Ghosts – ‘The World Is Outside’ (Atlantic Records) Released 18/06/07

Formerly known as Polanski, ‘The World Is Outside’ is the debut album by the bands latest reincarnation, Ghosts. Combining traditional indie qualities with straightforward pop sensibilities, the London based four-piece have an astounding knack for churning out first class song, after first class song, to the point where it’s almost annoying. Following a basic format throughout (which to their credit has been mastered with a natural and uncomplicated approach) the album kick starts with ‘Stay The Night’. A snappy little number that’s filled to bursting point with highly infectious hooks and riffs that once heard are difficult to forget. Punctuated with screaming trumpets and flowing with a too good to be true vocal it’s frighteningly catchy from the off and guaranteed to get lodged in your head for the remainder of the day. It’s a stunning track to open an album and to make their intentions clear; however, living up to it won’t be easy.

But they manage with ‘Musical Chairs’. Same formula, different song and just as big as the first; the instrumentation busy but not overly complicated and the vocal just edgy enough to cut through all the niceties. Moving on with the album’s title track ‘The World Is Outside’ and ‘Ghosts’ it’s becoming apparent that the band are in danger of turning into something of a one trick pony. Not only that but the tricks aren’t necessarily new and at this point of the album when (despite their quality) the songs are beginning to merge into each other, a few grating observations have to be made and questions asked; Is the world ready for another dose of Coldplay? Probably not, but despite the comparable sound, the difference between themselves and the likes of Coldplay and The Feeling et al is that they sound like they’re smiling and don’t look toward a self imposed sympathy vote. And without trying to overly complicate their chosen formula, they’ve managed to strike a balance between youthful honesty and attitude (they’ve even got previous for suspicion of criminal damage after a hotel room was flooded…but were released without charge).