The followup to Brisbane's Violent Soho's grungy debut is a tidier, sauntering release. While nothing particularly new or brilliant, Hungry Ghost is a catchy combo of an array of mid-late '90s subgenres: emo, pop punk, grunge and, foremost, the crunchy alt-rock that saw heavy radio rotation back in the day. Despite the predictability, there is a somewhat comforting nostalgia to this release, complete with that token song title with a weird chick name ("Saramona Said").
"Covered in Chrome" sounds like Tripping Daisy, Everclear or some other'90s alt rock band doing their version of the Pixies, while tracks like "Dope Calypso," "Eightfold" (slowed down Blink-182 at their best) and "In the Aisle" (Moneen come to mind), which are more pop punk/second-wave emo in approach, are pulled off better than the slower, more middle of the road alt-rock songs that make up the remainder of the album.
Your head won't be able to resist nodding along to the heartfelt rock-out outros, which leave the strongest impression. The quavering Autolux-esque ending of "Ok Cathedral," an otherwise lacklustre song, is nothing short of awesome.
(Dine Alone)"Covered in Chrome" sounds like Tripping Daisy, Everclear or some other'90s alt rock band doing their version of the Pixies, while tracks like "Dope Calypso," "Eightfold" (slowed down Blink-182 at their best) and "In the Aisle" (Moneen come to mind), which are more pop punk/second-wave emo in approach, are pulled off better than the slower, more middle of the road alt-rock songs that make up the remainder of the album.
Your head won't be able to resist nodding along to the heartfelt rock-out outros, which leave the strongest impression. The quavering Autolux-esque ending of "Ok Cathedral," an otherwise lacklustre song, is nothing short of awesome.