Windsor for the Derby
Giving Up the Ghost (Secretly Canadian)
Windsor for the Derby’s seventh LP, Giving Up the Ghost, is a wooden roller coaster: a towering beast swaying to and fro with the will of the wind. Sadly, the organic thrill ride jostles and shakes, oftentimes stalling out and wasting effort. Austin expatriate Jason McNeely, an early portion of I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness, joined his longtime music cohort Dan Matz in Philadelphia, and together in a dark living room, the two created an album full of promise but low on result. The opening chugs of “Dirge for a Pack of Lies” create that sensation of rising to the top, but the squealing keys of “Empathy for People Unknown” combined with off-key vox stall out before the wheels even start turning. Album highlight “Shadows” is a dark tunnel of dissonance, with instrumental “Front” providing segue into Windsor’s sensitive side. “Giving Up” begins as a closet recording, which fans of Bright Eyes will drool over, only to become an Up With People sunshine dialogue between lovers. From that point through closer “Every Word You Ever Said,” the Philly fourpiece is doused in patchouli and holding hands. Poor Windsor. The miles between them served as motivation, and now, 10 years later, it seems the momentum might’ve faded.
This article appears in September 9 • 2005.