Ghosts of Television
City of Painless Childbirth
CDR (2008, Independent)
Related: Ghosts Of Television.
Despite having recorded with members of Sydney indie alumni Dappled Cities Fly, Ghosts of Television are an altogether more threatening prospect. Originally from the Central Coast, the five-piece have been playing Sydney for a few years now, mostly as a support band that consistently and brutally upstages the headliner. They’ve attracted significantly less fanfare than they deserve, which is a shame, though it’s probably related to the long stretch between the release of their self-titled demo and the still forthcoming debut EP, from which the title track of this limited ‘experimental’ CDR is drawn.
The title track isn’t signature Ghosts of Television, because such a thing doesn’t seem to exist. Here is a band that leaps between genres like most Sydney indie bands plod between major keys. ‘Sydney cowers beneath the threat / of the devil’s chequebook turning red’, they enunciate clearly on the title track, (formerly titled ‘Naked Sluts’) announcing Ghosts of Television as a band apparently determined to avoid the annals of affluent white-collar indie that thrives in this city. The way they handpick some of the most unhinged musical occurrences in rock over the past forty years and splice them together is incredible: the band cite Burzum, Camberwell Now, Mercury Rev and Happy Mondays as their primary influences, and if you prick your ears you can hear them all here to varying degrees. Definitely an exciting taster of much better things to come.
by Shaun Prescott
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