Show Review: Gross Ghost w/ Last Year’s Men, Schooner

In celebration of Gross Ghost’s newest release, Public Housing, they threw a party with a solid lineup on Friday, November 22. The show was at Cat’s Cradle’s newly opened “back room,” located in the same building as the Cradle in Carrboro but a separate space entirely. This was my first time there and I really enjoyed the set up. You can find it by walking behind the Arts Center or the Cradle depending on where you parked. Pro tip: there’s a new parking deck that’s usable for show overflow parking, which came in handy considering the main room also had a show going on that night. Immediately when you walk in you have the bar to your left and the stage on the right. I watched the show from the upstairs area, a bit compact but great vantage point with both seated and standing room available without feeling a disconnect from the downstairs crowd.

Simply put, Schooner gets you pumped. They were a great choice to kick off the night. Bouncing around and switching off instruments between members depending on the song, they played old and new tunes. Juan Huevos joined them on stage to rap during “Still in Love,” a pretty chill track off of their newest album Neighborhood Veins. It added a different flavor from the album version and really complimented the vibe of the song.  The new songs translated well to a live performance, and as usual, the band didn’t disappoint.

Last Year’s Men followed, rocking out with a few scattered dance moves and head bangs.  It’s absolutely impossible to stand still during their shows. Within a few strums you’re inevitably going to be tapping your foot, drumming on your bottle with your free hand or dancing. A vivacious band with fast guitar riffs, they cracked some jokes between songs and easily impressed the people in the crowd who were unfamiliar with them before.

Gross Ghost, hosting the night, looked overjoyed to hop onstage and share their new songs. While most of the show focused on Public Housing tracks, they still hit all the favorites from Brer Rabbit, including “Leslie” and “Architect.” The new songs were equally as catchy, offering stomps and hooks that became earworms. Some of my favorites of the night were “You Will” and “Seeds.” The album as a whole has been getting significant play on the local college radio stations and good reviews across the board. The band brought the energy that solidified this. Vocals followed the guitar melody that came to life with Mike Dillon’s stage presence. Thankful and appreciative of the crowd, they had a hell of a set, including cameo appearances from local artists, too. Christy Smith of the Tender Fruit joined for supplementary vocals on “They Say,” and Stu McLamb of The Love Language took over bass at the end of the night. 

Album Review: "Public Housing" by Gross Ghost

"Public Housing" was released on Oct. 29 on
Odessa Records. Gross Ghost will be celebrating
their album release this Friday, Nov. 22 at Cat's Cradle's
new Back Room w/ Last Year's Men and Schooner.

“It starts this way/nothing to do nothing to say,” Mike Dillon desperately sings out as the opening track to Gross Ghost’s latest full-length Public Housing kicks in. A brisk drum beat and bouncing bass line drive along until the electric guitar frenetically bursts through the mix, setting the tone for what’s to come on this enthralling sophomore release from Gross Ghost.

While their debut Brer Rabbit relished in playful poignancy, Dillon and company go straight for the throat on Public Housing, an album the chronicles a hectic period of couch surfing during the post-break up wake. Tracks like the album’s opener “Seeds” display a lot of the sentiments that can be found on Public Housing, Dillon wears his emotions on his sleeve as he runs the gamut of reactionary tales. While the overarching themes delve into looking back on loves lost, their sonic foundation is strongly geared towards the future.

Public Housing is a crisp record that was recorded at The Pinhook in Durham, one of the attributing factors to the unequivocal energy that oozes out of these tracks. The addition of longtime collaborator Christopher Hutcherson-Riddle has allowed the drums to serve as a powerful driving force for these rhythmically focused songs. Vocal melodies will frequently mirror the guitar riffs, making for wonderful interplay between all of the various textures in place. Public Housing finds Gross Ghost putting together all of the pieces that make for a tight, cohesive band with a strong drive to succeed.

Whether it be the unforgettable hooks on tracks like “You Will” or the unshakeable grooves on “Howlin,” Dillon’s songwriting is the strongest it’s been to date on Public Housing. While Brer Rabbit was a wonderful album that I still find myself drawn to, it very much just tackled the surface of this band’s potential. Public Housing plunges deeper into the rabbit hole, allowing for intimate connections with these tracks. The album’s lone acoustic excursion, “Dissolve” is filled with insatiable longings of “wanting it all,” and manages to fit in perfectly with the distorted anthems it’s surrounded by. This can easily be attributed to that constant sense of connectivity with these songs, Dillon has poured himself into these tracks and it’s paid off immensely.

Whether you’re hulled up in the house or barreling down the interstate, Public Housing’s versatility lends itself to plenty of listening situations. The introspection allows for listeners to entrench themselves in these tunes while the upbeat, jangling instrumentation makes these songs capable of filling you with uncontainable energy, driving you to shake, sway and shout along to these infectious songs. Public Housing gives Gross Ghost a powerful foundation to build upon, with two fantastic releases behind them there’s an undeniable spotlight shone upon this group. It’s clear that Public Housing is only the beginning for this newly cemented lineup of Gross Ghost, and there’s nowhere but up to go from here.