Tag Archives: Van Ghost

Album Review: Van Ghost – The Ghost Unit

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Van Ghost

photo courtesy of Van Ghost

Van Ghost – The Ghost Unit

The Backstory

Van Ghost

photo courtesy of Van Ghost

I introduced you to Van Ghost during my first days publishing this Blog. My review of the band’s appearance at the Newburyport Music Festival and of the band’s last CD, The Domino Effect, was entry number two of the nine-part “Road Back to Music Journalism” series with which I kicked off Geoff Wilbur’s Music Blog. If the world was fair, that would have been the album to launch Van Ghost on a headlining arena tour. But the world isn’t fair, and that’s why I’m able to introduce you to so much great music you may not have heard before. So now I’ll walk you through this exceptional band’s new album.

Van Ghost

photo courtesy of Van Ghost

Bandleader Michael Harrison Berg discusses the recording of this album a year and a half ago in a Vermont studio here on the band’s website. Such an assembly of talent, I want to name them. In addition to Berg on vocals and acoustic guitar, on The Ghost Unit, Van Ghost comprised Jennifer Hartswick (vocals, trumpet), Natalie Cressman (vocals, trombone), Nick Cassarino (vocals, electric guitar), Chris Chew (bass), Dominic Lalli (saxaphone), Grant Tye (electric guitar), Chris Gelbuda (acoustic guitar, keys), Rob Marscher (synths, keys), and John Staten (drums). The SoundCloud stream of the new album lists the band members’ current gigs next to their names in the text, in case you want to catch any of them with their current bands.

Album Review of Van Ghost: The Ghost Unit

Van Ghost - The Ghost Unit

image courtesy of Van Ghost

The influences on this album are more varied than on the band’s prior studio release, but the essence of Van Ghost remains unchanged. This rock band, with its mid-range arena rock center surrounded by soul and funk influences and pop sensibilities, delivers another memorable disc. The soul influence is a bit more apparent than on The Domino Effect; overall this is simply an enjoyable next step from an exceptionally talented rock band.

Disc-opener “Dead Radio Club” follows a laid-back, mildly syncopated rhythm, thriving on vocal harmonies and a mellow edginess, like Toto or Chicago Transit Authority on a mildly subversive rock ‘n roll bender.

Van Ghost

photo courtesy of Van Ghost

“Strength & Pain” continues in the same vein, but the soulfulness is significantly amped up. And it has perhaps a bit more Chicago influence, as the horns play a more prominent role.

“Simplify” is one of the standout tracks in this collection. The ultra-rich harmonies, subtly trickling music bed, and well-placed soft rock guitar solo suggest this could be both a radio staple and an arena rocker.

“Follow Me” adds funk to the Van Ghost mix, with a prominent bass line running through the song, providing a home base to which the riffing always returns, with forays into Chicago-style horns and even very-nearly disco-era-flavored harmonies.

Hard rock guitar debuts in the opening riffs of “Cold Panic,” an almost Foreigner-esque rocker in tempo and mid-level heaviness. This one’ll sneak up on you and be a favorite by the 10th or 20th listen.

Van Ghost

photo courtesy of Van Ghost

For those of us who love an immediate tempo change, “Cold Panic” is the perfect lead-in to perhaps the album’s most heart-laid-bare instance, the more acoustic-flavored “I Ain’t Gonna Fight You, For You,” a lyrically well-conceived number in which the acoustic melody is well-augmented by a dancing electric guitar line whose first solo leads to a mid-song climax… and whose solo of screams and wails end the song as an extension of the vocals, expressing a level of emotion beyond the capability of a voice.

“Fool For the Pain” follows, a song that could be a modernized Quarterflash tune. Ironically (at least in light of that comparison), this is a song where the dominant instrument is guitar, with scarcely a horn to be noticed.

Van Ghost

photo courtesy of Van Ghost

The next track, “If It Ain’t Crazy, Then It Ain’t Love,” is another standout song, with Chicago-esque horns, soft rock guitar riffs, and powerful vocals. Also that vocal smirk that suggests this could be turned into a country song by a talented artist of that genre. Then again, great songs transcend musical classification.

“ATX” follows, a bit of a hard rock screamer with a country edge. I could almost hear Kid Rock doing this song, though he could never match Michael’s vocals. But the tune does thump along and occasionally roar in that vein, leaning on howling heavy metal axework and aggressive drums for power.

Van Ghost

photo courtesy of Van Ghost

But, of course, Van Ghost mellows things out again to close the disc, with “Birds” soaring vocally, a musical sunset that excels at making the sad and poignant pleasant to listen to.

I’d still love to see Van Ghost perform at a big arena, though the festival stage on which I saw them a few years ago was a pretty good substitute. Still, these guys could fill a stadium with sound.

Putting on my imaginary record industry hat, if I were a label exec, I’d pick “Simplify,” “I Ain’t Gonna Fight You, For You,” and “If It Ain’t Crazy, Then It Ain’t Love” as the first three singles, in no particular order, with perhaps “Cold Panic” as a fourth release, though with such a strong disc from beginning to end, it’s hard to go wrong. Go get ahold of these songs. Enjoy them. One of my favorite bands for several years now, Van Ghost is a rare gem of a rock group.

The Road Back #2: Van Ghost

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The Road Back to Music Journalism #2: Van Ghost at the Newburyport Riverfront Music Festival

Discovering a New Band at a Festival

Summer 2012

Van Ghost

photo by Geoff Wilbur

The Backstory

In the summer of 2012, my wife and I ventured to Newburyport, Massachusetts to check out the Newburyport Riverfront Music Festival. The large park in the middle of Newburyport was filled with attendees, and we found a spot to relax and check out the music. I hadn’t been to many live shows in the years since I quit publishing Geoff Wilbur’s Renegade Newsletter, but this seemed like a great setting to enjoy a day in the sun and hear some music.

Why This Was a Step on the Road Back

Other than Milenita’s CD, I still hadn’t been inspired to seek out new music. As a result, I hadn’t discovered a new band from a live show in probably a decade. Well, Van Ghost‘s set was so impressive, I sought out their music online. The band was sharing its The Effect EP as a free download. So I downloaded it and enjoyed it for months. This EP included 5 of the 10 songs on the band’s The Domino Effect album. Listening to The Effect EP did spark my interest in discovering new music again. It didn’t exactly spark a surge in my pursuit of new bands, exactly, but I did begin to update my collection with recent CDs from my old favorites.  (And, by the way, Night Ranger’s Somewhere in California and Foreigner’s Can’t Slow Down are amazing CDs, every bit as good as the albums those bands produced in their heydays.) Again, a small step on my road back to music journalism. Eventually, I did purchase the full CD version of The Domino Effect.

The Concert and CD Review of Van Ghost: The Domino Effect

The concert itself was so long ago, I remember very little of it, but I do recall we had bad seats — we could barely see the bands. And I had checked out some of the music in advance. I expected a different band to be more impressive. However, from the opening song of Van Ghost’s set, I knew I was hearing something special. The powerful, straightforward, soft-to-mid-tempo arena-caliber rock ‘n roll, with soaring male and female vocals, soft but insistent guitarwork, and tight musicianship were apparent live and are what makes The Domino Effect such a special album. Several of the memorable songs were included on the EP, as well.

The album opens with the title track, “Domino Effect,” in which soaring vocals are tied together with nimble guitar lines. That’s your introduction to a winning formula. And if that song wasn’t convincing enough, it’s followed by “Cage,” a song that again showcases Michael Berg’s amazing, identifiable, old-school-rock vocals. “Easy on Me” is next, showcasing the interplay between Berg’s vocals and Jennifer Hartswick’s on a powerful mid-tempo number that deftly utilizes what sounds like a rock organ. Dude, this is modern-day, old-school, screaming-crowd-inducing, classic arena rock. Indeed, track four, “Drowning,” is the sort of power ballad that would cause lighters to be held aloft. “Modern Day Love Affair,” another favorite, is more musically playful. “Burden” is classic soft rock radio material. “Telling Stories” is a ballad with a little twang, while earlier tracks “Decisions” and “White Lies” are more straightforward catchy ballads. And the soaring, potentially arena-pleasing album-closer “Return to Innocence” hints at the bands ample funky rock chops.

The Domino Effect, in its entirely, is the complete package. It’s a rock and roll album that harkens back to the days of great albums, the sort that ebbs and flows while still producing great individual songs. If you’re looking for a blend of soft rock, arena rock, and progressive rock with strong musicianship and blow-you-away vocals, this CD belongs in your collection.