Listening Party: Jonathan Ammons & the Electric Ghost Collective, Suttree and The Chops

We start this week’s Listening Party with the Montreat-based rock of Jonathan Ammons & the Electric Ghost Collective. There’s a lot to like in Ammons’ work, walking the line as it does between the genres of moody, gothy emo and moody, bittersweet indie rock. While there are a number of easy comparisions out there — The Smashing Pumpkins and The Black Crowes come to mind on a few tracks — there’s also a great deal of originality to the songs. We suggest starting with either “Reasons Why” or “Blessing,” which are excellently produced and radio-worthy tracks.

Next up, we have local “psychedelic, Americana and shoegaze” act Suttree. There’s a definite darkness and depth to the group’s sound, resulting in a haunted and melancholic vibe that, assuming you’re in the mood for it, is quite powerful. There many comparisions that come to mind — much of Nick Cave’s work and some of the more dirgey Myssouri songs, for instance — but there’s also a clear love of solid songcraft underlying the tunes as well. We suggest starting with “Dark Hollow.”

Closing out this week’s Party, we have the Asheville-based instrumental surf-, garage- and punk-fueled group The Chops. The group is actually kind of a local “supergroup,” combining members of Dig Shovel Dig, Descolada, On The Take and “a bunch more bands.” While no one will be claiming that their music is a sweeping and poetic sonic landscape, almost anyone who listens will probably admit that it is an awful lot of fun. We suggest starting with the very surf-powered track “Blast Off.”

Now, it’s your turn. Tell us your thoughts on these performers by posting into the comment fields below. This is your chance to be the music reviewer, so praise and pan as you see fit.

Also, if you’d like to suggest a band for Listening Party, or have questions about the column, visit this thread on our Mountainx.com forums

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2 thoughts on “Listening Party: Jonathan Ammons & the Electric Ghost Collective, Suttree and The Chops

  1. I like this song by Jonathan Ammons and the Electric Ghost Collective very much… there’s a lot of groove to go along with the twang and a touch of something more modern than country in the tones. Definitely something I could see myself listening to a lot. Making it into the second track now, which I’m liking even more…’Blessing’. The band recalls a Dylan-esque verve here to me, like ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’ sort of. Great stuff and I will be looking to catch a show in the near future; looks like it’s at BoBo’s on April 9.

  2. Watching the ‘could-be’ final Democratic debate, listening to Suttree. What a fascinating soundtrack… First up is ‘The Long Good-bye’. This is reminding me of something I love about Son Volt, maybe it’s the psychedelic country vibe, or maybe it’s the lower toned vocal. This sounds great, nice production guys. First impression is that I would definitely enjoy your live show. It’s hard to play slow and have it sound good, have a groove. Maybe this was my soundtrack for Hillary’s swan song…. It was fitting and I loved it.

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