Greta Van Fleet - From the FIres

Greta Van Fleet
From the Fires
2017
Spotify

I've long been heralding the death of Rock and Roll music as we get deeper into 2017 because everything in the genre has felt so stale and so played out. Rock has been a wasteland recently of folk, the occasional blues jam and a smattering of successful bands. It makes the bands that actually dig into it and want to make it feel alive again all the more important and one of those bands is Greta Van Fleet. The three Kiszka brothers and a drummer make up this band who sound like a total throwback to the days of Zepeplin and the Stones. Now, I realize how boring this sounds at first glance because how many fucking bands have tried to sound like Zeppelin over the years? However From the Fires feels more inspired and more authentic than anything rock and roll has put out in a very long time. The album is actually a double EP the eight tracks filled with rich bass lines and rocking guitar riffs. The Michigan boys have this really wild sense to them but without forcing down your throat. They feel like the guys you want to party with who just happen to be awesome musicians as well. The thing about this band is instead of trying to re-create the past they allow it to flow through them, to influence their music but not define it. That is when all the best art is made when it feels like it comes straight from your soul rather than what is happening right now or what the public wanted to hear. I'm sure they could take steps to sound less like Led Zeppelin but that would actually make them feel less themselves and less invested in this style of music.

One of the consolations that you will have to make however is the sound doesn't really shift at all on the record. For the eight tracks the band stay pretty tight in their lane creating a space that is solely for them. The albums closer "Black Smoke Rising" is one of the best tracks here and one of Josh Kiszka's best vocal performances. The album begs for some variety especially in the later tracks but it just doesn't feel like Greta Van Fleet have it in the tank for a full album release. That does not however mean they never will, there are pieces of this band that are so fantastic and so promising that you can't help but get excited for their future. From the Fires might be good but I have a feeling whatever comes next is what is really going to blow us away. We will just have to wait and see.

7.5 out of 10