Just when everything was shutting down in 2020, Mike Doughty announced that he was teaming up with longtime sideman Andrew “Scraps” Livingston as “Ghost of Vroom”, immediately and intentionally evoking memories of Doughty’s hit nineties alt-jazz outfit Soul Coughing. COVID era EP Ghost of Vroom 2 (QRO review) and post-COVID full-length Ghost of Vroom (QRO review) both did sound a lot like Soul Coughing, but the group has been slowly leaning into a sadder, more mature sound, now with the (creatively titled) Ghost of Vroom 3.
Even for the alt-nineties, Soul Coughing didn’t sound like much else that was as successful (except for maybe the late, lamented Morphine), with synth & beats & Doughty’s free jazz ways. Well, everyone uses synths & beats these days, but Ghost of Vroom still stands out, not just for its jazz but also a darkness that Doughty brings. This keeps smooth songs such as opener “Still Getting It Done” or the killer loss of “Yesterday In California” from becoming ‘smooth jazz’, and sees the likes of “Pay the Man” and “Cold Smoke” slyly rising from above just scatting jazz.
We’re far enough into the twenty-first century to have moved on from just simple nineties nostalgia (now we’re nostalgic for the aughts…), to a more evolved interpretation of the last easy decade. So, welcome this Ghost.
