The Black Ghosts: Any Way You Choose to Give It

The Black Ghosts
Any Way You Choose to Give It
I Am Sound
2007-10-30

You know the voice of the guy in the Black Ghosts, Simon Lord. He’s the singer on a little song called “We Are Your Friends” by Simian that was reinterpreted by Justice a few years ago and jumped straight into the Zeitgeist. The main song on their debut EP, Any Way You Choose to Give It, had also been buoyed by a slurry of banging remixes that have started to slide their way into indie bars’ iPod sets and kids’ consciousness. That the sound is a rip-off of Hot Chip we can easily forgive — because hey, you can’t have too much Hot Chip, right? And we know there’s more to the group than the four songs that appear on their American debut — there’s a dubstep remix by Plastician & Skream of “Some Way Through This” that is absolutely banging. The title track, over layers of synths and with the blue-eyed soul of Junior Boys, approaches memorability with its sheer force of will. It ends up being a fine song, and perfectly serviceable as a minor dancefloor hit — but the Black Ghosts must sill be searching for their “Over & Over”. The other songs on the EP showcase the electropop duo’s range, veering from the electrified folk that propelled Various last year (“Full Moon”) to the bass-heavy riffage of “Something New”. The duo could use some more inventive percussion (it’s why the remixes rather than the original songs have been exciting people), but there’s the makings of the next electropop sensation.

RATING 7 / 10