4 out of 5

Label: Not on label?

Producer: Girls Against Boys?

Dang, bizzy, how long has it been – eight years or something?  And I would say that GVSB returns without missing a beat… and be telling the truth, but they’ve definitely added some beats.  Which is by no means a bad thing.  ‘Ghost List’ looks forward and backward, bringing (to my ear) little touches from various eras – the oohs and ahhs on ‘Diamond Life’ remind of Venus Luxure, the slick beat of ‘Hit’ of House of GVSB – but also fully allowing the influences of the various band members last few years of forays into production and other bands to touch the songs.  Would a straight up rocker like ‘Let’s Get Killed’ ever have made its way on to a disc before?  Methinks not.  I loved ‘You Can’t Fight,’ but I’ll agree that at points I felt like the group was trying a bit too hard to wash away Freak*on*ica (even though I like that album too…) and prove that they still had the swagger by upping the hardcore influences on the disc and distilling some of McCloud’s generally cryptically sexy and cynical lyrics into straight up cynicism.  ‘Ghost List,’ on the other hand, feels entirely natural and organic, the group just enjoying playing together again.  Which is perhaps why it comes and goes so quickly, just a snapshot of something.

It’s not all aces, of course – I mentioned ‘Let’s Get Killed’s uniqueness amongst GVSB’s catalogue and, well, frankly its a fairly weak track, lacking a direct hook.  Unlike the other songs here, which either hit hard and fast (‘Fade Out’) or just surprise with some gutsy riffing and drumming (Fleisig finally gets to let loose!).  And the lyrics feel… hm… like an afterthought, sorta.  It’s what you would expect from a band that’s been around for a while, commenting on the scene instead of narrating from within the scene.  The points aren’t new.  But… we still get what I would consider a ‘traditional’ GVSB track with 60 > 15, and it’s a reminder that all it takes to spin these lyrics into something you want to sing along with is a good beat.

Sure, I wish there was more, but as I’ve already been through this EP enough times to know it from start to finish and I’m lookin’ forward to hitting play again…. I really can’t complain that much.