I Am Ghost - Those We Leave Behind

  by Kelly Smith

published: 5 / 10 / 2008

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Review

A creepy woman’s voice whispers “it’s the making of our story” in the 45 second intro to 'Those We Leave Behind'. “Even though these lives have ended, their memory will carry on... A beautiful nightmare will begin”. It’s a bit theatrical, but I’m kind of intrigued. Anyone who puts this much effort into an attempt at twisted poetry to begin an album must be fun to listen to, right? Well, kind of right, yeah. It might be years since this kind of music was fresh in the slightest, but I Am Ghost are giving it their all. Without a trace of irony, they’ve thrown themselves into what they describe as ‘dark rock’, but what we all knowingly look at each other and recognise as sort of metallic-emo. Whatever they’re calling it, ‘Don’t Wake Up’ is a brilliant example of it. It’s fast and punchy and mixes screamo with melody to make what could easily be passable as pop music. The song titles on 'Those We Leave Behind' are sombre to say the least. ‘Bone Garden’, ‘Rock n’ Roll High School Murder’, ‘Buried Way Too Shallow’, ‘Burn The Bodies To The Ground’... You’re troubled. I get it. Do you do any songs about rainbows ? No. But even though they want these songs to reduce the masses to quivering, vampiric wrecks, it doesn’t work, because the songs sound good. They have great pace, and amazing vocals. They’re not breaking any boundaries, and they’re nowhere near as horrific as they want to be. They write upbeat tunes, despite endless gloom and attempted mystery, and although they could do with developing their style (just so I can actually tell when one song finished and another starts) I did really like several tracks from this album. I am Ghost think they are the darkest kids ever to come out of California. They swear a lot, they’re not afraid of death, they artfully style their hair so you know they’re alternative, they keep Rimmel in business solely from eyeliner purchases. They are hilariously named Steve, Justin, Ronnie, Chad, and t3.8666. No, that’s not a typo. T3.8666 is their guitarist’s name. Are they trying too hard? Maybe. Is anybody really THAT gothic anymore? Maybe not. But if you like your music faux-sinister, camp and melodramatic, I’d easily recommend I Am Ghost.

Track Listing:-

1 Intro: We Dance With Monsters
2 Don't Wake Up
3 Those We Leave Behind
4 Buried Way Too Shallow
5 Bone Garden
6 Saddest Story Never Told
7 Smile Of A Jesus Freak
8 So, I Guess This Is Goodbye
9 Interlude: Remember This Face, Baby
10 Burn The Bodies To The Ground
11 Rock N' Roll High School Murder
12 Make Me Believe This Is Real
13 They Always Come Back
14 Set Me Free

Label Links:-

http://epitaph.com/
https://www.facebook.com/epitaphrecord
http://epitaphrecords.tumblr.com/
http://www.kingsroadmerch.com/epitaph-
https://twitter.com/epitaphrecords
https://www.youtube.com/epitaph