The Happy Ghosts are an Adelaide based downbeat electronica duo, with an interesting angle. They don’t want to rock out, or get a floor pumping… Andrew Muecke and Ashley Starkey are producing a performance that is far more theatrical and visual than most. Their debut disc ‘Paranormal Behaviour’ throws up four tracks that manage to cover a lot of musical ground for an EP. Whimsical and shifting, it shows the world that the Happy Ghosts have the self-confidence to avoid mimicking established acts.

The album holds together in a wonderfully elastic way. There are samples peppered throughout the disc with a common source… they’re old TV and film grabs, and they look at family, and domestic life in days gone by. The samples are charming and antiquated, and create a nice crunchy contrast to the cleanly recorded instrumentation. The instrumentation is quite varied, though it would seem that Andrew speaks most eloquently through his work on guitar, and with his drum sequencing.

Further evidence of the act’s confidence is their comfortable, and recognisably Australian vocal elements. Three of the tracks feature Ashley’s voice, which has a lazy Australian drawl about it that he isn’t ashamed to hide. His vocals are often breathy, verging on whispered or spoken, and he relies on the character in his voice to make up make up for any musical imprecision.

The opening track ‘Booze & Pills’ is musically beautiful, and the samples’ cautionary notes on substance abuse and addiction are entertaining and at the same time, a little disturbing. The distorted guitar that comes in towards the end of the track brings it to a tidy climax, and it’s easy to hear why they chose this as their first video track. Unfortunately, the video is not included on the disc.

The Ideal Date’ features an unusual mix, with a bold and simple synth string line over a ultra-downbeat pseudo-trudge. I think that this and many other tracks on the CD could benefit from the replacement of Ashley’s vocals with a stronger voice, or perhaps a heavily effected one. My opinion holds for the third track, ‘Want Me’. The beds and samples for these tracks are sound, and the sunnier side of the Happy Ghosts shines through here

Saving the best for last, ‘For the Sun’ (mixed by Brett Sody) starts off with a busier beat that’s bold, dark and crisp. It sits behind layers of stuttering film samples and what sound like heavily effected, or synthesized strings. Different guitar lines come and go while spacious reverbs and drum effects give this track a greater richness than previous tracks. The only purely instrumental and sample driven track on the disc, this was the stand out for me, and left me anticipating the group’s next Happy Ghosts release.

IN THE MIX Review (Dagman, November 1, 2005)