West Stockbridge — The Brooklyn-based group Adiós Ghost will appear at The Foundry on Friday, May 12, along with duo System Exclusive.
Formed by songwriter Ben Sigerson in 2012, Adiós Ghost is rooted in a blend of influences best described by the band itself: “focusing psych, early aughts dance/electronic, R&B and funk through a ‘heavy disco’ lens.” Further clues come from independent music site northerntransmissions.com: “Echoing the sounds of Yeasayer and Animal Collective … channeling psychedelia, early house, r&b and West African music through an indie rock vein.”
Got it?
Well, maybe not. But no matter how inscrutable that description may be, the fact is that all influences, no matter how far flung, will reliably haunt any band that writes its own songs (case in point, Ed Sheeran). Suffice to say, these guys, like most bands, play whatever they feel like playing and call it whatever they feel like calling it. And they’ve had more than 10 years to figure out what they like, so I’m willing to accept their own description of it.
Since the band formed in 2012, Adiós Ghost has released several discs: “October Snow” (2012), “Adiós Ghost” (2012), “Counting Paces” (2014), “Endless Return” (2016), “Uncanny Valley” (2017), and “Fade Out With Your Phantoms” (2017).
Ari Blaisdell and Matt Jones are System Exclusive. This duo from Pasadena, Calif. offers a pretty straightforward (but completely original) description of its music: “heart-throbbing capital P pop cut with more than a hint of post-punk.” And they compare Blaisdell’s vocals to “openhearted 80s hitmakers unafraid to quaver in the name of love.” On the one hand, Blaisdell and Jones are exemplars of the punk ethos. On the other, they lean towards catchy love songs—even radio-friendly ones from the 1980s. This can be a risky balancing act, but Ari and Matt aspire to fearlessness. The single “Game Of The Fool,” from their eponymous debut album, received high praise from Analoguetrash.com.
One of System Exclusive’s most notable champions is Henry Rollins (Black Flag), a punk artist who isn’t exactly a fan of synth-based bands. Rollins wonders, “What if there was a unit whose music was synth-generated but the vocals were coming from a hot-blooded, singing-for-the-cheap-seats approach?”
Clearly, the duo’s vocal approach resonates with Rollins: “Blaisdell,” he observes, “… co-exists excellently amidst the driving beats and synth waves and her guitar further helps to jailbreak the tunes from the often sterile entrapments that synths provide … Ari’s irony-free sincere delivery is the perfect closer on this very cool record, recorded ably by Enrique Tena Padilla (Osees, Wand, Beach House).”
Rollins has an amusing way of describing System Exclusive’s blend of genres: “Their multi genre/time period collision is like a car accident where all parties walk away not only unscathed but sure they had a great time.”
Hear Adiós Ghost and System Exclusive at The Foundry, 2 Harris Street, West Stockbridge, on Friday, May 12. Seating/bar at 7:00 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.
