Ghost Hounds A Little Calamity
By Mike O’Cull
Pittsburgh’s blues/rock favorites Ghost Hounds turn in an outstanding and highly flavorful effort on the band’s new album A Little Calamity. Set to emerge September 3rd, 2021 on Maple House Records, the 13-song set is the group’s second full-length title and is proudly fueled by their love of true rock and roll. The six-piece outfit has the genre down cold and the members are clearly connected and committed to every note they play. They easily and naturally mix an intuitive feel for anything blues-related with the kind of electric rock presence needed to heat up a 21st Century stadium crowd. Ghost Hounds have, in fact, already made inroads into the arena scene as an opening act for The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, and Bob Seger. Those in the know feel that A Little Calamity is going to get the band several steps closer to being headliners in their own right.
The six musicians in Ghost Hounds, Tre’ Nation (vocals), Johnny Baab (guitar), Thomas Tull (guitar), Bennett Miller (bass), Blaise Lanzetta (drums), and Joe Munroe (keys), make up a tight, capable unit that has been turning heads since their debut album Roses Are Black dropped in 2019. They have built a large and ever-expanding following that can’t get enough of the group’s tough, old school sound, hot playing, and expert songwriting. Onstage, they blaze like an Alabama smokestack and put on the kind of show that fans talk about for the rest of their days. The band has been praised by Billboard, American Songwriter, and other major publications and many in the business consider them one of the acts most likely to blow up in the next couple of years.
A Little Calamity kick starts its own party with the rocking, Stones-inflected “Half My Fault.” Its pounding bass-and-piano pocket drives vocalist Tre’ Nation into a righteous fervor as he knowingly claims his share of a romantic disaster. Guitarists Baab and Tull groove and weave like Keith and Woody over the track’s hip-shaking pocket and help make this one a perfect moment for all lovers of great guitar music. “Between Me and the Devil” is up next and gets heavier and harder. It sits on some killer rhythm guitar work supported by big-league takes from drummer Lanzetta and bassist Miller. They’re an epically strong section that really gets underneath tunes like this and turns them into high-toned, kinetic masterpieces.
The single “Good Old Days” is a sentimental, mid-tempo cut about realizing that we’re living out the best days of our lives right now. It has an honest vibe, a big chorus, and a message that anyone and everyone can relate to. The song also has a slight country/Americana attitude to it that only serves to make it that much sweeter. It was co-written by guitarist Thomas Tull and songwriter/producer Kevin Bowe (Etta James, Paul Westerberg and the Replacements) and has hit song DNA all over it. Vocalist Nation sings “Yesterday’s over and tomorrow ain’t here / Yeah, these are the good old days,” trying to get people to understand that right now is it, it’s all we’ve got, and we need to make the most of it.
One of the best moments captured on A Little Calamity is the punching cover of Bruce Springsteen’s outsider anthem “Thunder Road.” It’s a sprawling, poetic song that few musicians have the moxie to take on but Ghost Hounds grab hold of every bit of its greatness and glory, claiming them as their own. Vocalist Sasha Allen shows up in a big way to add a new dimension to the reinvention and sounds incredible alongside Nation. Cutting this song is a huge show of heart, ambition, and authenticity by Ghost Hounds and lets the world know that they’ve got this rock and roll thing happening from the bottom to the top. When an up-and-coming band can put down this much power and poetry, big things are on the way. Rock fans had better clear some space in their record collections for Ghost Hounds because A Little Calamity is unquestionably one of the top records of 2021. Don’t miss it. You’ve been warned.
Watch “Half My Fault”
Nice!
That’s what I call old school Rock`N`Roll, done right!
Good stuff. Stones or Faces influenced.
Love it! A dose of good old down home rock.