Gas Mask Wedding opens like a dare. What does it mean to find love when the world is already burning? Love Ghost lean into that darkness, offering a collection of songs that feel intimate despite the gloom that etches it’s way through every chord regardless of it’s tonality. These are love songs from dystopia, an exploration of connection when everything feels fragile, compromised, or doomed. You can hear the weight and angst and if you’re into something that’s maybe a bit pop-punk but a bit cinematic with a dash of beloved artists like 21 Pilots or My Chem but truly alternative then by all means keep reading and definitely start spinning “Gas Mask Wedding”
From the start, “Car Crash” is a deep dark and vulnerable track. Stripped to piano, voice, and subtle percussion, it’s a lamenting confession, heartbreak rendered in sparse lines and haunting space. Tender chords and soothing vocals create a beautiful piece of music and sets the stage for an intimate experience much like a great record should.
“Scrapbook,” starts with a thunderous four on the floor and pulsing clean power chords before arpeggios enter and then the wall breaks open into a half-time chaotic chorus. Bell says, “They’re all stuck to my soul like a paper mâché scrapbook,” and you feel the weight in each refrain. Victory and loss overlap. This song is about surviving loss, (I really enjoy the subtle female backing vocalist). This is one to scream into your pillow during or maybe drive recklessly or put a fist through the wall.
“Fucked Up Feelings” is where Love Ghost shows their production skills and range even further, it’s part R&B, part grunge, and there’s even some Latin influence on an acoustic guitar and even a bit Santana on the electric solo. “Fucked Up Feelings” is sensual, wounded, melodic but jagged. The lo-fi vibe keeps everything from feeling too polished and brings me back to the days where bands like Attack Attack used to include left field tracks, ugh good ole Warped days.
“Left on Read” comes in snarling, a pop-punk bite with Wiplash bringing an additional edge. It’s the pinnacle of what I expect from Love Ghost. It’s hard hitting pop-punk, it’s reckless, rebellious, and chaotic. “Left on Read” is bruised in spirit, being ignored is the highest insult in the age of screens and some bitch is pulling this shit on these artists, wtf man.
…love a good heart broken skit… “are you serious right now?”
Darkness returns: “Scar Tissue” voices trauma through some serious hip-hop influence, it was no surprise to learn this artist is from LA, it’s giving this sort of goth Los Angeles vibe that really is most at home in LA where artists don’t necessarily pigeon-hole themselves into one genre but the emotive branding remains the same regardless of what genre they morph into.
And that’s not even the full first half of the record, it’s an amazing release that showcases a genre defiant artist who still manages to somehow bring the same brooding aesthetic to every song. Songs like “Angelic” and “Spirit Box” feel vulnerable, whereas bonus tracks like “Heartbreak City” are all about dancing, and I’d bump “Scar Tissue” in a car with tinted windows if I wanted to look tough.
This is a record for Hot Topic and Warped Tour fans alike, a bit scene, a bit emo, a bit goth, all things dark. I f***in love it.
Hot Lunch Music 