The Ghost Riders In The Sky “The Death Of Everything New”

We stumbled, almost literally, across Ghost Riders In the Sky at this year’s 2000 Trees Festival. It was originally just the name that attracted us as it had us thinking about The Doors. However, as soon as we heard them playing we were captured by them. They just had something different about them. Their Facebook page says that they’re influenced by ‘anything that makes the hairs on the back of your next stand up’ which is pretty apt as that’s what they did to us. This is actually an album they released a while ago but we were desperate to hear some of their recorded material.

The factors that attracted us to the band are certainly in evidence on first track “The Trip”. It’s a melodic indie rock number with a good use of twin vocals. The thing we really like about the band is that they just have an ‘edge’. So, whilst “Eye Of The Day” is essentially an indie ‘ballad’, it has a sense of drama and melancholy about it. It then works in total contrast to “What Could Be”, a loud and brash rock n roller with a catchy chorus that could easily make it a commercial hit.

We’re then thrown off on another tangent with the acoustic base, Americana/folk sound of “A Haunting”, a song which really emphasis the dual vocals. It actually reminds us of the US band “Shovels And Ropes”. It’s a similar theme with “Buried Song” but, as the title suggests, this has a far more gothic feel to it.

They’re back to a more enchanting and dreamy sound on songs like “A Love At Any Rate” and “Dark Love”. Those songs are balanced out against harder songs like “Now I See” which, with it’s swirling sound reminds us of a more subdued long forgotten US band called The Nymphs. Along with songs like “Wastelands” they give a clear indication of why they proved to be such an engaging live band.

This album confirms Ghost Riders In The Sky as a band who are equally as capable in the studio as they are live. They’re a band who aren’t annoyingly ‘alternative’, but instead have an edge which makes them interesting and engaging. We understand their sound has developed a lot since this release. If it’s continued to improve then we are in for a real treat with their next release!