- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: One For The Team
Album: Ghosts
Label: Afternoon Records
Playtime: 33:30 min
Genre: Indie
URL:
Rip date: 2010-03-11
Street date: 2010-03-16
Size: 51.32 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 203 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
One for the Team is the band you donÆt know, but should. That band that time
and again offers up songs you love immediately upon hearing and canÆt believe
no one told you about them before. That hard-working, genuine collection of
skilled musicians whose debut was just the tip of the iceberg. That bandÆs
new album, Ghosts, is everything that was lying in wait just beneath the
surface.
The Minneapolis quartet, formed by singer/guitarist Ian Anderson and drummer
Elliot Manthey, released the critically-acclaimed Build It Up, last August,
attracting attention from SPIN.com, NPR, MTV and Daytrotter. The four
musicians immediately embarked on several North American tours, sharing the
stage with bands like Frightened Rabbit, the French Kicks, Dressy Bessy, and
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. In the midst of more than 200 shows,
the band took the time to write an eight-song EP, Build a Garden, which came
out in April 2009, and is the connect the dots between Build It Up and new
release, Ghosts.
ôThe EP is meant as a transistion between the two,ö says Anderson, who also
runs the bandÆs label Afternoon Records and recently published a book about
running a record label entitled, Here Come The Regulars. ôTo supplement Build
It Up as well as put new music that we had written and wanted to just get out
there. ItÆs a lot prettier than the music we had done before. And, now Ghosts
is much darker, lyrically, and has moved from being cute pop to something
more intense, but still pretty."
After the addition of new bass player Jacob Huelster and several weeks of
touring Europe over the summer, the band spent a few days rehearsing the new
songs before piling in the van and heading on a short run of dates toward San
Francisco, during which they tested out the fresh material on unsuspecting
crowds. Once they arrived in the Bay Area, the foursome spent August holed up
in John VandersliceÆs studio, Tiny Telephone. Anderson, who co-produced Build
It Up and produced Build a Garden, took the helm again this time
aroundùexcept this recording process differed from the prior sessions in that
One for the Team laid Ghosts down on tape.
ôRecording to tape was really important to us for how the record turned out
in general," Anderson says. ôNowadays, you can make everything perfect during
the recording process, but you canÆt do that on tape. The way it is, is the
way it is and that was really important to us as a band. A lot of the record
was also done live. The sound of the tape is really warm, you can really hear
the room more. ThereÆs a sense of breathing in and out.ö
That change in mood and sound to which Anderson refers has been a wildly
successful one for One for the Team û on Ghosts, the band demonstrates its
superior ability to craft charming indie rock songs with genuine attitude.
Heavy, fuzzed-out guitar riffs evoke a tough, grungy 90s college rock
sensibility, updated and kept fresh by cheerful and often sardonic synths.
Bittersweet, thoughtful lyrics punctuate indie love-and-loss anthems, which
are anything but twee or mopey û the combination of percussion and distortion
gives the bandÆs sound a certain swagger that is irresistible and leaves you
wanting more.
The palpable life force in the recordÆs sonic elements is mirrored in
AndersonÆs lyrics. On past discs, Anderson wrote acoustic demos of his songs,
building them with the rest of the band and allowing them to take shape
slowly. But this time, due to the time constraints of a European tour and the
time the band had already booked in Tiny Telephone, Anderson approached the
writing differently. He wrote and demoed all the songs in five weeks, using
electric instruments and setting the tone of the album before the rest of the
band ever even heard the music. The result is a collection of ten songs that
interact with one another, crafting a layered narrative.
ôThereÆs a cohesive story line in all ten songs and I donÆt think I would
have pulled that off if IÆd done it over the course of several months,ö
Anderson says. ôThat thread exists because they were all there growing
together at the same time. They all make sense together. This sounds weird,
but I asked myself the question ôWhat would happen if I became friends with a
ghost?ö How would we interact and talk? How could I help him move on?
Ultimately, it reflected what was going in my real lifeùgetting out of a
serious relationship and dealing with that transition and being okay with
moving forward.ö
ôIÆve Been Here So Long,ö the recordÆs opening number, acts as an overture,
setting the tone for the entire disc with both its intricate instrumentation
and the compelling mΘlange of Anderson and FiddlerÆs vocals as they explore
the indecision of feeling stuck and the confusion of moving on. Their richly
textured boy-girl harmonies and lyrics tinged with darkness lend an elaborate
and powerful vocal landscape to tracks like ôHa Haö and "Someone ElseÆs
Knife." ôI Got Tamed,ö a hushed, introspective track that features
Vanderslice, is what Anderson calls a manifesto for his year, questioning
what it means to become an adult when you feel like you havenÆt grown up at
all. The record concludes with ôGarden,ö a hymn of sorts that delivers the
ghost into the afterlife.
The songs in this collection are precious gems that fans of contemporary
indie heroes such as Wolf Parade, Grizzly Bear, Tokyo Police Club and Dirty
Projectors will be eager to add to their playlists. ôI think fans of our last
record who became fans for the surface elementsùthe guitars, the melodies,
the boy-girl harmoniesùare going to like this one,ö Anderson says. ôThey
might like it as a breakup album. But, I hope there will be people who will
dig deeper and get into the cohesive thread. I mean who didnÆt want to be
friends with Casper when they were growing up?ö
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. I've Been Here So Long ( 3:04)
02. Hard For You ( 3:21)
03. Every Little Thing ( 3:39)
04. Sorted Out ( 3:18)
05. I Got Tamed ( 3:08)
06. Best Supporting Actress ( 2:55)
07. Ancient Age ( 4:45)
08. Someone Else's Knife ( 3:32)
09. Ha Ha ( 2:22)
10. Garden ( 3:26)
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