The Ghost - This Is A Hospital

California natives transplanted to Chicago have an advantage. That is, soaking up the beauty of two different music scenes, obviously. I heard one song from this band on a compilation, and it was good enough reason for me to obtain a copy of This Is A Hospital. Not that it should necessarily mean anything to you, so here we go. The Ghost draws from a variety of influences. The easiest to touch on would be Jawbreaker, Small Brown Bike, and Fugazi, but with much smoother vocals. You could generalize their sound into the "post-hardcore with pop sensibilites" label. This Is A Hospital is a fairly impressive, debut full-length, in which the band show lots of promise. Occasionally screamy, melodic and at times catchy, The Ghost manages to pull off a variety of styles, and does it in great fashion. Brian Moss' penchant for songwriting definitely helps the band, and his lyrics are more than up to par. "By the Books" has to be the strongest track, taking pot shots at the mainstream. The track is then followed closely behind by opener, "Death By The Bay," and "A New Trick For The Old Dog." It would also probably be a crime to leave off this paragraph without mentioning that the legendary Steve Albini lent his talent to the record as well. I wish I had picked this up around its release, so I could boast about one more reasonably obscure band to boost up my "scene points," but I'll settle with getting it a year or so late. I won't be putting it down anytime soon, anyway. [www.theghostband.com]