CD review: Green River Ordinance's 'Out of My Hands'

Friday, February 5, 2010

GREEN RIVER ORDINANCE

"Out of My Hands"

Kindred spirits: Matchbox Twenty, Collective Soul, the Fray.

Show: Wednesday at Jammin' Java with Sleeperstar and Brad Rhodes. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. http://www.jamminjava.com.

Green River Ordinance channels the catchy, adult-alternative rock that was prevalent on the radio in the mid-1990s. The Texas quintet's second album, "Out of My Hands," blends so seamlessly with such bands as Matchbox Twenty, Collective Soul and the Gin Blossoms that it sounds like a long-lost gem from that era.

Where those groups succeeded was in their accessible pop-rock hooks, and GRO delivers much of the same. The songs on this CD sound as if they were written for mainstream radio (or for television and movies). From the swelling emotions on the title track to the gently plucked ballad "Endlessly," GRO's sound is pleasant and familiar, if not distinctive.

GRO's first-person conversational love songs sound formulaic, such as the cliche-riddled "Learning" ("I'm still learning how to love you/You are the only one that's worth the fight") and the reassuring "Sleep It Off" ("Don't cry baby/We can work it all out"). The tunes are catchy and easy to listen to, but the lyrics are unimaginative.

-- Catherine P. Lewis