Exit Ghost
Chicago, Illinois, United States | SELF
Music
Press
This night at Subterranean played out like a long late night drive into dawn, the kind where exhaustion and euphoria become one and the same. Our journey began with Evan Holmes and Exit Ghost layering harmonies under blue lights, spinning the kind of Midwestern melancholy reminiscent of that once forged by Jason Molina. Songwriter Holmes doesn't attempt the same dramatic range as Molina does with Magnolia Electric Co., but in many ways that's to his credit. The live manifestation was a charming and confident set, certainly melancholic, but without hyperbolic lament. Holmes's voice draws easy comparisons to Neil Young's wavering tenor, and the warm tones of his semi-hollow body, the violin and the tambourine did everything to enhance the resemblance.
As the band got into their groove, they began to sound more like After the Goldrush on steroids. This was no limply meandering Americana; in their climax the band delivered an explosive performance of tightly constructed songs. Holmes blasted away through the amps while Exit Ghost bandmates pounded at hand percussion and shredded the violin. - Performer Magazine
Discography
The Pony Soldier EP -- Fall 2009
Recorded with producer Doug McBride of Gravity Studios (Smashing Pumpkins, Plain White T's, Fall Out Boy), featured on several college radio stations as well as upcoming airtime on Richard Milne's Local Anesthetic (WXRT Chicago)
Hang The Lights EP -- Fall 2010
Hailed by TimeOut Chicago as "anthemic", the Hang The Lights EP was recorded in the Fall of 2010 at Chicago's Kingsize Studios in Humboldt Park with engineer Mike Hagler (Wilco, Neko Case, LCD Soundsystem).
Photos
Bio
Drawing easy (and repeated) comparisons to The Replacements, Sun Kil Moon, Tegan and Sara, and the art-rock of Wilco, Chicago-based Exit Ghost has brought its inventive, rooted indie-folk to the stages of some of the Midwest's most prominent venues in the busy year since the group’s 2009 formation. Following a string of energized summer performances including Minneapolis’s 7th St. Entry, Chicago’s historic Double Door, Cincinnati’s Midpoint Music Festival, and a slew of intimate (if a little sweaty) club dates, Exit Ghost is gearing up for the release of its first album with engineer Mike Hagler (Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Neko Case, Will Oldham) at Chicago’s infamous Kingsize Studio. Hailed by Performer Magazine as reminiscent of "[Neil Young's]After the Goldrush on steroids", Exit Ghost looks forward to a national tour in 2011, driving its trusty Mercury Villager into the ground with regional dates in the meantime.
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