Ghost of the Russian Empire

The Mammoth (Thirty Ghosts)

Local quartet Ghost of the Russian Empire has managed a shoegaze homage without date or distraction. Debut LP The Mammoth swells dark and warm. Bounding away from the MBV pigeonhole dug out on 2006’s great fuzz-bomb EP, With Fiercest Demolition, the Ghost corrals those 1990s stalwarts with explosive opener “A Decade Without a Death,” part shoegaze, part dance rock. The mindset of a guitar riff so hopeful yet so destructive is echoed in Brandon Whitten’s oracular lyrics: “We will ensure a war for every generation and a rank for every man. The forecast calls for sirens.” Drenched in deserving reverb, the disc glows on cool ode “Hammer Hands,” paranoid “Mandroid,” and the cold chill of “Dresden.” Suffering only from a bit of top-heaviness and subtle differentiation, The Mammoth strings along a collusion of fragility and warning, while again exclaiming the prowess of Austin producer/engineer Erik Wofford.

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This article appears in May 16 • 2008.

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