LiVES - Ghosts

Having reviewed LiVES collaboration with Dolium ‘Shame!’ back in May as well as that of Dolium’s standalone new single ‘All My Sins’ only recently, I was asked by Paul over at Kick Down the Doors PR whether I fancied covering LiVES latest release, the ‘Burn’ single for Clean Sheets. This and the involvement of the good folks over at Sister 9 Recordings resulted in a resounding fuck yes! The track serves as a preview for the band’s upcoming full-length release Ghosts, which is due out at the end of January next year.

The band, for those not familiar with them, comprise Peter Chisholm – Guitar, Vocals & Keys, Alex Chisholm - Drums & Vocals and Dan Billing on Bass & Vocals while location wise they are described as ‘Born in Cornwall and sharpened in Kent’. The trio originally debuted in 2014 with 1808, 2021 produced Bayonne 21 and 2024 brought us Let Them Eat Cake, there was also the 2020 EP Naked. Thematically, accordingly to the promotional notes, ‘Burn’ ‘'tackles the disgusting nature of international arms dealers and the arms trade’. The group are very well regarded by the likes of the BBC and Louder Than War, with support slots that have included Punk legends Buzzcocks, Danny Wildheart & The UK Reprobates and Norwegians (?) SPAN. One thing to bear in mind is that if you’re doing a google search for them then at the very least add in some additional information such as ‘UK Band’ and particularly take note of their case sensitive name, otherwise you might get back some unwanted results relating to tedious US Post-Grunge outfit Live and no-one wants that if we’re honest. So, with all this to whet your appetite, is the music any good? Only one way to find out…

First off is the cover art of ‘Burn’ which reflects the track’s highly charged lyrical political content, a veritable assortment of lethal weapons (is there any other kind?). The versus have an awesome Black Sabbath style groove that reminds one of ‘Iron Man’ with spat out lyrics ala Rage Against the Machine. In other words there’s a Rap-Metal inflection present but with a very healthy dose of Post-Hardcore bite added to the mix which also recalls the highly underrated Orange 9mm, a band I always found far more engaging and interesting than Zack De La Rocha and co. Some of the riffs betray a Noise-Rock influence in the vein of Helmet from around the time of Strap it On and Meantime, while the melodic choruses tap into Muse and/or Radiohead. The other styles that are evident here appear to be Punk Blues and Garage Rock, especially the latter’s thump that comes across like a far more engaging White Stripes (not difficult if we’re honest). Whereas that band were one-dimensional, mainstream and bland, LiVES sheer wild musical diversity makes them a good deal more interesting, its extraordinary how much they manage to pack in within what is a deceptively simple sound. The immediacy is self-evident but there’s a cleverness to how well constructed this is with its outright effortlessness and ease, particularly with respect to its use of dynamics, Jesus, Dire Straits and Oasis this is NOT.

If the song we’ve just heard is anything to go by then it's clear we’re in for the ride of our lives as far as new album Ghosts is concerned. This is a barnstorming piece, which, irrespective of your political affiliation, opinion etc, easily rivals Refused’s New Noise in terms of its impact and importance. Absolutely essential and not one to be missed.