CD Review - Western Ghost House's "Kaleidoscope Tower"

We've had the rare pleasure of taking in some of the very latest Western Ghost House music, their just-in-time-for-Christmas "Kaleidoscope Tower" -

This ain't your mama's alt rock. Western Ghost House brings fresh, soulful, haunted western-twang-styled numbers. But before we walk too far down the review road, a bit about our players:

There they are. Left-right it's guitarist/vocalist Andrew Romero, drummer Adrian Carrillo, vocalist/guitarist Jesse Pantoja, and bassist/vocalist Steven Garcia.

Forming back in '08, WGH has wandered down divergent experimental musical paths before finding their current sound, which has been called "Baroque Pop" but is perhaps a bit more rockin' than that label implies.

"Kaleidoscope Tower" opens with an appropriately-spooky "Varicose Veins", a stoic, twanging number highlighted by Pantoja's verberated vox; held up with some cavern-deep percs, soaring guitars, and somber backing vocals.

"Branded" sweeps us into more rock-standard territory, with some nice vocal harmonies and straight-ahead rhythm; sure to transport you back to the early 70s, followed by the marching "Smile", a classically-riffed melodic chord progression outlined with slower acoustic breaks.

Skipping ahead a bit, "You Don't Scare Me" ends up in a sweet jam session, "Words" builds from soft vox to a hypnotic groove. Special mention for the final track, the excellent "Yesterday", that starts with softer, acoustic guitar-ed ballad-esque crooning, builds to a cool cacophony of groove, highlighted with some lower-in-the-mix brass, then drops you there. Nice.

The CD release party will be this Friday, 12/16, at 29th Street Ballroom, and it's a happenin' event - The Zoltars and Follow That Bird will open up, and the proceeds go to help out Attendance Records.

So gear up for the party by taking in these preview tracks from "Kaleidoscope Tower":

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Find out more about Western Ghost House on Facebook, Twitter, and Home Base.

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