Our Own Ghost City is an album full of off key time signatures, twinkling guitars riffs and rife with melody. On paper this sounds grand but in practise is quite a tiring effort.

Repetition is what brings the album down, I often found myself struggling to determine where one track ended and another began a trait all too familiar with this style of music. In style, the album sits neatly somewhere between the technical ability of Minus the Bear and the melody of Biffy Clyro, something that unfortunately, my brain immediately flagged as something I wouldn’t enjoy, especially with the latter comparison as it crosses the border into cheese territory.

Skill seems to be the key attribute of the band; Our Own Ghost City is a very technical affair with choppy, angular guitars and odd time signatures that are executed with a huge amount of finesse and ability, just not in a manner that I enjoy.

And it’s this that divides me, single (We all) Talk With Knives is a perfect example of how the band can get it right, a short and catchy track that manages to hold my attention, not too complex and not too plain, maybe a sign that I’d be more suited to listening to an ep than album.
In short, Our Own Ghost City isn’t the most original album of late, it does get certain things right, but for me the majority of it is too nondescript. It’s definitely enjoyable in short listens but alas something just doesn’t sit right with me.

Helen Earth Band – (We All) Talk With Knives from One Bad Landing on Vimeo.