Ghostwoman have been one of my favourite acts since hearing their Lost Echo’s EP, a growling record that I said was “packed full of rattlesnake venom and bourbon”. Ille van Dessel (drums) and Evan Uschenko (guitar and vocals) make a sound that far exceeds their duo status. They are two audio mechanics who prowl the sonic junkyard to Frankenstein a vicious-looking Mad Max vehicle with V8 power, N2 O and multiple chrome exhausts that spit fire, filthy blues, and psychedelia. Welcome To The Civilised World is the album that the band say was “born to a broken world” with their fear that making music now is an act of futility, “The album is inspired by the absurdity of human behaviour and the circus that is life.” I say that, like so much of the best music, anything that creates such glorious respite from gloomy news cycles and the world’s crazy lurch to the alt-right is worth its weight in gold.
Two of the strongest tracks are sitting upfront in this drag racing Cadillac. The title track has elastic guitar chords that twang like steel cables with unwavering drums pounding out every beat, and this crashes into the epic ‘Alive’ with a killer riff that kicks in after the ‘bap-bap’ announcement of the snare. The verses swoon and the chorus soars, with everything surfing the judder of tremolo guitar.
‘that Jesus’ is a cruise control through wet streets reflecting neon, ‘Gold Pieces’ is born of the blues but slurs like graveyard glam rock, and the telephone-vocals and blackhole compression of ‘Levon’ makes me convinced that Ghostwoman were separated at birth from another one of my favourite bands Black Mekon (I would pay good money to them on the same bill). ‘Gold Pieces’ also demonstrates how the band prefer to work intuitively as this was recorded as a test after they bought a new tape machine. “The first shot is often the best, and that test is what you hear today.”
‘Dime a Dozen’ has sparse chords, military snare and haunts your dreams. ‘When You Were All Young’ shows Ghostwoman’s ability to weave a tune that slides up and down as easily as it slides another earworm into your brain, and along with ‘Song For Sunny’ demonstrates their ability to move from crackling mid and treble before bringing in thunderous bass notes like subwoofers from Hades.
‘From Now On’ basks in the glow of liquid light shows from the psychedelic era, ‘Anhedonia’ slows everything down with the swish of brushes with the reverb-twang of guitar like the louche sway of a dancer at Twin Peak’s Roadhouse bar. It’s also the track that allows Uschenko to cut loose with a tremendous blues solo. ‘Who Are You’ closes the album with double time drums and half time guitar which creates molasses tension while drone vocals cut through piercing rollercoaster guitar chords.
In the way that synesthesiacs see colours when they listen to music, when I listen to Ghostwoman my brain goes into image-creation-overload. I see neon drag racers tearing down apocalyptic highways, abandoned cities crumbling, subterranean rivers of lava, continental plates colliding, clifftop vistas, lightning storms over roiling seas, crystal caves sparkling with black diamonds. They can be found playing at the spooky abandoned fun fair or on top of the silos of a disused chemical plant. Ghostwoman are the yin to the White Stripes yang but with Link Ray and John Bonham instead of Jack and Meg. They are utterly tectonic, and their music vibrates my cells like a tuning fork. What I said in a previous review still holds true ‘These are the kinds of ghosts you want to be haunted by’.
Ghostwoman socials: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
The band are touring the UK in October and November this year:
24/10/2025 – UK – Hare & Hounds – Birmingham
25/10/2025 – UK – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds
26/10/2025 – IE – The Grand Social – Dublin
28/10/2025 – UK – Stereo – Glasgow
29/10/2025 – UK – YES – Manchester
30/10/2025 – UK – Exchange – Bristol
01/11/2025 – UK – The Garage – London
02/11/2025 – UK – Patterns – Brighton
Ghostwoman on Joyzine: Ille & Evan – My Life in 10 Songs | Album review: Hindsight is 50/50 | Album review: Ghostwoman – Ghostwoman | EP Review: Ghostwoman – Lost Echo’s
Review by Paul F Cook
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