GHOST STORIES - Quixoticism Review

Former Fruit Bats, Joggers and Dismemberment Plan collaborator Ron Lewis effortlessly establishes himself as a burgeoning songwriting force with Quixoticism, under the moniker of Ghost Stories. The record flitters between buoyant, transcendent indie pop, eerie lo-fi folk and everything in between, making use of psychedelic-tinged guitars, frail vocals and spacy elements at times. Lewis set the songs to tape in his house over the past couple of years. Suffice to say, it could soon be a bedroom classic.
...full text There is something slighty different about Ghost Stories than your typical band. The music sounds kind of normal, normal referring to any sort of upstart band consisting of a group of friends ambling through music with two guitarists, a bass, and a drummer, but not really. For one, the formula listed above is tweaked with a number of variables like a penchant for a leading acoustic guitar in place of electric, whereas the electric guitar is rarely used conventionally, often providing a haunting steady rhythm of drawn out chords on the verge of giving a feedback shriek, but never quite releasing, always tensed in suspense in contrast to the light lyrics sung with a soft voice and often backed by sounds of birds and things that might be found in a muppets musical interlude accompanied by an unrelenting jolly tramp of a marching percussive rhythm with a positive slope....full text Ron Lewis, aka Ghost Stories, is a folk-rock hybrid content to try every pleasure-seeking trick in the indie reference book. And it comes as no surprise to learn that the former member of the Fruit Bats and the Joggers' RIYL trip through 1990s indie rock was partially conceived seven years ago, making for several nostalgic, easygoing pieces content to sit on an era gone by. Lewis perfected the older tunes, wrote a few 00s trend-teasers, and recorded it all in the comfort of his home. ...full text