Ghost Camp are an indie rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Their sound is an interesting one, with slick pop melodies, weird dreamy vibes and frayed punky edges combining into a keyed-up and jittery New Wave style – something the band themselves describe as “witch-punk”. The four-piece (David Pressler on vocals and guitar, Joe Vick on guitar and synth, Christian Joyner on bass and Max Dienemann handling drums), have recently released their second full-length and, just like the cover art, it’s a gem.
‘Clean Air’ opens proceedings with a joyously messy indie pop song, David Pressler’s vocals juxtaposing the dynamic instrumentation. ‘Heaven’s Gates’ is another pop jewel, practically demanding frantic toe-tapping at the very least, with lyrics possessing a lovably odd quality…
“Awake ’til we’re alone
with streetlights made of spider eggs
I’m looking over anyway
to see you, this clear
storming heaven’s shores and gates
and crossing over interstates
to meet you right here”
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The rest of the record has a similarly weird vibe, as if written in some other dimension that fractured from ours just slightly. There’s a decidedly sci-fi feel to ‘Ganymede’, Pressler’s vocals cramming in lines, barely keeping up with the rattling pace of the song (“The weight of all the suns in space today the stars can trace your name / The time it takes to stay awake the dirt and grass above the graves”). ‘Neptune’ has a surfy vibe along with something a little stranger, like the soundtrack to one of those shock-endings in a movie where the camera pans back to take in the seascape and planet Earth sits on an apparently alien horizon, while ‘Sadie’ is stirring and triumphant, the sort of song guaranteed to make you feel that little bit better. Pressler’s vocals are still a downbeat drawl, but sound somehow hopeful as he sings
“Golden hearts in the ground
you taste like Seven Crown
and bottle rockets at night
racing to the light “
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‘Eucahrist’ is a lo-fi clatter, the punk-style drive and energy rushing things to a stop in just two minutes, before ‘Say When’ picks up this infectious energy and channels it into percussion. ‘Kickball Katy’ is a rollicking punk song with group vocals that shout the refrain “I hate everything but kickball Katy!”, while ‘Cowboys’ is a searing slice of guitar rock, the vocals somehow staying afloat on the maelstrom of noise. Penultimate track ‘Coronada’ delivers one last blast of indie rock before the more reserved closer, ‘Voyager’, which plods along in a lazy shuffle as Brielle Stango joins Pressler to sing:
“And it’s alright, and it’s ok
if you’re scared of the new day
And it’s alright, it’s ok
Last night was miles away”
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The track picks up pace around the halfway mark, descending into a glorious guitar-led outro that signs Great Lakes off in style. It’s an album of many layers, equally adept as a straight-up indie rock LP as it is a weird and almost cosmic journey into the galaxies of the human mind.
You can get Great Lakes on a name-your-price basis from the Ghost Camp Bandcamp page or on cassette via Third Floor Tapes.
