Frayden- Ghost Crash
7/10

Say the name Frayden around Auckland and you’ll probably get a bit of a mixed response; I saw them play live last year and wasn’t particularly impressed. However Ghost Crash has me wondering what’s wrong. Full of harmonious punk anthems, the band’s debut album is a semi-brutal assault that has far more enthusiasm than witnessed in their live show. Hayden Fritchley takes charge on drums and leads his band through a grimy set of punk numbers, wearing holes in their west-coast punk jeans proudly as they crunch their way through thirteen modestly ambitious songs. Built solidly around the band’s instrumental ability and recorded expertly by Bob Frisbee, the album relies heavily on stringing together the instrumental parts; vocals almost seem like an after thought. Single ‘Legion Of Ants’ is the exception, grinding together ’90s skater punk with Flipper’s doom rock, the song is almost too obviously different from the rest. However it leads into the highlight of the album, ‘EF Club’, an honestly defunct punk number that sticks more to the core foundations of the rest of songs. Tailing out towards the end of the album, ‘Drift’ has a sense of slime that’s dripped from earlier tracks ‘Monster’ and ‘How The Dead Live’, while ‘Burning First Love’ gets a little self-absorbed in causing chaos. Structured in a similar way to Jay Reatard’s recent Watch Me Fall, Frayden’s Ghost Crash sadly goes from a very strong beginning to a less inspiring conclusion.
Nick

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under Album, Reviews