from one of my favorite tunes on the CD, “Everything in heaven is within ya, even if you live in West Virginia.”