At first listen Washington DC’s Jukebox the Ghost is a simple pop band comprised of piano, guitar and drums. They deliver a collection of palm muted guitar, backbeats and vocal hooks embellished with piano that reminds the listener of a Charlie Brown Holiday Special. Discussing only this, however, would cut the band way too short.
It is true that Let Live and Let Ghosts starts out with the happy yet agitated pop songs. “Good Day” is light in its bridge, driving in its verse and repetitious in its chorus. The second track, “Hold It In” is deliberately clumsy with traces of panic in each of the member’s instruments. At times the album sounds like a piano lesson and other times a powerful pop band. “Under My Skin” adds in some great vocal harmonies with a chorus that crescendos, dies and then suddenly explodes into a compelling rock movement. Occasionally, it is so full it conjures up images of Queen.
The second half of the album is strikingly different than the first. The songs bleed into one another making not multiple songs but one transcending musical production. The topics are a bit darker and the music more matured. With all the dynamic transitions and shifts in music style it sounds like a musical. For example, “Victoria” starts out with an almost Gershwin style, ragtime piano solo and then jumps into a pounding rock and roll song. There are some ballads here too. “My Heart’s the Same” features mostly vocals and piano moving the song. It earns the band the Ben Folds Five comparisons. The album brilliantly then crashes into “Lighting Myself On Fire” so quick it is hard to realize that this a new song. The album concludes in an apocalyptic theme with the combination of “Where Are All The Scientists Now?” and “A Matter of Time”. It is the most mid-tempo part of the album and its vocal harmonies are strangely relaxing.
Bands like Jukebox the Ghost are rare. You can tell the band put a lot of effort into Let Live and Let Ghosts. The band is complicated, grandiose and still a lot of fun. With all of the abrupt, contrasting transitions the band can sometimes be exhausting and it would be nice to hear more harmonies and choruses to hum too. It is hard to criticize such a capable band, however.
Genre: Indie/Pop
RIYL: Ben Folds, Dismemberment Plan, Travis Morrison
Label: The Rebel Group
Static To The Heart
