Greenland Is Melting – Where Were We

It took me at least a week of constant listening before I realized that a trio of songs on Gainesville, Florida folk outfit Greenland Is Melting’s latest effort, Where Were We, were likely based on AMC’s undead megahit The Walking Dead.  My lack of observation wasn’t for lack of audibility, but simply because I had become so engrossed in the tune’s rustic rural energy that I had yet to dive into the lyrical realm.  Only when I found myself singing along to descriptive passages like “grab your hammer grab your shovel, get your pick axe and your gun we’ve got walkers in the doorway and they’re tearing down our walls, out the backdoor, through the basement, through the woods and across that creek, don’t look back don’t stop don’t scream just run no matter what you” did I realize the band and I shared a love for zombie dramas.

But there’s so much more to Greenland Is Melting than just a mutual cinematic interest.

Where Were We encapsulates a modern meets bluegrass roots feel that steadies a teeter-totter of familiar sounds.  More traditional than the conventional melodies of Chuck Ragan, but richer still than the frantic minimalist conduct of Kemo Sabe, Greenland Is Melting hosts a weathered country sound backed by the likes of fiddles, banjos, and even some appearances by a nomadic accordion.  Those that take a nod from the aforementioned ode to the zombie apocalypse like “No Matter What You See,” plug away at an explosive punked up pace, and certainly play most heavily to the folk camp.  Songs like “Always,” “I Swear” and “Second Favourtie Bed” demonstrate the fun that can be had when some high-spirited country punks get together who also just happen to be natural musicians.

But Where Were We isn’t just all speedy indulgence, in fact, a good portion of it explores the middle ground that fleshes itself out with a potential reaching beyond it’s rural roots.  For instance, “No One’s Listening” plays out like a reflective down tempo acoustic piece owing its rich core to the baritone thumping of Will Dueease’s upright bass.  “Hogtown Creek” marks a high point for lyrical introspection, laying out hard hitting moments of self realization like “I’ve learned that Heaven is a word we use for what we never will attain” against a casually accepting array of wholehearted plucking.  These more serious moments admirably round out the band’s initial rowdiness.

While I may have initially been drawn to Greenland Is Melting’s apparent fascination with The Walking Dead, it was the band’s well rounded character that has made Where Were We a regular in my listening habits.  In fact if you step back and look at the album as a whole, those very zombie tracks explore emotions ranging from loneliness to abandonment, in effect contrasting grim imagery with warm themes of cherishing family in songs like “I Swear.”  Point being, even the oddest pairings fit naturally into a framework like only Greenland Is Melting can envision.  While the band may only be a couple album’s into their career, Where Were We establishes Greenland Is Melting as a powerful force in the folky landscape.