Some bands become massive successes, sometimes instantly, while others toil for years and never build more than a smaller following. Green River Ordinance unfortunately falls into that second category.
The Texas band got together as teens at the turn of the century. Like so many kids, they had dreams of rock and roll stardom, and they honed their craft until they were able to record. They cut their first EP in a church basement, leading to opening-act gigs for bands in the Christian and Christian-adjacent music spaces.
I first learned about them when they appeared on “Good Day Atlanta” while they were on tour to promote their first full-length album, 2009’s “Out of My Hands.” That was a solid album with some terrific tunes on it, and the band followed it up with a couple of “regular” EPs, a Christmas EP, and an EP of cover tunes, although nothing the band recorded caught on nationwide.
Green River Ordinance turned to crowdfunding to raise funds for another new album, and the resulting project, 2012’s “Under Fire” is the band’s most complete effort and its masterwork. An appealing 15-track mix of rockers and big, arena-ready ballads, “Under Fire” should have found a bigger audience than it did.
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“Under Fire” kicks off with the driving “Dark Night,” with its four-on-the-floor rhythm and wall of harmonies.
Of course, a “New Day” follows a “Dark Night,” and in the mid-tempo rocker, lead singer Josh Jenkins sings, “I need a hallelujah.”
Another radio-friendly tune follows, and in “Heart of Me,” Jenkins sings about falling in love with a girl in a way that every red-blooded American male can identify with.
Ballads like “Resting Hour,” “Don’t Be Afraid,” “Lost in the World,” and “Healing Touch” speak of the encouraging power of love and devotion. The soaring songs share the theme of being there for the ones you love when they need you the most. “Resting Hour” includes a choir that sends the song into the stratosphere.
The centerpiece of the album is a sequence of two big ballads that reach for the rafters. “Love Laid Down” is another testament to the power of love. Knowing what I know about the guys in the band, they’re singing about love from a Christian perspective, but it’s easy for anyone to understand it.
“Home” stays true to its title, and anyone who’s had to travel extensively can identify with it easily. Whether it’s a 20-city tour or a business trip, it’s easy to feel what Jenkins is talking about when he sings “I’m going home / And I’m not looking back.”
“San Antone” and fan favorite “Dancing Shoes” suggested where the band was going next. The country flavors of those two tracks foreshadowed the direction that Green River Ordinance would take in a subsequent EP and its next album “Fifteen.” The band even rerecorded “Dancing Shoes” for the latter album.
“Under Fire” isn’t a perfect album by any stretch of the imagination. The title track takes too long to build in intensity, and “Crawling” sounds too generic to be memorable. “Heart of the Young” sounds as clichéd as its title. That’s not to say that they’re bad songs; they’re just easy to skip if you’re listening through.
Green River Ordinance’s new country-pop (not to be confused with pop-country) direction took a little getting used to, but “Fifteen,” named for the band’s 15th anniversary, included some killer songs, too.
After “Fifteen” and its subsequent tour — during which I finally got to see them live — Green River Ordinance went on a nearly decade-long hiatus. They reemerged with a new EP this year, entitled “For Old Times’ Sake,” and a pair of sold-out hometown shows. The sound of the new music reflects a group of men who are older and wiser, and the lyrics demonstrate the priorities that come with life change.
At the risk of sounding like a backhanded compliment or coming across as patronizing, “Under Fire” is middle-of-the-road in the best way. The band doesn’t rock too hard, and it barely ever goes too soft on this album. Several of the tracks off “Under Fire” live on my playlist that I listen to every week as I’m working.
The band is in fine form, and the album works as a cohesive whole. It’s just a shame that “Under Fire” didn’t get Green River Ordinance the notice it deserved.
Check out “Under Fire” in lossless Apple Music below or on Spotify.
