This Old Ghost

Every now and then there is a band who appears out of nowhere and hits you like a tsunami; in a good way. This Old Ghost is an incredibly talented folk/pop band from New York. Right from the start they encompassed me with catchy melodies, acoustic guitars, and enticing lyrics. This is the type of music to put a smile on your face with every track on the record. The blending of their variety of instruments provides an orchestra of gentleness and comfort.

The opening track, “Twenty Six”, starts with an upbeat vibe you can expect to hear throughout the rest of the album. The harmonizing vocals in the background provide a soothing addition to the already relaxing sound. The longest track on the album, “Hollowed Out,” provides the emotional anchor absent from the previous tracks and lets you know this is not all fun and games. As addictive as the chorus is, the song provides a few haunting moments to reflect on. “Emily Green” ends the album with their catchiest tune yet. It is very easy to sing along to and the tempo is too addicting to ignore.

This album is meant to be fun and This Old Ghost accomplished this task effortlessly. It is hard not to be caught up in the overwhelming sense of cheerfulness this band brings. A diverse album of fun, sadness, and inspiration. It is easy to tell they are having a lot of fun, so you should too. - Alt Rock Live

"There’s something tangible and lovely about these six songs. Perhaps it’s that they’re so unassuming. The melodies are pretty and upbeat. The vocals are singable. The percussion rolls right along and begs to be clapped to.

There’s also something awesome in the foundation these songs lay. The harmonies in “This Lifeboat is for Gold, Not People” are particularly noteworthy – definitely a shining moment for the band’s first EP. And the melodies aren’t just pretty, they carry influences ranging from the twang of Decemberist-style folk to the pop fuzz of popular emo bands of yesteryear. All this mixed with a dash of momentary rocking out – e.g. 55 seconds into “This Lifeboat” – just a little spice, if you will.

Music is really such alchemy. Often I feel like the tiniest tweak, change, or shift can make or break musicians, so it’s hard to paint in broad strokes.

That being said, I feel I can say with certainty that This Old Ghost is full of musicians to watch. Whatever This Old Ghost evolves into, there’s something here and I’m strapped in and ready to follow along for the journey." - Ramgoatbull.com

Formed in late 2010, through the ever relevant medium of Facebook, This Old Ghost comprised of Ian McGuinness (Lead Vocals & Guitar), Karri Diomede (Lead Vocals & Flute), Ryan Sniffen (Guitar & Vocals), Brendan Coughlan (Bass) and Robbie Pizzolato (Drums) , have released their debut six track EP, Island Of Violent Lovers, after only eight months together. The quintet, hailing from New York, have financed their EP through fundraising site Kickstarter and have delivered to us six tracks of a chirpy, summertime soundtrack .

This Old Ghost has penned an everything-except-the-kitchen-sink release, in the form of Island Of Violent Lovers. The six tracks are littered by acoustic guitar, drums, bass, gang chants, sweet harmonies, and, oddly enough, flute. The EP is opened by “This Lifeboat Is For Gold, Not People”. Muted acoustic guitar and girl/boy harmonies kick off procedures. McGuinness’ vocals, despite my reluctance to use lazy comparisons, are extremely reminiscent of the eloquent voice of Death Cab For Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard, which is definitely positive. The acoustics give way to a full band and some intense flute playing. While it is certainly a novelty, the addition of flute is nothing to be laughed at. It fits perfectly alongside the typical indie rock sound that “This Lifeboat Is For Gold, Not People”, and indeed the release in whole has, and sets This Old Ghost out from the crowd.

“Madams Of The Old West” continues along the same ropes as the opener but this time with a, well, western twist. Sounding like, what I imagine would happen if a cowboy was handed a guitar, it’s cinematic, catchy and memorable. “Attack On The Settler’s Cabin” and the strangely named “Sin Happy Playgirls Are Ruining The Adirondak” continue the formula successfully, but don’t really break much ground within the release.

“Fast Money From Slow Horses” is the best track of the EP. It’s the musical equivalent to an earworm, and it burrows itself into the sub conscious, but it’s welcome to. It perfectly melds the indie rock sound with the flute, with a great melody, and the strongest lyrical performance of the release. The EP closes with “Tiger Man Of The Matto Grasso” which is a fitting rounding off to the release.

With Island Of Violent Lovers, This Old Ghost has crafted a great debut release. They’ve penned six catchy, upbeat songs that breathe life into a sound that can become boring when done wrong. Obviously, there are drawbacks to the release, as with all debuts. The unending chirpiness can come across slightly grating, the quirkiness of the boy/girl vocals, the flute, and the western/country touches may be a bit hard to stomach for a cynical listener, and the middle third of the release is a bit forgettable, but overall the positives by far outweigh the negatives. It’s a unique release from a group of musically talented people (special props to Pizzolato, as the drumming is actually perfect and is a key component of the EP) and is a very promising sign of things to come from This Old Ghost. - Absolutepunk.net

There are some who say that home is where the heart is.

And for the self-described 'indie-folk' quintet This Old Ghost, that home— in the Peekskill-Yorktown area— is also where the music is.

Because it is not only where the group grew up and reconnected with each other this past year, it’s also where the group raised funding to record a debut album and booked its first performances.

And they did it all in five months.

After trekking back to Westchester from California back in January, lead singer and songwriter Ian McGuinness used music to gather his old classmates and new friends together: drummer Rob Pizzolato, bassist Brendan Coughlan, vocalist and flautist Karri Diomede and guitarist Ryan Sniffen.

“I was home for about a week, set up my little studio and a practice space in my parents’ house and we had our first band practice. It was epic,” remembers McGuinness, who is also a music student at Purchase College.

Since then, they've joined the local music scene by playing live gigs at popular spots like Peekskill Brewery and the Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art.

“There are a lot of young artists who work and live [in Peekskill]. We’ve gotten great reaction and respect than we may have somewhere else with a different attitude,” added Diomede.

So what is it about This Old Ghost that helps them stand alone in among other local acts? For one, it’s the compilation of different musical influences. Diomede, for example, toughens up classic woodwind training with rock and roll flute solos.

If you still haven't yet heard of them, not to worry: you can check out their catchy track, "This Lifeboat is For Gold, Not People" on their Facebook page, which has already amassed 168 fans.

This Old Ghost may just be hitting its stride. The band has utilized Kickstarter.com to collect about $1,600 from friends and family to fund the professional recording of its debut album, tentatively titled, “Island of Violent Lovers.”

“I didn't expect things to take off as quickly as they did. In fact I didn't really know it was possible to progress this quickly as a band, especially considering the fact that we really only practice once a week,” Pizzolato said.

The band hopes those countless hours recording in the Geller Cellar Studio in Mahopac will pay off.

“Once you’ve made it with your friends, you’ve made it,” McGuinness said.

This Old Ghost will be performing at the Bean Runner this Sunday, June 5 at 4 p.m.
- Patch.com

"This unholy alliance between the pop smarts of Death Cab for Cutie and the indie-folk depth of Blitzen Trapper, Ian McGuinness of This Old Ghost launches a full-on assault with a mere six song EP, ensuring that fans will soon be clamoring loudly for more. “This Lifeboat is for Gold, Not People,” the EP’s opening track, sets the stage with acoustic guitar, bass and a solid wall of harmonized vocals which lure you into a false sense of security before pulsating percussion pushes the song into overdrive.

It’s a comfortable sound for the group, and they clearly have the chops to make this music pop even when it lacks traditional “hooks.” The quality of the music in this case is the hook, and these are songs which definitely stand up to repeated listening. If you enjoyed Death Cab’s Codes and Keys or The Lonely Forest’s Arrows earlier this year, this is music perfectly tailored to your tastes. And songs like “Tiger Man of the Matto Grasso” hint that the band is capable of creating melodies as deftly catchy as Auld Lang Syne, another New York band playing music that pushes the boundaries of modern folk cool. Island of Violent Lovers is a perfect way to spend half an hour immersed in folk music with a pop sensibility, proving there’s defintely plenty to love about music still as 2011 draws to a close." - Hear, Hear! Music

God almighty, it's so nice to be sitting here, listening to This Old Ghost sing a bunch of super sweet, super duper smart love songs. Their folksy mix of pleasant alt-rock (complete with dude/dudette harmonies!) is having, like, an effect on me. Enough of an effect that I'm writing this instead of watching Psych on netflix. So, yeah, big deal. The band's debut full-length, Family Room, comes roaring at you with youthful optimism, yes, but it's also, somewhat astoundingly, self-aware. Take opener, "26," for instance, which features lines as disparate as, "We're out of our minds and happy as sin / We're falling in love at the drop of a pin," and somehow this: "No we're not getting younger / Are you starting to wonder / If I've become jaded." So this record is real enough to realize that spending your nights looking up at the sky doesn't erase the real world you lay upon.

Maybe that's bad, sure. Maybe we like music because it can remove us from the crushing reality of whatever stupid situations we find ourselves. Breakup albums are cathartic because it doesn't matter what really happened: it's their fault. Muse albums are fun because, well, bad example. But I mean, This Old Ghost fall in love head over heels, and then spend a song trying to prove their point to an unsure lover ("Jumping Fences"). Or on closer "Emily Green," when the polar opposite worlds of carefree love and punishing heartache are smooshed together into a power-pop/90's Jimmy Eat World/fiddle-heavy opus. It's music just rickety enough to sound organic. And it's just isolated enough to be utterly enthralling.

You know that feeling you get when you read a really good autobiography? How it's so personal and so far away, and yet here you are grasping at every bit of minutiae that connects you and this stranger. Family Room has such a human quality. Perhaps it's due to how Ian McGuinness and Karri Diomede (who also plays the flute!!) mesh their voices into a sweetly high-pitched combo - when they do it right, however, like on "Dirt Road," they might as well be one person. It's how I wish every Forecast album could sound - scenesters don't have to be full of bullshit. "So tell me how you're gonna make a move / And not crawl inside yourself and play the recluse," McGuinness sings on "Hollowed Out," and it's so thoughtful you can't just sing along. You almost feel compelled to scrawl it on an old wooden desk or somewhere aptly important. God, a band that says something!

So I don't like this album. Haha, JK. Family Room is that necessary album I need at the beginning of each year that reminds me music can't let me down. Obsessed over, but not weighed down by the oh-so-tempting method of smothering its listeners, Family Room puts This Old Ghost in a position to become your go-to band for those days you're just lucid enough to accept the world as it is. Floating above can be nice, but sometimes being tethered to what's really here is the most wonderful feeling of all.

Recommended If You Like: The Forecast, River City Extension, Good Old War - Absolutepunk.net

"This indie pop band has quickly become a favorite. In fact, some of their songs stand neck and neck with Death Cab’s best material. In the short time the band has been together they have recorded and released a 6 song EP titled ‘Island of Violent Lovers”. You can check them out in various venues in NYC including Arlenes Grocery. For fans of Death Cab, The Shins, Band of Horses, etc." - Kings of A&R

“Plain and simple, This Old Ghost's album, Island of Violent Lovers sounds like what would happen if Death Cab For Cutie was caught masturbating to Matthew Sweet. Acoustic guitars, sprinkled in tasteful distortion, vocal harmonies you can't fake, and the inclusion of a flute I was certain was a synth patch but is in fact an actual human blowing into a silver pimpled phallus, it's all dew dipped and free from all antibiotics and growth hormones.” - SYFFAL.com