Friday's Ghost - Work Of The Invisible Hand

Now this post is going to be an odd one, because I wasn't expecting to enjoy the EP that Friday's Ghost sent me. First of all i'm not a fan of the name, and second from the font they use on the artwork and the slightly posey band photo enclosed I was sort of expecting a nu-metal band, and the slightly cryptic song titles didn't do much to dissuade me from thinking that they might be the next Lost Prophets. But luckily I was very wrong; but that's not to say that I love them, more that they're a lot more interesting than I'd expected.

Their sound is almost too teenage in the way it brings itself across (though i've no idea how old they are!); some of the influences are so obvious and forthwith that I would do myself disservice not to mention them, so yes, they've got a hell of a lot of post-punk 'angular' (NO!) stuff going on. Very Bloc Party in places. But elsewhere you get some sort of bizarre Depeche Mode style synths popping in, and then bits of more Smithsy style indie, and there's those weird breathy bits, and the vocalist has some sort of crazy Ian McCullock operatic thing going on with another guy doing castrato wailing in the background! So although it sounds a little too 'first band' and unoriginal in spots, the unstudied excitement it conveys is actually rather enjoyable. Lamacq apparently called them one of the most exciting bands he's heard all year, and I would probably expect them to be pretty nifty live. They scrape through by having enough charisma and joy in their recordings to make me discount what the snob in me wants to discount. So good for them! I probably won't ever be a huge fan but given some polish and time I really could see them doing well. so see what you think, and you can get more info on their myspace.

Friday's Ghost - Cities, Thrones & Basements
Friday's Ghost - Work Of The Invisible Hand