Sun Ghost, a four-piece rock outfit originally hailing from Mesa released their first album Love, Hurt & Paradox on May 6th. At first glance that feat, and the previous sentence describing it, may just seem like another ho-hum event in the multitude of releases the Valley has seen this past month. Let me assure you, it's not. Love, Hurt & Paradox is an extremely well crafted album both physically in sound and emotionally in content. This album immediately sets up Sun Ghost as a very powerful up-and-coming band in the Valley.
Right off the bat, Love, Hurt & Paradox throws you into shotgun and takes you off high speed on the ride of your life. Full blown rock at one sharp corner, the very next turn finds you in the happiest sing-along-pop you've ever heard. Track after track the album just keeps on delivering. The lyrics and melodies are so catchy and badass you'll be humming along with them before you even know the words. It gets to the point where you look the band up online and are thrilled to discover that they've placed all the lyrics on their webpage. Albeit a little different in delivery on the album, each song opens up like a flower in full bloom when the listener knows just what the artist intends to say.
I have no idea who to compare these guys to. Absolutely none. And I listen to an obscene amount of music too. The closest artists I could think of to describe what these guys actually sound like only comprise mere moments and parts of their music. Bands like the Lovin' Spoonful and the Tubes. Heavy blues rock-n-roll mixed with theatrical vocals and pop gold could describe more than few artists, but none could manage the same combination of all these components quite like Sun Ghost. Their Facebook page says rock/indie/blues. I'm satisfied with that.
Trevor Denton, Donnie Atkinson , Chris Gerber and Thomas McIntyre have created a monumental first album and it might honestly be the best release of the year from our fair state. It will be hard to beat. Perhaps their next release, slated for later this year (and incorporating their new Moog organ), will just make my head head explode at the sheer awesomeness of it. The new songs that I've caught live or heard online are just further proof that Sun Ghost is continually growing into something strong that will push Arizona music further.
