Graham Reid | | <1 min read
Ghost Wave: On a Breeze
With some of the momentum of their labelmates the Clean,
urgent droning vocals and pure psychedelic guitar jangle, this debut
EP by the Auckland-based three-piece touches a lot of familiar places
– you could add JPSE and some of the Manchester guitar bands to
those reference points – but they do it with such economy and style
it comes off as joyous . . . and the sound of a band on a mission.
The first single from this peppy seven-song collection is the shimmering, unashamedly poppy Sunsetter which lifts its sights from shoe-gazing into a summery swirl of guitars and airy vocals, and the longest piece here – at just four minutes – is the darker psyched-out trip of Mood Ring which sounds closer to Krautrock of the Seventies.
They aren't afraid to
pull themselves back for Shade (the Clean/David Kilgour with
surf guitar), then let fly with the quasi-industrial attack of the
thrilling Hippy at the end which is urgent rock and – like
everything here – doesn't outstay its welcome.
Tight, smart and more than just the sum of their influences, this is a band with an impressive and wide-ranging debut which more than just hints at the better which will undoubtedly come.
From the trippy opener Sounds, they delivers on all fronts.
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