Ghost Rockets - Spatula Ranch Sessions, Vol. 1

All Music Guide

It wasn't as evident on Bootlegs, but in addition to the influence of authentic country and bluegrass, the songwriting of the Ghost Rockets was always nearly as informed by early rock roll and the pop/rock of the '60s, from folk-rock to mod to bubblegum. This six-song EP, released by France's stellar Pop the Balloon label shortly after Bootlegs came out, leans toward the combo's most pop-wise melodies, and not by accident. The band sent off a tape full of recordings from their earliest four-track sessions, and labelhead Gilles Raffier cherry-picked the ones that made the loudest pop to grace the album. And while it doesn't quite maintain the consistent contact high of its predecessor and is not as representative of the combo's full range of peculiar brilliance, the album is a more harmonious record with tunes (most from the pen of Gary Pig Gold this time around) every bit as outstanding. The sturm-und-twang bluegrass element is downplayed, although country still plays a central role, ...especially on "Woman in Paradise" (Roy Orbison with twang), the bad-prom ballad "Roses (To You)" (Everly Brothers with a hangover), "Make Believe in You" (Western swing hog-tied by Merseybeat), and the outstanding folk-rock reverb of "My Guilty Pleasure," which also showed up on Bootlegs. But the songs also have an overriding sense of guilelessness of both sound and sentiment that borrows something from the Brian Wilson songbook, or, as on the exodus of "Try to Believe," a manic Who-styled energy. Buoyant singalong choruses, light-as-air harmonies, and infectious melodies by and large take precedence over hayseed picking. That element is missed, but the quality of the songs -- not to mention the same supreme playing and tongue-in-cheek impudence -- more than fills the void. As does the recognition that you are hearing a side of the Ghost Rockets as important as their hillbilly one. As an import disc, it may be a somewhat more difficult to come by, but The Spatula Ranch Sessions is just as indispensable as Bootlegs for understanding the dazzling, far-flung brilliance of the band. And it still just scratches a heaping molehill of Ghost Rockets tracks. - Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide Read more Less