PRESTON SCHOOL OF INDUSTRY + GHOST CLUB
London Highbury Garage 3rd October 2001
So who knows anything about Ghost Club then? I can honestly say that I've never heard of them before. They're a three-piece very much in the vein of early Pavement or Yo La Tengo, and they tend to favour instrumentals and swapping their instruments around. The thing is that they look a bit familiar so any info would be appreciated, especially as they were pretty good.
At least I know that Preston School of Industry is the new band formed by Pavement's guitarist Spiral Stairs, although I'll admit that I hadn't heard a note of their music til I got a copy of the debut album 'All This Sounds Gas' the other week. Against the odds, I actually rate this higher than Stephen Malkmus album, and Pavement fans certainly won't be disappointed with PSOI.
Having said that, this gig suffers a bit from what I call 'Luna-syndrome'. This is what happens when the main guitarist from a band breaks away to form his own project and lets someone else do all the solos! Still, that's a minor complaint as the other guitarist is very good, and Spiral does get to show-off in the latter part of the set.
The bottom line is that the songs are strong. For people hearing them for the first time, the longer pieces may not hit home as well as the lighter poppier tunes like 'Solitaire' and 'Falling Away', though I must say that I was hugely impressed by some of the pre-album stuff, which dribbled out on Amazing Grease records last year. Well worth tracking down I think.
Much like Pavement, PSOI are at their best when they can combine their tuneful REM tendencies with Fall/ Sonic Youth type riffs, such as 'History of the River' or 'The Idea of Fires'. Spiral will probably never be able to shake off the legend of his previous band, but Preston School of Industry seems a brave attempt.
