Tags archives: Ben Thornewill
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9 years ago
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Brooklyn by way of D.C. band Jukebox the Ghost playing Irving Plaza Saturday night to a packed house. For what was effectively a hometown show, the fans showed up in force. Openers Secret Someones and Little Daylight warmed up the crowded venue and around 10 the band finally took the stage.
They began with “Postcard” off of their newest album, Jukebox the Ghost, which came out earlier this year. It’s an upbeat follow-up to the more somber, but still poppy Safe Travel that the band released in 2012. The record was the first on their new label Cherrytree Records. Jukebox signed to the branch of Interscope Records in late January. The month turned out to be a busy one for the band. In addition to releasing a new records, the band also played Conan, did a cover swap with Twin Forks, recorded a Bangels cover with Secret Someones and did a Bands and Brews sessions with Baeble Music. The band's guitarist Tommy Siegel also spoke to the Nerdist for their Car Tunes and Cartoons series and released a book of his "van doodles" after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
For their Irving Plaza appearance, the band played a mix of songs from each of their albums. This included tunes from their debut Let Live and Let Ghosts, like "Static to the Heart" and "Victoria", and songs from their second album Everything Under the Sun, like “Schizophrenia” and “The Stars”. For long-time fans, a highlight of these older songs was the combination of “My Heart’s the Same” and “Lighting Myself on [...]
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10 years ago
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The first two albums from piano pop band Jukebox the Ghost have a distinctive spring to them that for a time defined the band’s sound. Let Live and Let Ghosts (2008) and Everything Under the Sun (2010) are both upbeat and lighthearted when compared to the more somber Safe Travels (2012). For this their third album, the dark humor like “Schizophrenia” and the cheekiness of tracks like “Hold It In” gave way to songs like the more serious “Don’t Let Me Fall Behind” and the more introspective “Dead.” Safe Travels marked a sonic as well as a thematic shift for the band. They still wrote humorous piano-driven pop songs, evident by tracks like “Oh, Emily,” but the album also showed that the band was learning to slow down and refine their sound. The track “Everybody Knows” perhaps best represents this new sound, this new trajectory that the band continued on for their newest release Jukebox the Ghost.
Their self-titled, which came out on the 21st, sounds like a continuation of Safe Travel. It returns to some of the same themes lyrically and sonically walks a similar line. That same slow building, anthem-esque beat of “Everybody Knows” can be found in the album’s lead single “The Great Unknown.” The song opens with pianist/vocalist Ben Thornewill singing alone to his piano; this is built masterfully into a crescendo of layered vocals and snare drum. This sound, along with the song's lyrics, characterizes Jukebox the Ghost. The lyrics are autobiographical, but still relatable an[...]
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