Ghost Dinner Band document their driving energetic concerts well on their latest album Live @ Harlow‘s Pub. From start to finish, this New Hampshire band unfurls exciting layers of electric guitars, haunted but high spirited vocals, and a loosely empowered rhythm section. The band has a distinct sound all their own. They’ve arrived at a rocking formula that includes visionary lyrics and haunted soundscapes and spiritual resilience in the face of harrowing encounters. And their guitars are very cool.
Recorded at a gig at Harlow’s Pub in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the band comes charging out of the gate, opening with “Scary Mother Mary .” A galloping guitar plays like an endless current of chords as the lead vocalist belts with raspy attitude and swagger. Right off the bat you know two things. They’re talented, and they’re never boring. Lead guitar lines haunt the soundscape with brisk, bristling nerve. Listeners can feel the jittery edge all the way through the tune. When this first track ends, you’ll eagerly wait the hard rocking pulse of the coming songs.
Ghost Dinner Band move more slowly into the low simmer of “Flaw.” The guitars on this play in a tight groove with the rhythm section to build a mountain of electric sound and emotion. Vocalist Kyle Webber applies his swaggering attitude with more story teller flair as he coolly unfolds his poetic lyrical song. His guttural anthem approach gets edgy support from a snappy guitar line with notes that set off sparks like a live wire on a wet pavement.
“Gotta Get A Witness” brings country shuffle and honky tonk guitar to a rocking place. The chicken picking guitar notes practically skip over the shuffling rhythm section as the lead guitar cries out its rustic enthusiasm. The tune is simply a fantastic combo of country styles and rocking attitude.
“Let Her Go, God Bless Her” is the epitome of cool. The listener gets a sense of a suave character carrying out a sly mission that carries a purpose on the spiritual level as well as one in the physical world. Another fine lead guitar phrase asserts itself here, like a strong personality making itself heard in a room full of willful spirits.
Flinty guitar picking marks the arrival of the travel beat pushiness of “Only A Shadow,” a bracing, guitar driven piece of menacing electric storm clouds. As with all Ghost Dinner Band songs on this live album, you get a sense of a powerful presence inside that tuft of electric guitar gristle and vocal heft. Personality is this band’s strong point. You cannot help but feel there’s something unusual about these musicians. Their sound is as distinct as early Black Sabbath and as urgent as early U2. You have to take your hat off to players and a singer who rock your world with exciting talent while offering you something you cannot get with just any other band. A haunted personality exists on the spiritual plain of this music, a ghost that has several scores to settle with the living before he can let his soul move on to a more restful place.
“Dr. Fingers” forces itself forward with bracing guitar and vocal swagger. After grabbing your attention with its brief steady climb, it kicks in with manic energy in its brisk drum work and bass nudges. Lead guitar eruptions skate around with unaffected power and the vocal has plenty of tough attitude. This song cleverly lures one in then switches attitude and pushes one around. It’s what rock and roll is all about; a few guys briskly rubbing their sounds together to come up with something solid that gives off a lot of sparks.
Ghost Dinner Band takes their sound to a cowboy rustic place on “Silver Strings From Heaven(Stripped @ The Bungalow).” With a touch of out on the range strumming, a chirpier vocal, and a western beat, the boys make you feel as at home as a front porch sing along. They make it on off beat sincerity here.
“Pixilated” is a sophisticated work, complete with suave, easeful, gliding intro, twitching rhythm guitar, compressed energy in the lead phrase, and a vocal that knocks down all that dare to cross its path. This singer puts things across with a badass reckoning. He’s not a threat. He just makes you feel the foreboding doom of not heeding his words of wisdom.
“Analog” moves along a twisty musical path with the guitars cutting their way forward with edgy persistence. They have a superheated but fresh take on Seattle grunge in this one’s guitars. A guttural lead vocal forces you to feel its presence. A brisk guitar workout makes those electrics howl their sound across the out on the range soundscape. Flashes of another influence surfaces briefly here, suggesting the band listened to Led Zeppelin’s Houses Of The Holy when they were growing up in their quiet New Hampshire neighborhoods. There’s that tightness of instruments when the band swaggers around the groove in tense unison. They have fun making their guitar lines play off each other, and that means the listener will have fun listening to it.
“40 Ounces Of Cough Syrup To Freedom” melodically flits around a confined rhythm guitar and that freedom from the groove gives it a nice open and loose feeling .You want to ride that guitar as much as the huge Harley in the advertisements. It challenges you to want to tame it like the wild stallion that needs to be broken. From there, the lead vocal, eerily reminiscent of Syd Barrett, opens up like a parachute over the chorus, a fulsome colorful show that makes you feel its message while pulling you closer into the music.
The Ghost Dinner Band close out this fine live album with an acoustic guitar and mandolin down tempo caper they call “Way Up Yonder(Stripped @ The Bungalow).” They pull off the feat of putting their dark, foreboding sound into this pared down piece, and they ride it well. They make you want to sing along while keeping you at bay wondering if they’re suddenly going to go back into a darker, wilder place.
Ghost Dinner Band have spun a fine document of the manic energy they’ve become known for in their live shows. It’s a must have for their fans as well as a great introduction to a new fan who hasn’t seen them live yet. Bravo.
www.ghostdinnerband.com
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