Review Summary: You'll find me where the sewers meet the sea.
The Greenery's Prosthetic Records debut Spit & Argue is ferocious, gritty, and hardcore punk at it's absolute wildest and craziest. Spit & Argue features 8 brand spanking new tracks and 2 re-recordings of tracks from their previous EP Wasted Days. What separates The Greenery from another run-of-the-mill hardcore punk outlet is there Southern take on the genre. The style can be compared to Every Time I Die almost without the clean singing and having a more established punk root. Southern riffs and southern groove bombard this album from start to finish making it sound chunkier and heavier. I, for one, am eager to see how this sound would translate into a live setting as this album is surely meant for live performances.
Right from the blistering beginning of the title track Spit and Argue is relentless and edgy, and The Greenery makes sure they shove it down your throat and make you swallow it. 2012 Packs showcases the band's party sound so to say. A track which is just about getting as ***faced as you can before the world ends. It's a fun track to sing along with and still retains that "edge." The Greenery knows how to shred and have a good time and knows how to write hooks and make them sound good.
Their frontman has quite the bark. His voice is nothing short of a raw shout which compliments the music extremely well. His lyrics also come into to play with the hooks written by other members. The intro of the album is one hook that I love hearing, "Every ***ing night, we were born to lose. Spit and argue!" Or the chorus in Hollow Bodies with him shouting, "We were all disciples, desperate to get back these darkest days!" It's pretty intense and would had to a live performance immensely. The band also has a backing vocalist, to be honest I'm not sure which member it is so I won't beat around the bush, however, this vocalist provides more of a low pitched growl and it works. Hearing both vocalists trade off is intense and you feel as if you're right in the middle of it.
The guitarists know what they're doing and take this band to new heights. Providing the typical amount of hardcore riffs, but they excel in providing southern-tinged riffs which couldn't fall more into place with this album. Again, 2012 Packs features these riffs at full momentum and never lets up. Snakes and Rats is fast full of hardcore punk riffs and makes sure they are in your face. This song also showcases the drummers ability at his fullest. He provides simple diddle beats and even has numerous blast beats. The drumming is practically flawless and he lets out all the tricks on Spit & Argue. The bass is buried under the guitars, but at a few spots you can hear a pretty quick bass line it's catchy as you would expect.
Spit & Argue does have it's flaws though. The length of the album is one. With only 10 songs and the longest track being 3:35 long. Another thing is repetitive nature of the song writing. While each track does have it's hooks some tracks do sound similar and it kind feels like you're listening to the same song twice, however, it's not too much of a problem. Drag Beneath and Highest suffer from the problem. However it will not kill the album, it didn't for me.
Spit & Argue isn't quite album of the year, but it will be replayed repeatedly for me. Three personal favorites for me are: Faceplant, which shows the punk roots come full circle. Tracker, a re-recorded song which sounds heavier and more full, it marks the band's sound of fusing hardcore punk with southern rock. Lastly, Crime Wave, which is the last song and ends in a bang, making it memorable beyond belief. The Greenery could be the next American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost or next Every Time I Die. Give them time and more experience and you won't be sorry.
