Customer Reviews

Sewed Soles

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The Greenhornes have been at it for a number of years, but had a break-out year in 2005 when they were the opener for most of the White Stripes year-long tour of the "Get Behind Me" tour. All of the sudden, the Greenhornes were written up in Rolling Stone and other rags, and so the label decided to issue this overview.

"Sewed Holes" (19 tracks, 68 min.) is a very generous serving of the Greenhornes' output to date. This is not a "best of", but an introduction of the Greenhornes' sound, and as such this compilation works great. Rightfully, there are 6 tracks from "Dual Mono", their best album so far, with great tracks like the CD opener "It's Not Real" and the mellow "Too Much Sorrow". The "Guns For You" album gets 5 tracks, including the excellent "I've Been Down" and "The End of the Night". Last year's excellent "East Grand Boulevard" EP gets 2 tracks, including the sublime "Shelter From Your Arms", which is my fave song of theirs.

As good as this compilation is, it still doesn't serve justice to how good the Greenhornes are live in concert. And can I make a shout-out to my town Cincinnati, where the Greenhornes are based. I've seen them in concert a number of times, but the best ever was when they opened for the White Stripes at Music Hall, what a sweet home-coming that was! In all, "Sewed Holes" is highly recommended if you are curious about the Greenhornes.

This is a good collection of songs spanning all of the Greenhornes releases. They are a great band with a 60's British Invasion/early Stones/garage rock sound. Some of the high points on the album are an alternate version of Shadow of Grief (produced by Jack White), The End of the Night, It's Not Real, Good Times and Shelter of Your Arms. The only criticism of the album is they selected some odd choices from their albums. Notably missing is High Time Baby from "The Greenhornes" and Shine Like the Sun from "East Grand Blues". The track order is also a little odd in my opinion, even though it still flows nicely. Overall, this is a good starting point to get into the Greenhornes but you are better served to just get their full albums...they are all great.

I was introduced to the Greenhornes by a drummer friend of mine who I jam with occasionally. He had recently been on tour in Europe, and apparently caught wind of this group while overseas. He let me take a listen to a few songs off of this very CD. I can't remember which of the other songs he let me listen to, but I was particularly impressed with "There is a Light". I eventually got around to buying the CD for myself. At first, I was a little dissapointed with the entire product, but after listening to it many times, I've come to really love this CD for what it is - a well-put together collection of great songs.

I'd recommend it for fans of the White Stripes or the Buzzcocks. Really good stuff. There's not a single dud on this CD.

For those who are new fans of The Greenhornes, this album is the excellent introduction to their music, along with buying ALL of their albums!! It's a MUST-HAVE in your music collection!