Album Review: Green River Ordinance’s ‘Fifteen’

Green River Ordinance’s latest album Fifteen includes 11 self-penned tracks that urge the listener to cherish life and those around them. The quintet has done exactly this having formed 15 years ago as teenagers. Several albums later, Green River Ordinance continue to share lessons in life and love. The band wrote the majority of Fifteen in a cabin on Caney Fork River where they’d previously written their 2013 EP Chasing Down the Wind.

“That cabin is a sacred place for us,” frontman Josh Jenkins says in a press release. “When you’re out there and your phone doesn’t work and you can just jump in the river and relax — that environment really affects the things you want to write and sing about.”

The album’s first track “Keep Your Cool” includes ethereal organ, wavering harmonica and a striking drum beat while the narrator struggles to stay calm through adversity. “Life’s too short, don’t let it hold you down/ Gotta lose before you learn how to win,” Green River Ordinance advise.

Next track, the banjo heavy barn burner “Red Fire Night,” raises the heat and is a country infused track about enjoying life by spending time with friends and celebrating outside at a bonfire with plenty of whiskey and wine.
“There are a lot of things that can bring you joy,” multi-instrumentalist Jamey Ice explains. “You can watch Netflix for 20 hours and that can be fun. But really experiencing life, those good moments with friends and family — that’s what brings the deeper joy.”

Throughout the entirety of Fifteen, Green River Ordinance’s harmonies are spot on whether it’s the gritty and rollicking “Maybe It’s Time (Gravity)” or the sweeping “Simple Life” alongside soaring pedal steel and piano accompaniment. “You, Me & the Sea” calms with vivid imagery of the sea and soothing musical accompaniment. Fittingly, it’s a song that stresses the importance of slowing down in life and living in the moment. Meanwhile, “Always Love Her” and “Endlessly” shows the band’s sensitive side and their ode to love.

The album showcases Green River Ordinance’s pop sensibilities and rock influences alongside vivid country storytelling. Where “Only God Knows” likens itself to a modern day spiritual, “Life In the Wind” embodies more folk reverence with acoustic guitar and pedal steel. “Gotta roll where there’s life in the wind… You only get one life to live and it’s too damn short to be safe with it,” they sing, advising that it’s never too late to take a chance.

A standout album of 11 all encompassing songs, Fifteen closes with the beautifully honest “Keep My Heart Open.” The five-minute ballad is the most vulnerable song on the release as the narrator pleads to keep his heart open. It’s a lesson we all can take home and this is exactly what Green River Ordinance intended.

“It’s not about us, and it’s not about the music — it’s about how the music enhances their lives,” Ice explains. “If anybody can listen to the record and know that they can experience life through this record, and hopefully have a better perspective on what matters and what doesn’t — at the end of the day, that’s the biggest thing that we could hope for.”

Green River Ordinance accomplish this and so much more on Fifteen. A band for fifteen years, they continue to teach listeners the importance of long lasting relationships.