Graveyard, Hisingen Blues (2011)

 

By Jack Rafferty

I do not like Greta Van Fleet. I must begin this review in this way because I need to make a distinguishing point. Greta approaches their throwback 1970s sound in a way that is cough heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant’s vocals, to the point of being unforgivably derivative at times. Graveyard does the blissfully opposite. This album feels like a love letter to an era and collection of types of sound that revels in it, rather than cashes in on it. Perhaps I am being overly harsh to Greta in my admittedly flippant assessment of their approach, but I think it is appropriate in highlighting what Graveyard does so wonderfully right. It understands what to draw from, without simply becoming a chameleon, and by extension, a charlatan. 

With that out of the way, let us talk about how fucking fun Hisingen Blues is. Careening back and forth from blistering rock and roll jams to bluesy, moodier tracks that channel a bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Graveyard always feel completely at home in their sound, brimming with emotion and a love of what they are playing in every given moment. 

I think the most straightforward acclaim I can provide for this album is that I can’t count on my two hands for lack of fingers the amount of times I audibly exclaimed “fuck yes!” or got out of my chair to bob my head and sway my body in my own awkward fashion because the tunes just demanded it. This is the kind of music that makes you forget about the pile of thousands of types of bullshit worming around in your head for its whole runtime, and that’s reason enough to celebrate it. 

Another important note about what makes this album so great is the understanding they have as songwriters in the importance of pacing. Each track individually builds and crescendos or mellows at the most appropriate and satisfying moments, and the tracks in relation to one another also flow very well.

Listening to this album was my introduction to Graveyard, and so I am sure I am behind the curve when it comes to this group and the larger context/commentary surrounding them. That’s one of many wonderful things about music, however. I love the knowledge that, even if everyone stopped making music tomorrow, I’d still have these personally undiscovered treasure troves to seek out and bask in. Albums like Hisingen Blues remind me of that fact, and it slightly brightens my otherwise blackened disposition.