Jukebox
the Ghost
Smiling comes easy listening to Jukebox the Ghost. The band even looks like they are having fun while playing the piano-centered pop that brings unpredictable sound twists and whimsy.
Their refreshing sound prompts lighter thoughts on days when heavy headlines keep us reflecting about an impending doom. The band invites us to welcome these surprises and risky experimental transitions, gambling on whether we’ll enjoy them or loathe them as an annoying diversion.
With Off to the Races, the group’s fifth album, be prepared for a rhythmic rollercoaster that swerves from synth sounds, classic piano segments and drumbeats that help to spur it along. In the song, “Everybody’s Lonely,” lyrics pull the lens back a bit and ponder how musical groups decide to always write about love or “drinking too much.” It’s because “everybody’s lonely” and the band wants you to share in this realization of together isolation.
It hasn’t been all head bobs and foot taps, though. They've put in the work. Since forming in college a dozen years ago they have played more than 1,000 times in the U.S. and abroad, opening for heavy-hitters Ben Folds Five and Guster and making festival appearances at Bonnaroo and Bottleneck. --TA
