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Rok Lok Records : Reviews
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Reviews for [RL55]
The Only Ghost in Town "Singles Club #2- I Live in the Capital of Pain"




  • Depression Chamber
    This is my first introduction to The Only Ghost in Town, and yeah that is pretty stupid. That’s kind of a lie. I remember listening/watching a video of some of this guy’s work (all hail Dan Saraceni) on the Rok Lok Records website a fall or two ago while in Fontana, Ca’s Chaffey satellite library. I made the dumb decision of probably studying, but the name hasn’t left my brain. The Only Ghost in Town… The Only Ghost in Town… Remember that if you haven’t yet. Damn it, the introduction to Side A, “Strawdinary” is too damn short. There are a ton of good short songs, but rarely are any this short. 56 seconds is a good amount of time to get to know a song, especially one like “Strawdinary,” with its hooks and surprise and candy coated lyrics (kind of) but I always usually want more. Eventually I come to terms with the fact that if a really neat as fuck short song was any longer it wouldn’t feel the same. It’s like a power pop, pop punky, indie pop jammer in tune with stuff like Superchunk and Boyracer. It also reminds me a little bit of pre Moving Units band The Cherry Smash, although shorter which is funny because I always sort of felt that The Cherry Smash made short songs. I guess that’s not funny. I mean by comparison to those bands you can tell this is fuzzy and not dark, ultimately fun as heck. The next song on Side A is “I Love You Half of the Time.” This one kind of sounds a little more modern than the kind of 90’s “Strawdinary,” I mean it retains the pop punk elements of boyracer and indie pop quirks of Superchunk, but it also kind of reminds me of The Ergs and other (kind of) modern pop punk bands. Maybe the sound is just timeless. I guess it’s kind of Beach Boys like too. Maybe the Beach Boys meets Eric’s Trip. Again the song is short, and almost a little more erratic as it’s a frantic anthem. Not frantic in that it’s basically inaudible but chords are played fast, lyrics are sung, and drums are pounded on from start to finish. I kind of definitely hate comparing things to the 90’s, but I do it all the time. I’m going to do it right now, again. Side B’s “Veronica Has a Secret Smile” has a very 90’s flavor, from the pulling of the guitar chords to the overall way the song kind of just slowly broods. I definitely get the sparkly vibes that Fudge’s song on the Something Pretty Beautiful compilation puts out. Similar vibes from Small Factory’s song on the Working Holiday compilation… I think probably because they’re all kind of not short but not long (Fudge and Small Factory’s songs are around 5+ minutes where this awesome jam breaks 3 and a half minutes), kind of a tad bit fuzzy love(ish) songs. They don’t really sound the same though, I guess. All three bands do kind of explode in their songs, just in different ways. So if you dig those songs then you’re going to dig this one. It’s also pretty emo, you know? Not like ebullition/gravity styled, but almost in that indie rock crossover type of way. I think that style’s really popular but not so abundant, which is a total fucking shame. Some of us are destined to live in the capital of pain alone. Alone. So good. The same packaging style as Rok Long Single Club #1, with a clear tape cartridge that has the stickers letting you know which is Side A and which is Side B with that little bird on there except this time red as opposed to blue. The j-card is also in full color, although I’m not sure what the cover picture is, maybe a street light. Again the lyrics would be good, but contact is always a pleasure and I’m sure asking Mr. Rok Lok for information on how to reach Dan Saraceni would be no problemo.