Jukebox the Ghost

This Thursday I made my second adventure to the 9:30 Club in DC to see a band I accidentally walked away from a year and a half ago. In March of 2010 Jukebox the Ghost headlined a show with Tally Hall and Skybox at DC's Black Cat. I was there for Tally Hall, having never listened to either of the other bands before. Unfortunately, it was a school night and I was focused on meeting the guys of Tally Hall. So I left, and that was a big mistake.

I imagine your grandmother would like the guys of Jukebox the Ghost. They're nerds. But that's okay, because their fans would probably consider themselves nerdy too. They're music is catchy, poppy, and theatrical with just a hint of apocalyptic terror. As Ben Thornwell, their pianist, and Jesse Kristin, their drummer, put it in an interview before they took the stage, "classical music as a genre... mixed with prog rock and punk new wave" is what they sound like. In the end though, its all just really fun music.

Despite some technical hiccups at the beginning of the set, their live sound was one of the tightest I've ever heard. For a three piece band, they put out a super full sound. Thornwell and guitarist Tommy Siegel both have amazing voices that match their talent on their respective instruments. Spooky apocalyptic songs like "Static" were balanced by playful covers of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and the infamous "Never Gonna Give You Up". They introduced two songs from their new record  for the DC crowd, "Somebody" and "Say When", which promise a little more funk inspired guitar style from Siegel than has been heard previously. Their album Everything Under the Sun is available now and their new album comes out in 2012.