By: John McLaughlin
The Midnight Ghost Train | website | facebook | twitter | bandcamp |
Released on February 28, 2015 via Napalm Records
Apparently, The Midnight Ghost Train was somewhat of a big deal back when Buffalo came out. Somehow, the news slipped by me, because they were completely unknown to me when I saw them completely destroy The Elevens in Northampton, MA two Decembers ago, a show I went to because my cousin’s band was playing. Somehow, that show drew well on a Tuesday night, and while the local openers (Titanis, Warm, and Problem With Dragons, for those wondering) were and are fairly established (and all wicked awesome), I can only assume that the crowd was there largely for The Midnight Ghost Train – and if they weren’t, they were certainly converted into fans, as I was.
And if you, my dear reader, are among those who are not converted, may Cold Was the Ground be the light that guides your way. This album is impressive on all fronts, built on a foundation of high-energy bluesy stoner rock riffs supplemented by fuzzy-but-sharp, extremely ear-pleasing guitar tone and some of the nastiest, most ferocious vocals the genre has ever seen.
The Midnight Ghost Train’s music doesn’t need much explanation beyond that, and the simplicity of their sound is a strong point for the band. Cold Was the Ground isn’t necessarily a “less is more” kind of album, but the stripped-down nature of the band’s approach works beautifully. There are no instances of layers-upon-layers of guitars or drawn-out spacey psychedelia (as much as I love those things), and the production, while clear, is far from being slick and shiny.
And if that description makes you think of a thousand stoner rock clones you’ve heard before, I can promise you that this is not the case; the ingredients used in the making of Cold Was the Ground are certainly familiar, but The Midnight Ghost Train is a band with personality, and it beams through on this album. The energy used in the performance of these songs is unique to this band, so while other bands might write riffs similar to those found in ‘BC Trucker’ or ‘The Canfield’ or ‘Straight to the North’ (all standout songs), you won’t hear a finished product that sounds or feels like Cold Was the Ground from anyone else. The dynamic sensibility in the songwriting, the flow of the songs, the flow of the album front-to-back – all are signs of a band that knows their music and knows how to carve a niche for themselves.
This is definitely a stoner rock record, but only The Midnight Ghost Train could have created this particular stoner rock record, and Cold Was the Ground will leave an impression on you for exactly that reason.
