Song of the Day: Ghost Wave - Here She Comes

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. This week’s featured songs come from artists performing during KEXP’s broadcast from CMJ Music Marathon 2013. Today’s song is “Here She Comes” by Ghost Wave from the 2013 album Ages on Flying Nun Records.

Ghost Wave - Here She Comes (MP3)

If there's one lasting rock tradition to come out of New Zealand, it's the jangly Dunedin sound immortalized on so many Flying Nun records, and 30 years on, the Dunedin spirit remains alive in Ghost Wave. Formed in 2009 by guitarist/vocalist Matthew L. Paul, the band recorded an initial EP before signing on to Flying Nun and self-recording and producing their debut Ages in - where else - Dunedin. The band's integration of spacious and jangly sounds fits Paul's melodic gifts well across the album's ten tracks, straddling the line between '80s shimmer and modern lo-fi's snarl. "Here She Comes" glides across in a lo-fi haze that recalls a darker take on another song titled after a woman in motion. The songs's propelling guitars fall somewhere between surf rock and space rock, but they take a backseat to Matthew L. Paul's nasally vocal as it echoes through the song. "Here She Comes" feels like a garage rock song, but a smart one at that; one that carefully shows its fuzzy layers piece by piece so that the listener can soak them in one at a time before taking it all in.

Ghost Wave are closing out KEXP's broadcast from CMJ Music Marathon 2013, playing on today, Friday, October 18th at 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST. Keep up with the band on their website and Facebook, and watch the video for "Here She Comes" below.