Colleen Green and I both lived in Boston, Massachusetts during the early part of this century. My
Brain Hurts and Milo Goes to College were listened to. Colleen fronted a pop-punk band whose
drummer suffered from what must have been a form of narcolepsy. Eventually, she left town for
points west. Not long afterward, I heard she'd released a homemade tape called Milo Goes to
Compton. She sent me a copy, and I was floored: Her Ramones-driven songwriting hadn't lost a
step, and in the process of going solo she'd whittled away most of the genre trappings. What
remained were sparse electric guitar melodies, a tiny drum machine, and Green's gorgeous voice.
n 2010, Green arrived at a Brooklyn loft show armed with cassettes and CD-Rs of what would
later evolve into the Green One 7” EP, then titled 4 Loko 2 Kayla. A couple of years and another
perfect EP—2011's CUJO—later, and she’s ready to release Sock it to Me, her debut LP for Hardly
Art. What used to sound sparse out of necessity has been honed into intentional, Young Marble
Giants –like austerity focused on giving Green's voice the room it demands. The constant presence
of time-tested four-chord progressions and her faithful drum machine keep Sock it to Me
grounded in pure pop, but the breathy, emotive vocals have taken an enormous leap forward,
evoking all-time heroes such as Rose Melberg and Tina Weymouth.
Green has been known to perform a cover of The Descendents' "Good Good Things" so slow and
intense that it's almost uncomfortable. Being so aloof and laid-back that it exposes the personal,
honest sweetness in a song like that is Green's M.O. in a nutshell. Colleen Green encapsulates the
best parts of the Northeast and the West Coast. Colleen Green always wears sunglasses onstage.
Colleen Green is long hair and getting high. I listened once. I will listen forever. Sock it to me.
-Joe Benardi
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