Ghost Orchids
The King Is Dead (Prince House)
By Noreen Sobczyk
Published: November 19th, 2003 | 6:15pm
Instead of empty electronics, San Francisco's Ghost Orchids offer up "a little meat with their candy."
This band is difficult to categorize, with its hints of electronica, goth, and hard dance. Sure, I could see the clove-smoking set really liking this CD, but the Ghost Orchids can't be so easily cornered into being just one thing. There is romance, but it is cold. There is sex and it is rough. "Keep Your Secrets" is infectious and full of angst and reminds me of something I would have thoroughly enjoyed dancing to at a dark and sweaty club in the late '80s. There are politics hidden within the Ghost Orchids' highly danceable beats. The King Is Dead was recorded as the United States was gearing up to wage war. Its themes tend to revolve around catastrophe, wreckage, dissolution, anger, longing, and lust. This is dance music for people who want a little meat with their candy.
The band cites the Factory label as an influence, and perhaps it is that digestion and reformation of post punk that makes this a very interesting and satisfying album. Vocals are often traded like an artist spewing emotion onto a canvas and another coming along and painting differently, but in the same vein. It took me several listens to begin to unveil the heart of the matter on these songs, rather like peeling away the layers of an onion grown by Cabaret Voltaire. There are moments of subtlety and emotion in the Ghost Orchids' music that are often missing from other electronic bands. The music on The King Is Dead is sparse and yet lush, much like the gorgeous black and white cover art.
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