Kestrels – A Ghost History

Originally released 6/5/2012 via Sonic Unyon (Canada). Halifax noise pop power trio Kestrels' second LP is now reissued digitally on Darla and is available via all services worldwide with two bonus tracks.

Kestrels have a long history of blending earnest lyrics, an endearing sense of melody, and guitar histrionics, and A Ghost History delivers on the promises made on the early releases by the band. The record was recorded in various bursts of activity over 2010 and 2011 and features an updated mix of live staple 'The Light' from the Solipsist EP (Noyes Records, 2010). Where debut LP Primary Colours (Noyes Records, 2009) was a relatively safe sonic affair, a Ghost History sees the ante increased considerably: The band self-produced the record to ensure it met their own standards, refining and re-recording songs multiple times over the year it took to make the record. (Album closer 'The Past Rests' was tracked 23 times in four different recording sessions until everyone was satisfied.) the results jump out of the speakers from the opening drone and washed out guitar of 'Drowning Girl' to the screeching crescendos of 'The Field Where I Died' to the alien lines all over first single 'There All the Time Without You', it becomes apparent that this is a record that matters. The record is notable for a rare guest appearance by Tim Wheeler of Irish band Ash on 'Dumb Angel'. Wheeler was the teenage hero of Chad Peck (guitar/vocals), and the two struck up a friendship backstage at an Ash show in 2003. The track is one of the album's highlights and features Wheeler's inimitable style front and center. Lyrically, the album answers a question posed by Jean Baudrillard in an essay from the Vital Illusion: 'Is a ghost history, a spectral history, still a history?' Fueled by a summer spent living in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (far removed from the insular peninsula of Halifax), Peck wrote a record that thoroughly mines out concepts of nostalgia and memory. Taking the aesthetic of early 90's Creation Records and mixing it with the ethics and energy of the first Merge Records releases, Kestrels have forged their sound. They have cut their teeth as a ferociously loud live act, and the new record sounds appropriate turned all of the way up; it also warrants late night listening with headphones. The band has a six-week North American tour lined up in support of a Ghost History along with key festival appearances at Liverpool Sound City.

Press for A Ghost History:

"They dutifully cast a soundscape reminiscent of a forlorn love that emerged from Seattle grunge, yet nods to the emotional movements of the Midwest, and the cooler-than-thou reverb sounds of beach-fused Pitchfork rock. What emerges is a distinctly contemporary, emotive work of modern art." – 4/5 star review Punkews.org (8/24/12)

“A Ghost History is the embodiment of everything an indie rock album should be. It packs on heavy intrigue with the creative instrumentals mixed with brilliant song writing.” – Ultra Vivid Sugar Fiend (8/26/12)

“Kestrels do an admirable job of borrowing from the past while still forging a sound that is current and relevant” – 3.5/5 star review Indie Music Reviewer

“With the release of the band’s second disc, A Ghost History (which came out June 5th on Sonic Unyon Records), Kestrels has all the melodic hooks and raw energy to be the “next big thing”. While the album thematically shifts from vivid to ambiguous imagery, A Ghost History’s music too diversifies from bombastic sounding to more subdued overtones throughout. – Brooklyn Rocks (8/31/12)

"The Halifax trio perfect dialed-to-11 volume, churning guitar drone and feedback, and unpolished vocals – a mix that draws heavily from Creation Records bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. (...) the album sounds colossal and visceral" – NNNN rating - Now Magazine (7/19/12)

"A Ghost History activates the usual noise-rock pleasure centres as easily as everything the trio has issued before. The mid-song eruption of white noise on “There All the Time Without You” is a reverent and authentic approximation of the thrills Daydream Nation once delivered, while the taut tunefulness of “Decoder” proves Kestrels aren’t covering up a lack of bona fide pop chops with all that extraneous racket." – Toronto Star (7/22/12)

"Halifax, NS trio Kestrels pitch their third LP somewhere between My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and its gnarlier predecessor, Isn't Anything, topping the broad swathes of drifting, earworm licks with emo-pop" – Exclaim (6/8/12)

"Superchunk taught them how to channel their energy into pogo-ready punk-pop anthems, Dinosaur Jr taught them how to rip a guitar solo like a mofo, and Sloan… well it might be a bit cliche to cite the proto-Halifax rock band, but there’s more than a little Smeared – both in its fuzzy textures and indelible hooks – in Kestrels’ DNA." – Chromewaves (7/13/12)

"Elements of induced head bobbing from listening to Pavement for the first time are imprinted throughout the entire record. The truth is- Kestrels is a group that has so many refined talents to draw from, it's easy to compare them to iconic noise artists who love to rock the schmuck out." – A Rating - CJLO.com  

1. Drowning Girl    
2. Dumb Angel (feat. Tim Wheeler, Ash)   
3. The Field Where I Died    
4. Islands    
5. Brindle    
6. There All The Time Without You    
7. The Light    
8. Decoder    
9. In The Silence    
10. Lose    
11. The Past Rests