Love Ghost continue to showcase their versatility and emotional depth on their expansive new LP Gas Mask Wedding
Enigmatic, charismatic, and armed with a sound and style that carries their own hybrid style and flavour, Los Angeles outfit Love Ghost have spliced together genres like emo, grunge and trap to create a sound that feels as cutting edge and dynamic as possible, building hype and acclaim through a prolific stream of memorable releases that have established and re-established their appeal. Their brand new album Gas Mask Wedding is a collection of tracks that looks to continue to push the boundaries and confines of their distinctive style and snowball their momentum as a band.
The album opens with the reflective and thoughtful ‘Car Crash’, a track that immerses itself within themes like love and longing in way that provides a sharp juxtaposition to the bleaker imagery and grungier aesthetics that long-time fans will be accustomed to. In true Love Ghost fashion, things take a dark and uncomfortable turn that leaves a really stark and memorable impression on you as a listener and puts the rest of the track in a whole new perspective.
‘Scrapbook’ follows, the first of two collaborations with The Skinner Brothers on the album and a track that builds towards a more conventionally punk-feeling chorus that is packed full of personality and bite. The pop punk aesthetic of the sound and the signature grit that the band bring to the table makes for a really catchy and immersive listening experience that still puts their own gritty spin on the genre and is imbued with their signature DNA.
Their genre-skipping tendencies come to the fore on ‘Fucked Up Feelings’, a more laid-back, R&B-esque release that is complete with trap influenced beat and immersive production that adds a whole other dimension to the release. Early on it is clear that this album is going to be full of fun surprises and shifts, and what makes it feel all the more impressive is that these sudden changes and differing ideas never seem to feel out of place or jarring, with the band’s distinctive feel and personality tying everything together in a way that feels natural throughout.
The energy is immediately ramped back up on ‘Left On Read’, a collaboration with Wiplash that again takes on a more modern pop rock aesthetic that is packed full of oscillating vocals and upbeat, driven moments, whereas ‘Scar Tissue’ once again offers a stark contrast to what came before it, taking on moody, beat-heavy textures as themes like self-loathing and doubt are explored in poignant fashion.
Zach Goode is the collaborator on the poppy ‘Sandcastles’, a track that melds thoughtful verses with show-stopping, high energy choruses that feel sure to find their way into your head and leave a resonating mark on you as a listener, and the rap-inflected ‘Hallucinations’ features Reverie and has an almost Oliver Tree-like stylishness to the verse-chorus dynamic and its instant, viral-ready appeal.
‘Angelic’ comes about halfway through the album and serves as its emotional centrepiece, exploring themes like unrequited love and sadness in a way that evokes the same kind of visceral emotional reaction as the work of artists like xxxtentacion and Joji, nonchalant and almost emotionless in its delivery but packing a heartbreaking message that resonates regardless.
The second Skinner Brothers collaboration comes in the form of ‘Worth It’, another track that tackles emotions like doubt in introspective fashion and has the band questioning whether everything is worth it and whether they’re happy with life and who they are. It is another track that melds emo and more hip-hop-adjacent influences to craft something that feels modern and expansive, and is packed full of moments that will resonate with anybody who has looked in the mirror and not been entirely sold on the person that they’ve seen.
These stylish, stripped-back tendencies are back on the piano-driven ‘Spirit Box’, a track that delves into themes like channelling ghosts and communicating in ways beyond human comprehension in a way that feels haunting and captivating throughout. There is something really enticing about the track regardless of its brooding darkness, and it makes for a really interesting listening experience that latches onto you throughout.
The main portion of the album then ends with a heartfelt message from singer Finnegan Bell, and what follows are four bonus tracks that he says are included purely for the fans and people who have been with the band from the start, adding a personal touch to an album that has already offered so much vulnerability and intimacy through its duration.
From the heartfelt emotion of ‘Falling Down’, to the grungy and impactful nature of ‘Heartbreak City’, to the pre-two minute sprints of ‘SOVIET GHOST’ and ‘THE MASSOCHIST’, the bonus tracks continue to demonstrate the versatility and drive of a project that has no problem flitting through genres and styles and manages to make each one feel entirely their own as they embody them. Gas Mask Wedding is a collection of tracks that manages to feel cohesive and make sense while each fragment of it feels entirely different and divorced from what came before it, something that makes for a truly unique listening experience and one that can be admired by lovers of a wide range of sounds and ideas.
