ghostland deliciousness, please? maybe not

perhaps my favorite series of shows in a while has been the 6 or 7 ghostland observatory performances i've stumbled upon in select cities around the south. this band puts on a damn good show - i mean spectacular.

so for all the hype over the past year or so, it's no surprise that their follow-up to the first two amazing albums Delete.Delete.I.Eat.Meat. and Paparrazzi Lightning would probably not live up to expectations. and in fact the assumption were true. this third album, Robotique Majestique, is lacking, well, anything original.

recently, Pitchfork called Aaron Behrens - Ghostland's pigtailed and besunglassed lead singer - "the latest in a long line of supplicants to Freddie Mercury's throne" - a jab at Behren's high-pitched wails and, well, lack of anything else. as a fan of Ghostland's work, when i first listened to Robotique Majestique i could tell that they were really, really trying. like really hard. too hard. much of the album - nearly a third in fact - are awkwardly-composed instrumentals that seem to try and emulate the reinvention of daft punk, the 2006/2007 french electronica movement, and conjure up all things Ed Banger (Justice, DJ Mehdi, SebastiAn, DSL, etc.). all innovative and interesting - last year. previous albums have been lyrically focused - incorporating the necessary dance beats and soul-blazing rhythms that make them a good listen and a great show. Robotique just didn't hit the mark. honestly, the track Club Soda on Ghostland's new album sounds almost exactly like Busy P's "Rainbow Man." come on - not only did Busy P do that first - but he's also Daft Punk's manager, garnering slightly more credibility that a disco-pop band out of Austin.

i guess every band needs a "sophmore slump" album of sorts. still, i'll go see them live any chance i get.