This is the third
release from the enigmatic Melbourne five-piece whose membership includes
three scriptwriters for Neighbours (one recently admitted to writing
Delta out of the cast; another is an ex-St. Kilda footballer).
This is the third
release from the enigmatic Melbourne five-piece whose membership includes
three scriptwriters for Neighbours (one recently admitted to writing
Delta out of the cast; another is an ex-St. Kilda footballer).
What is to be admired about Ghost Transmissions is the way it makes a fool of cynical expectations. Stunning opener ‘The Day Summer Fell’ comes on gently like Georgia Hubley warming to John Cale’s seed, ‘Speed and Intensity’ has a beautifully simple guitar melody giving way to succinct vocal harmonies and ‘Big Left’ feels shiftless as its beat is coupled with a subtle organ filling out a meandering arrangement.
Instrumental pop-rocker ‘Hanging Out’ is pleasantly anachronistic with handclaps and danceable guitar riff, ‘Ghost Girl’ is quietly redolent of Luna, while another listless instrumental, ‘Sioux City Falls’, lulls nicely if you allow it.
The production is coolly austere and psychedelic in a homespun way without adopting trickery in lieu of knowing pop substance. Though lyrically whimsical, Ghost Transmissions’ charm is its unhurried evocation of fictionalised past seasons. That, and its understated intensity, are both akin to Tom Scully’s broiling lust for Susan before divesting his chastity.
- Matthew Lobb