Post by thesoundmonitor on Jan 18, 2004 0:06:02 GMT -5
GIVE UP THE GHOST
We’re Down Til We’re Underground
(Equal Vision) EVR83
Raging forth from Boston - a city teeming with talented bands – comes hardcore five-piece Give Up the Ghost. Formerly known as American Nightmare (name changed due to a name clash), the band play sparse, bleak and angry music, overlaid by intelligent vocals. Well, they're actually more like screams, but they are intelligent nonetheless.
There are some very strong songs here. ‘Crush Of The Year’ does a great job of creating tension in the verses, and releasing it in a killer chorus, where singer Wes Eisold screams, "Just press stop! Take it out, turn it off, return it!". ‘We Killed It’ features another tug-o'war between the pent up angst of the verses and the cathartic reprise. ‘Since Always’ is another tight song, built around a piercing riff.
The album's coda, elaborately titled ‘And It's Sometimes Like It Will Never End’, is an instrumental of startling beauty, standing in stark relief to the industrial ugliness of the preceding tracks.
A quick word on the lyrics: It's great to see such thought being put into this often overlooked art form. Simultaneously sneering and despairing, they capture the spirit of the movement perfectly.
Overall, however, the album is let down by a degree of patchiness, with some very listenable tunes interspersed with some weaker tracks, and despite having two six-strings, the guitars seem to lack any real meat. One gets the feeling this band would be a sensational live act, but they have somehow failed to capture their true passion and energy in the recorded form. Still, it's well worth a listen, and, if you get half a chance, definitely go and see them live, where I'm sure they would knock you off your feet.
by Matt Harris
We’re Down Til We’re Underground
(Equal Vision) EVR83
Raging forth from Boston - a city teeming with talented bands – comes hardcore five-piece Give Up the Ghost. Formerly known as American Nightmare (name changed due to a name clash), the band play sparse, bleak and angry music, overlaid by intelligent vocals. Well, they're actually more like screams, but they are intelligent nonetheless.
There are some very strong songs here. ‘Crush Of The Year’ does a great job of creating tension in the verses, and releasing it in a killer chorus, where singer Wes Eisold screams, "Just press stop! Take it out, turn it off, return it!". ‘We Killed It’ features another tug-o'war between the pent up angst of the verses and the cathartic reprise. ‘Since Always’ is another tight song, built around a piercing riff.
The album's coda, elaborately titled ‘And It's Sometimes Like It Will Never End’, is an instrumental of startling beauty, standing in stark relief to the industrial ugliness of the preceding tracks.
A quick word on the lyrics: It's great to see such thought being put into this often overlooked art form. Simultaneously sneering and despairing, they capture the spirit of the movement perfectly.
Overall, however, the album is let down by a degree of patchiness, with some very listenable tunes interspersed with some weaker tracks, and despite having two six-strings, the guitars seem to lack any real meat. One gets the feeling this band would be a sensational live act, but they have somehow failed to capture their true passion and energy in the recorded form. Still, it's well worth a listen, and, if you get half a chance, definitely go and see them live, where I'm sure they would knock you off your feet.
by Matt Harris