Touched By Ghoul

 
   I would see Touched By Ghoul a few times before I could write about them. The last time my mac was already repaired(Thank You Lionel and Gladys!) and so writing about seeing them was less a remote possibility, and I can just enjoy the show knowing that eventually the words will follow. One of the times I saw them was at Empty Bottle and most recently and out of nowhere Slippery Slope on a Monday, I don't even remember which day or what month. Anytime a band that I really like plays outside the usual comfort venues I make a special effort to go. And  I've never been to Slippery Slope for anything other than Philly's Shoegaze night there. Makes a live performance there unusual and special. The place has four washrooms....Four!!! Neo's toilets were a cruel, disgusting joke. So at this new place, one feels positively spoiled. And even as the band set up was near the hallway to the toilets, Angela made it clear to the audience that they should feel free to go without feeling like they have to walk through the band space. It was ok, and that was really cool of her to say.  I don't think she needed any introduction to the audience. They seemed to know who this was. And she seemed to be at ease with us. "Thanks doggies!", she said after the crowd roared in appreciation. That's when you know we all cool.
  Touched By Ghoul happens to be the third project that I know from Angela Mullenhour.....arrrrghh, fucking hell. Yes that one, from Sybris and Coins. I don't know her, but I often notice her in shows from other bands. So she does support them by showing up and I think that is really cool of her. I saw her at the Pale Dian show this past summer. Ahhhhh....That show was a psychedelic summer highlight. That is still a separate thing. The point....Ms Angela M is both a fan of and creator of awesome music, and different types of music, seemingly unrelated. Touched By Ghoul,   Sybris, Coins.....I'm like a prisoner lining up all his most precious cigarettes....none of them kids look alike. Coins is like slow, dark mysterious psych. Sybris is what first came to my attention. Has the bounce, the forward drive, rounded edged aggression of shoegaze. It is odd to put the words shoegaze and aggression in the same train of thought but it happens more than ya' think.  Burn Out Babies kind of saw me through some uncertain times. That leaves us with TBG. For that you got to plug your ears 'cause that's where they get loud with some metal style abrasiveness.
  Murder Circus at some point, what I have at the moment to hold onto the band is Touched By Ghoul at Phantom Manor and the shirt....almost forgot about that. Oh, yeah.... something curious. A track I like on Manor ( Its My Body) is named differently and a bit faster on Circus (Rapevan). Oh the discomfort I would feel if this was a conversation. "Hey Zig, which songs are awesome?"  "Too Many Whores, Rapevan..." "Oh my....what time is it? I gotta go....see ya' Zig". END SCENE. That song is so damn cheery and I like it, but that bloody name.....but yeah the band is still great and so is Ms Angela.

You can totally head bang to TGB, where that thought does not occur with Ms Angela's other projects. Each project.....hmmm projects a different landscape in the mind. You want to dance to Sybris at Philly's shoegaze night Shimmer at Slippery Slope and its safe to say you will not pass the drug test after hearing Coins. Did I say head bang to TBG....oh I did. Checking. So three separate worlds, One traveler in between them. But I'm here to go on about just the one. At some point I will buy the whole LP.

Zig