It’s kind of annoying being in Australia sometimes. Not for the country itself, it’s actually brilliant here. Just…you know?
Ghost Beach brought out Blonde in early March and despite being very interested to hear what they had to contribute to the music community, it wasn’t, and still isn’t available in Australia. Not on Spotify, not on iTunes, not in stores. Well I managed to track down an online stream of the album [FOUND HERE] and it’s about time we tried to peg down the band that boasts way too many made-up genres.
First of all, like many other artists, Ghost Beach’s debut LP has a few scattered oldies. From 2012, reworked versions of Miracle, Too Young and Empty Streets act as filler between some of the fresher and more polished tracks. These were all good tracks in their own right back in 2012, yet this approach tends to have a draining affect on the excitement around any new release in my eyes.
Where this album shines is the use of digital affects, used not to build the song as a whole but just enough to tweak the direction of the track and throw in some really pleasant surprises. For example, one of my favorite spots was Without You. For the most part it’s like Gary Numan and Bob Marley are duking it out in an New-Wave VS Reggae duet until they just hi-jack everything on the word “Baby” for an epic electronic breakdown.
Other newbies like the INXS channeling, Every Time We Touch as well as Been There Before and Close Enough (feat. Noosa) tow the line between modern pop, retro-pop and every other genre. It’s electronic, it’s heavy, it’s reggae and indie; it’s all those made up genres that I’ve seen them call themselves on their Facebook page. Overall, they’ve managed to produce some interesting twists in the current catalogue that are truly golden, turning Blonde into the pop but not so pop classic that it probably should be someday.
Ghost Beach are an acquired taste, and I think up until now they have done some good things, but not great things. Blonde is a crucial step to help borderline fans refine their palate and really start to see how good these guys are.
*****
3.5/5
