Three bands that perhaps belong aside one another, all introduced to me by my brother, Aaron, who is part of The Greener Grass Band actually. No bias here.
(no album cover sorry)
The Greener Grass Band is led by singer-songwriter Justin Gurnsey and their first EP, The Greener Grass Band, was just released September 12th, 2014 at the Firehouse Saloon in Rochester, NY. Fun concert!
Their album is six tracks, and is a mix of funk, jam band, reggae, jazz, neo-psychedelic rock. The French horn is an awesome addition to the mix, but overall I find the mixing to heavily favor the voice and make everything else sound a little distant. Much better live, even though the multiple horns over top of each other is bomb. If you're in the Rochester area go listen live or get their EP. Their website is here.
Rubblebucket is a band I've been following a bit for a while now, since they were The Rubblebucket Orchestra, and I've heard them live once too at Water Street Music Hall. Their previous albums/EP's have been a little more on the electro pop/new wavey side but I still love their funky, afrobeat, psychedelic pop sound that remains. The brass seems to take more of a back role lately as well, being blended into the mixing more to the point of losing to the synths. Such as goes the music industry when a band starts to make it big or become more popular. I don't necessarily miss their first Rubblebucket album as much as I do maybe the Omega La La (2011) era. Rubblebucket as a whole though is just fun to listen to and even better to see in concert. New York Times "Press Play" website has this entire album streaming here (scroll down until you reach it).
Phish is a band my brother loves and I have just never gotten into because they are too jam bandy for me (and represent a drug scene that I do not care for). Anyway, their latest album, Fuego, is fairly accessible and does showcase some individuality and a jazz influence I can get behind. I've listened to it more than a couple times and have enjoyed it. Phish to me is not as complex as everyone makes them out to be, has a strong piano rock groove and is full of "cute" little idiosyncrasies, lots of jamming and lead guitar solos. That being said, I'm not trying to downplay this album. If you enjoy a classic psychedelic rock album throwback, look no further. If you fall into the other generalized category (like me) than give this an open minded listen. There are a couple tracks on their SoundCloud, here. Otherwise find a copy yourself, there used to be a stream in NPR: First Listen, but the album has released and it has been taken down.
Enjoy!
