So why is The Greenhornes’ Dual Mono on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
When listening to The Greenhornes, it gets me to thinking about garage rock music. On the softer-sounding side, there are great bands like Allah-Las (see: their self-titled Allah-Las album is #764 of the best 1,000 albums ever) and then on the more aggressive or garage punk side, there’s a slew of albums that I’ve already covered on the best 1k albums project, ranging from the Gore Gore Girls’ Get the Gore(#946) to The Black Keys’ El Camino (#785).
I’ve always kind of crudely translated “garage” music as music that has a relatively minimalist 1960s-esque sound and overall sounds good when played in a garage, using more or less a “you know it when you hear it” approach. But heading over to our good friends at Wikipedia, here’s the more refined definition of garage rock:
Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or ‘60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is characterized by basic chord structures played on electric guitars and other instruments, sometimes distorted through a fuzzbox, as well as often unsophisticated and occasionally aggressive lyrics and delivery. Its name derives from the perception that groups were often made up of young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage, although many were professional.
Another way to convey garage rock is to just throw on Dual Mono, which is garage rock through and through. I dig the epic-sounding and ringing opening chords of “Satisfy My Mind,” and note that it (and the album as a whole) has a 1960-ish vibe, though it was recorded in 2002.
“There Is An End” has a softer approach and reminds me a bit of Allah-Las, though it features the pretty vocals of Holly Golightly (the “real” one, who in fact was named after the character from Breakfast at Tiffany’s).
“It Returns” has a nice revved up and ever so slightly grungy vibe to it that very much reminds me of Graham Day & The Gaolers in a great kind of way. That is to say: this one rocks:
Some stats & info about The Greenhornes – Dual Mono
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Garage Rock Revival, Indie Rock, Garage Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Dual Mono released? 2002
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #604 out of 1,000
The Greenhornes’ Dual Mono on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Greenhornes’ Dual Mono that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
He told you he loved you, well that’s just a lie. I don’t need possession to satisfy my mind.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.