Our Last Night: The Ghosts Among Us

So, this is what the kids in New Hampshire are up to these days, eh?

I have to admit that Our Last Night’s debut full length release, The Ghosts Among Us, really threw me for a loop. The first 30 seconds of the opening track, “Symptoms of a Failing System,” made me wonder whether I’d want to listen to the rest of the disc at all. I’m not the biggest fan of contemporary hardcore punk, to say the least. So let’s just say that I was a little stunned at the half-minute mark to learn about the band’s split personality.

If you’re going to try getting into this record, you have to accept one simple truth: this is a band equally at home making very melodic pop-punk anthems as well as grinding out the hardcore angst, so much so that they’ve perfected the fine art of switching back and forth between the two styles at a moment’s notice without any regard for whether or not you can keep up. The simple fact that they never miss a beat along the way helps a lot in this regard.

While this is another one of those bands with two singers - brothers Trevor and Matt Wentworth - who go through the routine of switching from sweet melodic statements to the sound of an enraged roaring bull with the greatest of ease, it’s the melodic moments that save this record. Yes, the noisier, angular riffing and screaming really builds tension quite effectively, but it’s the big harmonized choruses that really deliver the release required to fully appreciate it all.

This band has chops coming out the wazoo, and I have no problem imagining a parallel universe in which someone has convinced them to concentrate solely on the melodic side of their sound. They’re big rock stars in that hypothetical dimension, but in this world we have to contend with a band that sticks to their guns and pushes the limits of what this punk rock thing is all about anyway. All in all, I’d say that’s a pretty decent trade off.

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