A Simple Beast is the sophomore effort from Ghost of Chance, hailing from New Haven. GOC creates a minimalistic atmosphere from the start with the song Carthage.The mellow vocals deliver narrative-style lyrics, over electronic drums, acoustic guitar, and dreamy organs (sounds like a Mellotron throughout the record, I could be wrong). The record has a carefully crafted atmospheric layer of instruments with steady reverb. It seems like a lot of care went to producing here. All the guitar effects are tasteful and purposeful. The recording itself sounds great. The arrangement of tracks works, which can make or break a record of this melodic, poppy and experimental style.
GOC really harness a mix of sounds on this record. Track three, Trident, has a feel of Sparkle Horse, but is followed by Lend Me a Dollar, giving an awesome Yo La Tengo feeling, without sounding derived. Every track is pretty unique. GOC gives the album a punch with the distorted chorus of Pilot. Again, the record surprises with Pipe, giving out an instrumental that is somewhere between the atmosphere of bands like Joan of Arc or Explosions in the Sky.
I can’t wait to see these guys live and see how they deal with the instrumental intricacies. I don’t know if they have any shows planned for the near future, as no shows are listed on their website. Check it out anyway. http://ghostofchance.com/
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