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Seahaven - Ghost

Rating

RIYL

Brand New
Crime in Stereo
Jawbreaker

Release Date

05/25/2010

Label

Creator-Destructor

Tracklist

1. Plague
2. Birds
3. Bottled
4. Cobarde
5. Ghost
6. Love
7. Head in the Sand (Blinding Son)

Users Rating 3 ratings	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
DevDawg	Firebrandead
Rick Gebhardt

Seahaven formed from the now defunct hardcore/punk band Final Fight, signed a record deal with Creator-Destructor earlier this year, and released their debut EP Ghost shortly afterwards. There is little information about these guys online, but what you basically need to know is that they play an enjoyable form of post-punk infused with indie rock elements, think Jawbreaker meets Brand New. Saying a band sounds similar to Brand New is pretty vague nowadays since they sound different on all their albums, so to be more specific, the lighthearted tone of Deja Entendu-era mixed with the more aggressive style on Daisy.

As stated earlier, Ghost is an EP, but it’s a beefy one with seven songs and a near 30 minute running time. The brief nature of the release gives listeners an adequate introduction to Seahaven; however, one can’t help but wonder why the band didn’t add a few more songs and create a complete album since they are almost to that point anyway. Making a full length would have given Ghost a more cohesive feel, but it’s still a solid collection of songs nonetheless.

The EP starts out with “Plagues,” which features a vocal and guitar intro with some interesting lyrics, which opens up into a surprisingly aggressive verse; the singing becomes rougher like Jesse Lacey on many of Daisy’s songs, and the music is simplistic but fitting. There are some nice dynamic changes to make the song quieter again, but the verse part makes up the majority of the track, which is a different type of arrangement since there’s not really any chorus, but it works somehow. The next song, “Birds,” is a typical post-punk song and serves as the introduction to that side of the band. Then Seahaven changes it up a bit on the next track, “Bottled,” using a more serious and dreary mood that is countered by a catchy chorus and an uplifting bridge. Again, the music here is pretty standard, but the changes in tone make it an effective tune.

Between the first three tracks, listeners will be shown the bulk of what Seahaven has to offer. The rest of the songs follow a similar formula, and are well written, but not worth further detail. The only one that doesn’t work on the EP is the title track “Ghost.” It sounds as if it came off of an old Mewithoutyou album and seems completely out of place. Also, and this is a sidebar, the cover art is a blatant rip off of Brand New’s Diasy, just with a different animal; mentioning that isn’t relevant to the music but worth pointing out considering the similarities between both bands.

Seahaven is at the brink of being an amazing band but they’re not quite there yet, and there’s a reoccurring theme in this review with phrases like “simplistic but fitting,” “typical post-punk,” and “pretty standard.” Although Ghost features many good songs, it feels like there’s something missing that keeps them from being great. Overall though, fans of any of the aforementioned bands will surely appreciate Seahaven’s approach to the genre.

--Nicholas Fritz