Though fans of SC Indie-Rock outfit Ghosts of the Kodiak haven’t had to wait long for a new release (Their last effort, We Still Have Fears Inside Ourselves, came out in April of 2013), Christmas came early this year all the same. Released on December 10, their new EP Lifting Up The Ceilings, produced and recorded at Columbia’s Archer Avenue Studios, graced the world. And it didn’t disappoint.
Channeling Manchester Orchestra’s grunge and musical imagination, the EP feels like a much longer journey than a mere 5 track production. Screaming guitars, pensive pianos and tense yet delicate vocals give the EP an intensely emotive, enduring feel. Opening with an eerily beautiful, acoustic piano track, the guys quickly evolves into a full band endeavor that’s similar to the sound of Modest Mouse and My Chemical Romance. It’s the dual nature of these differing musical qualities, soft and hard, that’s where the group hangs their hat.
It’s rare to find a band as intrinsically dynamic as Ghosts of the Kodiak and their latest EP stays true to that. Weaving the listener in and out of stripped down and full band sections, Lifting Up The Ceilings engages the listener more than the average EP/Album where musical predictability has become a genre in and of itself. For those lucky enough to discover the band, they’ll find that almost each individual track manages to tell a musical story, with screeching highs and delicate lows.
And that’s all before the lyrical content is taken into account.
Even outside of the local scene, the lyrical poetry of this EP is as high as they come. If any fans have the time, I would definitely encourage them to give the production multiple listens as the more familiar one becomes with the tracks of Lifting Up the Ceilings, the more the lyrical depth begins to shine. A depth that helps separate Ghosts of the Kodiak from their fellow bands and a depth that will definitely resonate with the listener long after the headphones have come off.
