Love these requests for reviews, especially when it comes to something that is seriously interesting, music that diddles my fiddle, so to speak. I found that, in the demented stylings of Lonesome Wyatt & The Holy Spooks. Not much is known about the band, on their web page it says that, "Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks play strange and sad music from a time that never was." They are on Tribulation Records, which I have a feeling is their own label and have been releasing records since 2001. Their only label mates, with whom they share band members, Those Poor Bastards, have sort of a similar sound. LWHS have a Facebook, a Last FM and a Myspace, so you're fully covered if you want to explore them on the net. Their newest release, Ghost Ballads is slated for release March 5th and is described as, "Ghost Ballads was covertly recorded at the deserted, decrepit and allegedly haunted Maribel Caves Hotel (otherwise known as Hotel Hell) in Maribel, WI. Lonesome Wyatt serves as the spiritual medium for these thirteen strange tales of death, longing and revenge from beyond the grave." This stuff literally blew me away when I first heard it. Haunting was the first word that came to mind, shortly followed by the word creepy. The songs are simple yet complex in their simplicity, they're like sinister lullaby's. Bad (in the best kind of way) dreams. Reminds of a guy I used to work with, let's call him Frank. I work with adults who have developmental disabilities and many of them are dual diagnosed, as in they have been diagnosed with mental retardation and mental health issues. Frank used to tell me, "I had a bad dream Justin" and I'd ask him, "are you okay?" He would say, "I like bad dreams, Justin." God only knows what was going through his mind. I love the bad dreams of Lonesome Wyatt. These are really passive songs though, the aggression is implied, there is an impending doom and a persistent gloom. The feeling is like that of a funeral dirge or the haunted house ride at a carnival. This is a very unique band, I haven't heard anything that is exactly like it, but two acts that came to mind were Syd Barrett and Sparklehorse, the nightmare side of dope, like a heroin den or a bad acid trip. All that and still very enjoyable. It leaves me smiling but a devilish kind of smile. This album would make a perfect soundtrack to an Edward Gorey book. The songs tell griping stories and the lyrics flow like a ship on the river Styx. The show American Horror Story would do well by having some this music to strengthen some of the scenes. The packaging fits the band, far out graphics and you ge the lyrics, which like I said are worth following as you listen to the music. You can get samples of this album at their website and actually samples of tunes on all their releases, along with lyrics and you can purchase most of their releases and those of Those Poor Bastards (whatever hasn't been sold out of course)...vinyl, CD, downloads, it's all there in it's darkened glory. As is customary around here, I wanted to share one of my favorites. This one takes the form of a gruesome kind of pirate shanty..."the souls are trapped and they can not break free, doomed to walk the plank eternally"...
Terror On The Ghost Ship
This here is their official (as in done by the band) video and it could not be more well done...the vibe is just fuckin perfect in every way! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ4ffgyir7M&w=560&h=315]
From the new album, some twisted shit... [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naLrecSbp1E&w=560&h=315]
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