Haunted Pop

The public release party for the indie pop-rock band House Ghost’s debut full-length album, The Adventures of House Ghost, doubles as an art event for Craig Hawkins at the 930 Art Center in Germantown (doors at 7 p.m. for art, with music beginning at 8 p.m.). House Ghost guitarist Shane St. Clair’s other band, Interstates, had also been scheduled to play this event but recently canceled. The busy man also manages the new gastropub Four Pegs Beer Lounge and Social Eatery. He took a few moments out of his hectic schedule to tell LEO Weekly what his newest band is all about.

LEO: Why did you name your band “Holy Ghost”?

Shane St. Clair: Haha, good one.

LEO: How did the members meet? What was the initial inspiration for this band?

SS: (Vocalist/bassist) Keith (Miller) and (guitarist) Derek (Keijner) and I have been in project bands and making records for six years, so the three of us have been friends for a while and always made music together. The inspiration for House Ghost was to take Keith’s songs and put them against a surf-y, dream-pop landscape.

LEO: How was recording the album? Did anything funny and/or notable happen during the process?

SS: Recording was/is fun. The record was made in living rooms and basements across Louisville. We’re probably most passionate about the recording and making-records aspect of being a band, so we put a lot of work into it and deliberated a lot.

LEO: Who is the least talented member of this band?

SS: Me!

Facebook influences cited: The Beach Boys, Starflyer 59, Polaris, The Magnetic Fields, The B-52s, The Pixies, Fountains of Wayne, Best Coast, Otis Redding

Sample the sounds of The Adventures of House Ghost at your leisure at houseghostmusic.bandcamp.com.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly

album review: Rare Treats

Rare Treats
Wolf in People’s Clothing
GUBBEY



As far as Christmas presents go, receiving Louisville folk artist Patrick Thompson’s lo-fi recordings as Rare Treats was a nice surprise under the ol’ LEO tree. His bio states that Thompson “wanted to make a record that didn’t sound entirely like it came from Louisville, Kentucky,” and by that standard, it mostly succeeds. Though traces of ’90s forerunners can be detected, the Rare Treats blend of DIY punk, metal, art and underground riffage reduced to the most basic elements is more reminiscent of the underappreciated Wipers or very early Sebadoh than Slint or Rodan. Though distortion is employed, melodies remain clear and purposeful, and Thompson’s relaxed approach is a welcome change of pace from the many careerist bands who put too much effort into sounds unworthy of big, expensive productions. This Wolf manages to simultaneously sound as fresh as tomorrow and as authentic as a lost 1991 recording, demonstrating that whatever you think the Louisville sound is, those sounds can always surprise you.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly