Love Ghost‘s thirteen is a dynamically shifting Midwest grunge and alternative rock record, shaped by memories of alienation, identity, and the search for beauty amid difficult experiences. The album’s title refers to age thirteen, when the band’s creative voice began taking shape around feelings of exclusion and not belonging. Across thirteen songs, those recollections become reflections on feeling out of place and confronting parts of the past that remain difficult to leave behind.
The album’s production consistently excels in its melding of delectably dark alt-rock, Midwest grunge, and atmospheric industrial intrigue. Opening track “Church For a Vampire” impresses right away, with its haunting wordless vocal opening into moody guitar strums and trickling. “Buried and forgotten,” the captivating vocals let out, lamenting how “the earth will not set me free / my path has forsaken me.” An ensuing push into heavy guitar riffs and pulsing rhythmic vigor is seamlessly accomplished, expanding from initial ghostly spaciousness to impassioned alternative. That “no salvation” hook is fantastic, and the range between verse and chorus is exemplary of the release’s artful balancing of emotive, lusher builds with rock-forward eruptions.
Ensuing track “Pasadena” delights as well in its heartfelt opening. Eerie piano and wailing guitar develop into a “nobody talking to me” vocally conveyed sense of isolation, with an industrial, grungy guitar buzzing traversing enjoyably. “Is it real, or is it fake?” the escalation continues, visceral in its baring of personal scars and aspiration to “make a mark.” Elsewhere, “Can’t Run Forever” ventures through murky acoustic guitar and depictions of a shut-in: “Sunlight through the blinds it feels like interrogation, so I’m shutting out the world again, I love the isolation.” Gripes of a world run by demons pair with personal strife for an emotionally gripping tour-de-force of a track.
Another highlight, “Something In The Water” weaves relaxing water samples and affecting guitar twangs, fondly reminiscent of The Wrens in its laid-back vocal stylings and affecting guitar ascent. “Fade away into the black and blue,” the vocals enamor, bleak in the “I don’t wanna be here anymore” admission, bolstered by backing shimmers as the final minute comes into view. Tracks like this show Love Ghost are fully capable of more understated tonal pursuits, while a track like “Blood & Roses” dynamically succeeds between moody jangles and whirring, distorted warmth, the latter complemented by a memorable title-bearing vocal segment.
“Pointless” also stirs in its momentum and overall thematic scope, particularly as the vocals’ “every hero has to die alone” moroseness melds with flickering guitar twangs into a bursting, charismatic blast of distortion. “It’s alright with me if it takes more time,” the vocals command in portraying a hope for self-betterment, with the subsequently perseverant “I’ll be here through the night” and reminder to not “let your life get pointless” being representative of trying to find beauty in life every day, even through one’s darkest moments. A poignantly affecting rock success, thirteen is a wholly immersive full-length from Love Ghost.
