CD Review
Artist: Ghostkeeper
Album: Children of the Great Northern Muskeg
Label: Saved By Radio
Publicity: Killbeat Music
Release Date: July 15^th, 2008

Reviewed By: Alexander Hutt (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada)

It is fine to sell yourself on the music market by defining your style, but it is not right to define yourself by a style that you are clearly not. Professing to be one of the newest bands on the blues-rock scene, Ghostkeeper sounds more like a garage band with keyboards, thus reflecting more of a soft pop feel than gritty blues-rock. Neither are they roots or folk music, as they do not share the sound of either genre. It seems dishonest and unnecessary to over romanticize their sound, which in the end has little to no definition.  

There is not much musical range in this album, as the guitarists Jay Crocker and Shane are stretching the same three chords across the duration of the track list. Scott Munro's bass is hardly ever heard from and is largely forgot. Miss Sarah Jane does have some tantalizing vocals, but they are sidelined in favor of Jay Crocker's cracked, ineffective voice, that eventually gets drowned out by the instruments. In addition to this, her drumming is repetitive and mind-numbing, which would have been acceptable if it was used to maintain the tempo of the songs, instead of being showcased in solos.

All this is a disappointment because the lyrics are well wrote and tell interesting stories of life in a Métis community. Thus, it is quite hard to decipher the intelligent lyrics over the mush of sound, and even harder to pick out the separate instruments. As a result, Ghostkeeper's personality is largely absent and unmemorable.  

Despite the shortcomings of Ghostkeeper, "Mr.No Show" is a good opening track mainly because the opening seconds actually show some musical diversity and the voice of Miss Sarah Jane is a welcome addition. The songs in which the band attempt to harmonize their vocals fail as the voices of the male members are muffled by each other, as well as overshadowed by Miss Sarah Jane's voice.  

There is no question that the music of Ghostkeeper comes from the heart, but there is also no question that this album is more focused on the music rather than the lyrics, even if that is the intention of the group or not.

Children of the Great Northern Muskeg will be released on July 15^th, 2008.  

1. "Mr.No Show" - 3:04
2. "Cruisin The Chev" - 3:44
3. "Lady of the Sky" - 3:17
4. "The Introduction" - 3:10
5. "Solid Gold" - 4:55
6. "Afternoon Girl" - 3:31
7. "Skippin Church" - 3:10
8. "From The Muskeg" - 3:19
9. "Three More Springs" - 4:04
10. "The Boxes and the Bottles" - 3:07