Ghostwoman - Welcome to the Civilized World [INDIES ORANGE]

5.9.25 - INDIES ONLY ORANGE VINYL LP

On their fourth LP, Welcome to the Civilized World, Ghostwoman are a sharper beast than ever. Hypnotic spells of psych-grunge, decaying Americana and ragged blues instrumental make up the intuitive tracklist; Evan Uschenko's filthy guitars and snarling, livewire vocals and Ille van Dessel's caustic drum beats consolidating the album's essence. Recorded on old instruments and tape machine, the force and feeling of the record is potent - reckless, illogical and free.

The meaning of the album is inseparable from its meaninglessness. As Uschenko puts it: "The album is inspired by the absurdity of human behaviour and the circus that is life: sometimes feels like being in a room with no floor - that's where a lot of these songs come from." After losing friends to suicide over the past year, the suspension of disbelief required to wade through the everyday had dissipated. If there is any meaning at all to Welcome to the Civilized World, it is simply to keep going: there is no other choice.

Uschenko, who presides over the vocals, insists they are not important. Much of the lyrics are nonsense, not written as much as abstractly sketched to feel out the shape of the music itself - but even in Uschenko's dream grammar, the force and feeling are no less potent.

The band's process is intuitive rather than calculated; sounds are made in a chain reaction to one another. 5 Gold Pieces, with its filthy guitars and snarling, livewire vocals was recorded as a test after they bought a tape machine. The first shot is often the best, and that test is what you hear today. Everything they used to record is gone. "We buy old equipment or instruments which have a bunch of life and soul in it until we've used it all up, and then sell it again so we can buy something else," explains Van Dessel.

Welcome to the Civilized World is not concerned with making music for an audience, not for the music industry and not for any particular point other than the thrill of it. Nothing matters, we are all doomed, the sun will swallow the earth and our efforts turn to dust anyway. The band will continue to play as the ship goes down.

For fans of Brian Jonestown Massacre, Allah Lahs, Oh Sees, Ty Segall.