Record review: Dead Ghosts new single, 'I Sleep Alone'

The young four-piece from Vancouver, B.C. Dead Ghosts has been inactive in the vinyl hemisphere for the past couple of years. A handful of singles preceded their 2010 full-length on Florida's Dying Records. An undervalued little sleeper, the self-titled album boasted a jittery, jangly, twisted-country vibe that paid skillful homage to such dusty luminaries as Fats Domino and James Brown. Their off-kilter take on the ballads and beats of old rock 'n' roll was refreshing and surprising, and highly addictive.

I figured they'd dropped into obscurity, like so many great bands before them, but lo and behold, Dead Ghosts is back on the scene with a new seven-inch from Randy Records. It's a dandy, too. Haunted vocals, an obsessive and forthright rythem section and spacey, noirish production values propel both songs menacingly forward like scorpions skittering across a desert rock. Of particular note is the B-side, "Spot a Trend," which features angry, slurred lyrics and a fantastic tuneless, death-twitch of a guitar solo near the very end of the cut. Randy Records is a great label, and this is a great new platter. Seek it out.