Holiday Ghosts “West Bay Playroom”

Holiday Ghosts hail from Falmouth, which may not be the most rock n roll town in the world. But it is a gorgeous part of the country and one that, for us, brings images of good, care free times and summer sun. That coupled with a sound that has been described as “joyously ramshackle indie pop” meant we were keen to hear this release.

Given first song “Low Flying Bird” comes in at a precise 1 minute 30 seconds, you can forget about Holiday Ghosts coming up with some sort of overblown Radiohead esque epics (thank god!). Instead, tracks like “Thinking Of You” and “Stuck Here” provide you with some simple, but oh so good, surf rock/pop. There’s just an honest, almost innocent, feel to “Slipstream” which leaves you with a feeling off joy. You can almost feel the sun on your back.

They still throw in the odd curve ball just to keep you on your toes. There’s an almost country/rockabilly feel to “B.S. Porsche”, with a classic twang sound to the guitar. That’s taken a little bit further with “Booksmart” that’s a western flavoured surf pop song which should surely one day end up on a Tarantino soundtrack. Whilst “The Dodger” has a sixties feel that kind of recalls The Doors at their most mellow.  The other thing that we really love about Holiday Ghosts is the way they switch between male and female lead vocals. It helps to give a wider sense of character to the songs.

There’s definitely a ‘retro’ feel to the songs on the album, but it’s not dated. “Take Heed” and “Human Race” have the kind of retro rock feel that alternative music have really been plugging when released by the likes of Courtney Barnett and Father John Misty.

Is it wrong to really rate an album because of it’s simplicity? We hope not, because that’s what really appeals about this release. It’s the sound of really good songs being allowed to shine rather than being drowned in either musicianship or production. It’s the kind of album that makes us wish we could just grow our hair, surf and hang out on the beach. Now, who doesn’t want to hear music that makes you feel like that?!?!