Dryvetyme Onlyne

Ghost Mountain
Summer Tapes
Self-Released; 2009

Dear Gods of Rock,

I would like to once more express my sincere gratitude for your blessing this world with the music of Ghost Mountain. This Houston, TX duo has released yet another record into the world in 2009, this one entitled Summer Tapes, and it is has served as a great balm to my soul over the past two weeks. Yes, I did express a smidgen of jealousy regarding the insane abilities of these two adolescent gentlemen earlier this year when I reviewed Siamese Sailboats. I now realize that such an admission is beneath me and did not serve my ultimate purpose – to share with the rest of the world the excellence of this group’s tunes.

Suffice to say, Summer Tapes is a quirkier, spacier, slightly trippier follow-up to Siamese Sailboats, but it’s still wonderful in its own right. This record, while not as immediately accessible and/or hard-hitting as its predecessor, possesses a markedly coherent flow and displays this youthful outfit as one with a powerful internal drive to push itself even farther with how it creates music. Most importantly, it showcases the guys’ growing talent levels and seemingly boundless potential, whether in regards to beat-making or crafting hilarious, yet quite realistic, snarky lyrics.

Summer Tapes evinces Ghost Mountain’s apparent, substantial desire to tweak and experiment with how sounds are made and how they can be conveyed to listeners. Beck-style white-hop is blended with darkly sweet synth-pop through the manipulation of uber-popular, indie/hipster-approved technological devices – analog synths, Autotune, vocoders, and screwed vocals all make an appearance. Thankfully, what we hear is the duo’s desire to use technology as a series of tools, as a means to an end, and not because it’s in vogue to use these gimmicks ironically.

“Nap In The Woods” finds the guys enjoying the music of Why?, while discussing their preference for Sesame Street over playing with trucks in the mud. With “Sloth Bear Posum,” we’re graced with an ode to renting DVD’s from the library, buying hot fries from a vending machine, and participating in various online web forums, before realizing that, thanks to a conversation with a homeless guy, the guys lead rather privileged lives. “The Tree Wall” is a killer hip-hop instrumental, and “Slept All Day” rounds out the album with a creepily bright Joy Electric-esque electro cut about, well, sleeping all day.

But I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know, oh glorious Gods of Rock. You are the ones who have deemed the city of Houston, TX worthy of celebrating, enjoying, and hyping the sounds of Ghost Mountain, and for that, I thank you. We thank you. Summer Tapes is yet another shining example of how much you love us.

Sincerely,

Dryvetyme Onlyne