Five years is a long time between drinks and few know it better than Melbourne punk troubadour Chasing Ghosts. 2011 saw the release of Confessions From A Phone Booth, an unexpectedly intimate record from the hardcore music scene’s stalwart Jimmy Kyle and then to follow it up in 2016, a newly aggrandised Chasing Ghosts presented the long-awaited sophomore I Am Jimmy Kyle, on October 31st, through A Quiet Achiever Records.
“Beautiful. Just fucking beautiful.” – Killyourstereo
“Just so god damn beautiful.” – Josh Merriel (Triple J)
The response to the return of Chasing Ghosts was immediate. Album taster Jane Doe; a collaboration between Jimmy Kyle and Andrew Neufeld (Comeback Kid) and featuring the vocal talents of Marcel Gadicz (Dream On Dreamer) set the pace for the return of Chasing Ghosts; boldly unapologetic and rousingly anthemic while lead single “Anthems For Bastards, Liars & Cheats” began to rouse the masses throughout the country and garner support from the punk/folk/rock blogosphere to Triple J and Triple M.
Praise across rock blogs and websites pushed the album to a peak of #5 on the Itunes Punk charts and coming in strong for several end of year lists, most notably a #8 on the Killyourstereo.com end of year audience voted poll.
“the type of song which makes you wanna side with these guys. it's an honest, instant sing along.” – Declyn Byrne (Triple J)
If Jane Doe set the foundations for the return of Chasing Ghosts, then Anthem For Bastards, Liars & Cheats cemented them. Spinning regularly across all community metro stations and even deeper regionally, Anthems tested the water at major commercial rock radio and continued that momentum by jumping on board with Hysteria Mag for a six-date race across the country and break from the speaker onto the stage.
2017’s started with the announce that Chasing Ghosts were back on the road with The Dead Love, another fierce set of shows across the country culminated with a Melbourne sell out and the release of perhaps the most haunting of the Chasing Ghosts catalogue, the simply titled “Death” featuring songstress Millie Tizzard.
A ballad breaking out from the blueprint of Chasing Ghosts previous catalogue and rich with pop sensibilities, the single was rightly awarded a feature spot on Triple M’s homegrown show and saw a significant uptake across Community radio and scratching at the doors of major commercial.
Finally, the Chasing Ghosts goal comes closer to realization. An album breaking down walls between artist and audience and capturing life’s simple moments with grandeur, Chasing Ghosts story continues to build and the momentum is only just starting to gather real speed.