happy ghosts
Reviewed by: Alastair Collins
Published: 23 September 2010
ep: it is
Listening to Happy Ghosts’ latest EP, It Is, leaves me strangely conflicted. The self proclaimed Indie-electro-pop duo have been plugging away solidly at their craft since 2004 and have released, somewhat surprisingly, ten releases in that time, including four albums. That’s not including the numerous re-releases and ‘extended’ releases they’ve unleashed as well. What is confusing is that, for a band who have been experiencing a very local, but obviously encouraging level of support from the music fans, there just seem to be a few key concepts that Happy Ghosts don’t quite grasp and it’s these things that are holding them back from breaking out of Adelaide and on to the national scene proper.
First off, I really like their music. I’m a huge fan of Massive Attack, Portishead and other artists of their ilk (the style once referred to as ‘trip-hop’), so Happy Ghosts can certainly count me as a fan eager to hear more.
Firstly, I don’t think that releasing ‘It Is’ as a four track EP was a great idea for these boys. As far as release structure goes; Singles contain one or two strong tracks with some filler, remixes or B-sides, EPs contain a selection of strong tracks to best advertise the band as a whole and LPs are opportunities to, not only release strong tracks, but explore some of the group’s versatility. It Is has some nice material, but is not strong enough purely from these four tracks to justify buying it. Similar bands, like Portishead, produce LPs that take the listener on a journey, lasting between three quarters of an hour right through to an hour and a half, but this EP barely scratches over the ten minute mark. By the time you can immerse yourself in to the music’s ample atmosphere, it’s over!
The recording of the albums is good, for a home job, but sounds distinctly ‘amateur’, I’m sorry to say. Particularly the guitar sounds. Far from tight, complementary equalization with the rest of the instruments, each element is muddy and very middle-heavy, uncompressed and uninteresting. I think it’s time for Happy Ghosts to seriously consider going in to an established studio to record, or at least hiring someone else to master their tracks to give them the gloss they’ll need to stand out from all the other ‘bedroom musicians’ out there.
I really want to drive home the fact that Happy Ghosts need to rethink the way they record and release their material as what they’re doing now isn’t doing it justice. These are good tracks, let there be no mistake, but they aren’t singles. While all the tracks would make wonderful album material, particularly 'Anyway', there isn’t anything to truly hook a listener in or make the purchase of the EP worth it, aside from supporting the band. Keep your ears open for these boys in future and perhaps delve a little in to their back catalog, but It Is just doesn’t cut it as a release in its own right.
