Ghostkeeper & the Children of the Great Northern Muskeg
I honestly didn’t get this album the first few times through, and now I have no idea how that could have happened. The hooks, delightful little tunes lapsing into growly guitar, it’s all spot on. Maybe I was just having a dopey week – it does happen, you know.
This reminds me an awful lot of a less strident version of Ravens & Chimes’ brilliant Reichenbach Falls last year, albeit without the ringing piano. The guitar rhythms are slightly awkward, the whole presentation slipping from the melodic to the vaguely off key and abrupt, and then backagain without much warning.
It’s almost like they’re a band that could write a perfect pop song if they wanted, but they just chose to baffle everyone by smuggling it into their lives under the disguise of an album of discordant indie. It shouldn’t take long to grow on you, but it may start quite low on your radar. First time through it just didn’t sound very good, but once I’d separated the sound from the standard difficult indie guitar album and the hooks from the standard radio pop and started to understand quite how brilliantly the two are put together then it really started to climb swiftly in my affections until suddenly I realised that I’d decided that it really is superb.
And what do they do once the growl of the guitar and the slide of the music threatens to get a little much? They slip in a gorgeous splash of drummer Sarah Houle’s gorgeous vocals or breezy harmonies, just to set you neatly back off balance once again. It’s excellent; Mrs. Toad will hate it, but I think it’s great!
Ghostkeeper – Cruisin’ the Chev
Ghostkeeper – Afternoon Girl
this is the perfect example of why I love this site. even in amongst all the stuff I don’t like, you always come up with a little gem that I do.
Well I think our respective music tastes are quite different really, for the most part, just that they collide quite heavily in the middle with the likes of Cave, TRAiNS, Wave Pictures and so on. Glad you like this though, because I think it’s ace.
I’m having the same first-listen experience as you describe above, Matthew.
I found myself tuning out while the records played and was astonished to find I was actually paying attention to work instead of listening.
I did notice a rather luxuriant dollop of the Pixies in the second track though.
Hey, maybe it will grab me later as it did for you…
Honestly, give it a couple of goes. It’s excellent. What you’ll probably find is that you’ll play it through a couple of times, not notice anything much, and then listen to it in a week and realise you know every song.
i agree – our tastes differ. that’s good though – means there’s more to discuss and argue about. :O)