Holiday Ghosts - West Bay Playroom

'One - Two - Three - Four'. And they're off again. Holiday Ghosts are back, with their second album, West Bay Playroom another missive from the West of England. Already at this early stage in their careers they have a good claim to be the best band to ever to hail from Falmouth, Cornwall and though this may not be such an achievement, they're certainly a neat little band worthy of your attention aside from any geographical concerns.

Following on from their 2017 eponymous debut, which made my end of year album list that year, West Bay Playroom finds them reading from a similar script of sharply written and joyfully performed Indie Rock and Roll evoking all the pleasures of a performance in the back room of your local pub.

 

It all reminds me slightly of The Velvet Underground's fabulous late bootleg album 1969 Live, where Lou, Sterling, Mo and Doug, a band at the height of their powers, perform extended sets for what sound like half empty rooms in Dallas and San Francisco. There's a similar sense of captured energy here and the Velvet Underground Mk 2 is a definite, abiding influence as it was on their debut record. 

The record chugs. Everything sounds as if it was recorded live and there's an earthy rawness that rattles effortlessly along the tracks to very pleasing effect. I gather from some rudimentary Internet research that the sound they arrived at may have been enforced by the fact that their local studio had closed down leading them to take matters into their own hands and record West Bay Playroom for themselves in their guitarist's bedroom which they transformed into a home studio. If this is the case, things have worked out well as it all results in a pleasing, warm intimacy.

To the best of my knowledge Holiday Ghosts have shed two original members since the making of their first record but if this is the case, their replacements have bed in very nicely. Swapping between equally adept male and female vocalists over the course of the record's twelve tracks but never once letting the pace slack, West Bay Playroom is a fine record that more than fulfils the promise of their debut and which I hope will help the band reach a wider, appreciative audience.