A fresh take on an old sound comes out of the prairies of Canada on twin sides of Ghostkeeper’s debut, Children of the Great Northern Muskeg. Self-taught musicians Shane Ghostkeeper and Sarah Houle dip into the blues-folk well of the sixties, but don’t just deliver some retread. Instead, they reuse and reinvent, creating a still-diverse record able to stand up with any in the revival of these roots.
Children opens with the catch blues-pop of “Mr. No Show”, which is exceeded only by second-half starter “Afternoon Girl”. While each side of the album is varied, the two halves play a bit like mirror images of each other: for instance, third track “Lady of the Sky” is similar to the two-after-“Afternoon” number, “From the Muskeg”. But this approach actually works well, as it reminds the listener of the different styles they like from Ghostkeeper. “Lady” and “Muskeg”, for instance, are both prep-cute (reminiscent of alt-hits Vampire Weekend), but very good prep-cute (more reminiscent of sure-to-be alt-hits, Spinto Band).
And both sides have their best-of-the-best following, in “The Introduction” and “Three More Springs”. “Introduction” is a great blues-rock press, while “Springs” is some back-of-the-bar blues-fun. Unfortunately, each is followed by the record’s weakest pieces, “Solid Gold” and “The Boxes and the Bottles”. “Gold” is a nice, blues-y sing-along, but drags a little, while “Boxes” is more of a pluck-strum, and not what Ghostkeeper does best.
But Ghostkeeper does a lot well, and that shows on Children of the Great Northern Muskeg. Americana sixties-roots-revival has been on the upswing lately, and the wide-open plains stretch north to Canada – why shouldn’t their sound, as well?
