Release Date: September 14, 2021
FFO: Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Poison
2020
is a year that will not soon be forgotten by anyone who lived it. In
the midst of unprecedented chaos and a global pandemic, artists began
seeking new ways to be creative and share the gift of music with a world
that desperately needed it.
Ghosts
of Sunset, featuring former (Dutch Henry) singer-songwriter John
Merchant from Western Michigan, and one time Michigan resident and now
residing in Florida, multi-instrumentalist and former (The Verve Pipe)
drummer Todd Long, dealt with it by releasing an EP called “Headed
West”.
“Headed
West” found Merchant and Long joined by a cast of musicians with their
roots in the 1980’s hard rock/hair metal scene especially in Los
Angeles, California. The duo brought in well-known musicians that
included Tim Mosher (Junkyard), Traci Guns (LA Guns) , Adam Hamilton
(Tuff) , Johnny Monaco (Enuff Z’Nuff) , Stacey Blades (Ratt) and Bruno
Ravel (Danger Danger) to name but a few.
The
5-song effort garnered world-wide attention, airplay, downloads and
streams for its well-crafted songs that told the story of the rise and
fall of a fictional hair-metal band in the 1980s. As ambitious as it was
to try and develop characters and a storyline over such a short span,
somehow the pair pulled it off and listeners connected. Ghosts of Sunset
had found an audience who longed for a connection with a genre they
loved, but whose musical tastes were mature enough to demand solid
songwriting.
Now,
the duo are presenting a full-length album titled “No Saints in the
City”. Following the formula laid down by “Headed West”, Merchant and
Long once again invited musical input from a cast of influences that
includes members of 1980s “hair-metal” staples like Bang Tango, Little
Caesar, Lita Ford, and E’nuff Z’nuff, but widens its musical palette
with guests from bands like Gene Loves Jezebel, the Cruzados, and the
Great Affairs.
While
not a “concept” in the pure sense that “Headed West” was, “No Saints in
the City” still uses its 11 songs to deeply explore characters, their
struggles, and the human experience. The album serves up music you can
hear with songs you can feel.
The
first single on Golden Robot Records, “No Saints in the City” due out
on June 8, 2021 mines the fertile soil of the quest to “make it” on the
streets of New York City and just what the true cost is spiritually and
emotionally. The attention of detail paid to the songs main character
instantly connects and draws the listener in.
A
second single to be released later in 2021, “If You’re Not Coming Back”
looks at addiction, love, and loss with an unflinching eye. Ghosts of
Sunset pride themselves in being able to present material with “weight”
as well as good-time, punk attitude, solid rock n roll.
“No
Saints in the City” still bears the mark and influence of the 1980s
hard rock and “hair-metal” scene, but opens its door to a wide-range of
influences as varied as late 70s punk and rock n roll like the New York
Dolls, the early glitter of Bowie, the ground-breaking work of Hanoi
Rocks, as well as artists like Jesse Malin, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen
and even authors like Danny Lyon and his book “Bikeriders” (a result of a
deep affinity for the music of Memphis Tennessee-based rockers Lucero).
Throughout
“No Saints in the City”, guitars clash over a relentless bed of driving
bass and drums, while lyrics and vocals avoid typical cliché as they
further compositions that take twists and turns eliciting a visceral
response to every story told.
Ghosts
of Sunset and “No Saints in the City” will definitely leave a mark that
keeps listeners returning again and again trying to place themselves
inside of each story.
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