Despite conjuring the sound of a band who has crossed a sun-baked desert in a clapped out old touring van, you may be surprised to learn Grass actually hail from the concrete and steel landscape of Brooklyn NY.
Fresh Grass opens up with this sun-kissed, 70’s, blues-infused stoner style the band have carefully stitched together, the infectious chorus of ‘My Wall’, the opening track immediately takes up residence in your mind and your singing along right out of the gate.
The band likes to play with the phrase ‘Grass is Trash’ but the thick haze and lazy, heavy sounds eked out of Grass’s collective instruments to forge this album are matched with the far-reaching and powerful vocals, proving otherwise. ‘Black Clouds’ is the perfect example of this and an all-around textbook example on how to deliver a stoner/doom track.
As Fresh Grass progresses you feel the band would be best experienced in an intimate venue where you’d really be able to feel every riff and bass line that oozes from the band. There is of course a lot to be said some bands being best enjoyed in smaller venues and it’s my opinion that Grass are one of these select few.
Along with the lumbering riffs come solos in danger of blistering the paint from the very guitar they emanate from as Grass display more dimensions to their sound. My only negative feeling towards this is that I’m disappointed it’s only an EP release, the tracks on Fresh Grass hold their own to a degree that they would be well suited to a full-length release which proposes, to my mind at least, a sticky scenario. Either an upcoming full release needs to harness and build upon what this EP delivers so very well or these tracks would have been best suited waiting in the wings until said full release materialised.
Whichever you look at it, if you enjoy even a small amount of stoner rock and doom metal then you need to check out Fresh Grass and follow this band to what is sure to be a well-maintained catalog of music.
