GHOST SURVEILLANCE RUNE 297 |
Ghost Surveillance is Algernon's third album and is their first on a label able to reach a wider audience. Their music brings a lot of influences together in surprising and entertaining ways. A quick listen to the download sample will show you why we have such great enthusiasm for this band, as they manage to be quite accessible while pushing stylistic boundaries and exploring new paths. "The brainchild of guitarist Dave Miller, Algernon walks a thin line between melodically driven post-rock and instrumental unconventionality. The quintet, based in Chicago, has drawn comparisons to hometown compatriots Tortoise — thanks to a vibraphone and a few jazz-inflected melodies — but it very much has established its own voice, particularly on Ghost Surveillance, its sophomore album. This album places greater emphasis on synthesizers and sprawling song structures, but at its core is the combination of accessibility and technicality that has defined Miller’s style. Noisy, circular rock riffs transform to tranquil, wandering passages. “Timekiller,” the album’s fourth track, is a beautiful, buoyant number — and one of the band’s best creations to date. As always, the vibraphone work of percussionist Katie Wiegman offers a warm, harmonic accompaniment, but the group’s best-supporting player may be drummer Cory Healey, whose wild fills and drum-and-bass moments imbue Ghost Surveillance with explosive bursts of energy." – ALARM (best albums of the week) "Algernon draw inspiration from the jazz-tinged post-rock machinations of Tortoise, Chicago's foremost group in the genre. The group's style, however, veers into the louder and noisier elements of rock music. Led by composer/guitarist Dave Miller, Algernon uses two guitars, bass, drums and a vibraphone to combine gorgeous melodies with psychedelic effects and rock beats." – Center Stage Chicago "Algernon is one of those bands...that is pushing the boundaries of rock...and more to the perimeters. They obviously don't care if it can be pegged to a genre, they only care if it's good, and it is!" – Jazz Chicago Ghost Surveillance press release |
PRESS RELEASES
Ghost Surveillance press release
Press quotes from Familiar Espionage (Ears & Eyes 2007)