Vancouver underground heroes Apollo Ghosts have always specialized in bringing humour and sweetness to difficult subject matter. Whether singing about gentrification, grief or near-death experiences, the band's jangling indie rock and frontman Adrian Teacher's witty, earnest lyrics exude warmth.
The same is true of their new mini-album, Amethyst, which they surprise-released today as a digital-only release for You've Changed Records. It's noisier than anything they've ever recorded, with squeals of feedback and grungy distortion mucking up the band's usual palette of chiming arpeggios, evoking college rock forebears like Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr. and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain era Pavement.
The seven songs grapple with the dread of living in a world on fire under leaders who are unmotivated to change anything, and the half-spoken post-punk rocker "Fake Nurse" finds Teacher drawling, "Look, I voted for the guy / Least likely to let us fry / The world is sick and so am I."
It's a cynical sentiment — but, by the time the Ghosts get to the heroic rock riffs of Amethyst closer "No One Knows Your Mind," they find comfort in human connection. While the song's title suggests loneliness, Teacher's chorus finishes the phrase with a more comforting perspective: "No one know's your mind like I do." Things suck, but at least we've got each other — and we've got Apollo Ghosts.
