Alternative Rejection – Chasing A Ghost

Alternative Rejection – Chasing A Ghost – EP Review

For those out there that enjoy hearing something different, now’s the time to queue up this EP and tune into what Alternative Rejection is doing.  All the way from Greece to our Canadian pages, you’ll likely find this to be challenging to the ears, but in the right quizzical, puzzling, and head-scratching type of way.  Personally, y’all know I enjoy being challenged in that particular way…I think records like Chasing A Ghost are the kind of experience that helps us grow, evolve, and stretch our concepts of audible art.

Wild!  I mean…in a mellow way…but wild all the same.  You don’t often hear too many things that sound like “Chasing A Ghost” out there in the scene right now.  It’s kind of got this like…poetic rhythm to it that you’d expect to find in something like the forlorn songs of The Cure, and it’s certainly got a darkened, Post-Punk type of vibe to it as well…so yeah…don’t get me wrong, there are comparable sounds to be found scattered around throughout music’s history of course, but Alternative Rejection is largely doing its own thing at the same time.  I like it!  It’s got this like, experimental feeling to it…but it’s still fully cohesive – it’s still a tangible song, yet it’s got a subtle intensity to its vibe that translates to something that we feel more-so than something we hear – make sense?  Probably not, and that’s okay…that’s why you need to listen so that you can feel this song for yourself, and then you’ll understand.  Sensory sound – that’s what we’re talkin’ about here.  I love the way this starts out though – the title track basically oozes out of the pores of your speakers and starts sliding its way into your soul as it creeps and crawls along.  Musically, it’s absolutely aces and I would expect that’ll be the part that’s easiest for listeners to love…it’s creepy, it’s haunting, and man is it ever interesting to listen to!  Vocally, things sound intentionally desolate and drained of any energy, but don’t go mistaking that for a lack of inspiration…those are two totally different things.  There’s a highly artistic dimension to a track like this, and in that respect, “Chasing A Ghost” ends up ticking all the right boxes as far as I’m concerned.  I know this will prove to be somewhat of a challenging listen for many out there, but by the same token, I think those that DO feel the sensory sound of a song like this will be stoked to find out what else is on this EP.  It’s STIMULATING, you know what I mean?  The cleverly curious sound of “Chasing A Ghost” definitely serves as the right gateway in.

Are songs like “Where Is Your Wonderland” going to prove to be easily digestible to the masses out there?  Not a freakin’ chance y’all.  That’s what we look for here on these pages of ours though, don’t we?  I like music that’s off the beaten path, and it sounds like Alternative Rejection isn’t even aware there IS a path that could be followed.  Purposely rejecting any & all blueprints for how to go about doin’ this music thing, clearly Alternative Rejection is more than happy to blaze its own trail.  Of course, whenever you’re doing that, you’re going to run into the natural resistance of ears aplenty, because anything perceived as new generally has a tougher time proving it can be accessible.  I have no real qualms about listening to something like “Where Is Your Wonderland” overall, but I can just as easily understand how problematic a song like this would be to the average everyday listeners out there.  There are things that people can latch onto…the gigantic beat that’s threaded into this song, the stylistic performance in the vocals, the uniqueness in the sound that you’ll discover…but yeah…still challenging to people tuning in without a doubt.  It’s tracks like “Where Is Your Wonderland” that dare to go against the grain as they head right out there to the fringe of what you think you know about music in an effort to see what else can be done with the medium.  Obviously, that’s not the trip everyone signs up for when they put on a record, but there’s still enough of us crazies out there that crave something different than the rest of what’s out there, and Alternative Rejection seems willing to supply us with another option.  The palette of sound is wonderful if you ask me…again, if you were to look at this song on paper, you wouldn’t even dare to try and put it together…it’s like the audible equivalent of looking at an MC Escher sketch – you would never really know where it all started or where it eventually ends up.

“Dream” seems like it’s at least going to attempt to compromise with us a little bit more than the opening two tracks did, and meet us somewhere in the middle between accessibility and art.  I feel like I’ve heard a lot of the old preset sounds I used to gravitate towards personally on the ol’ Roland keyboard back in the day in tracks like “Where Is Your Wonderland” and “Dream” – which is like, oddly comforting in a weird way.  It’s like the feeling of not being so alone…that the same kind of sounds that excited me, are at least close to the same ones that Alternative Rejection find interesting too.  Kindred spirits I suppose, as they say.  Anyhow.  Just when you THINK that “Dream” is going to bridge the gap for the masses out there with its bend towards a more accessible sound, Alternative Rejection rejects the notion, and goes all-instrumental for this particular track, thereby once again putting up a purposeful barrier between the music and the potential audience.  Let’s be real here folks, you KNOW how you are – and if you can’t sing along to something, music becomes exponentially tougher to get out there to the ears that would listen.  And that sucks, but that’s not something that any artist or band should cater to.  I love that Alternative Rejection has proudly embraced the strange & bizarre, and its done so with true confidence…this whole record is a boldly exploratory adventure that dares to believe that music doesn’t have to be so damn straightforward all the time.  “Dream” ends up being this like…exciting and enticing adventure in sound that’s got the rhythm and pulse of something you’d expect from Depeche Mode, while also still being willing to delve into the beyond in search of what’s out there on the other side.  All-in-all, I think for an instrumental cut, listeners will be seriously pleased to find how much they’ll like this song & I’d expect that most folks will feel like “Dream” is one of the best surprises they’ll hear on the EP.

The malleable sounds of “Fear” and its flexible vibe finish off this quick set of four tunes in Alternative Rejections debut EP.  Once again, I dig what I hear…and despite the final two songs being instrumental, I’d still argue that they’re probably the two cuts that actually are more accessible to the ears of the masses when it comes right down to it.  It’s a close competition.  I really dig “Dream” too, and I wouldn’t discount the opening two tracks from the running on any given day either.  If you like something on this EP, you’re probably going to have no problem sticking with it through all that it offers ya.  “Fear” ends up becoming quite the hybrid when it comes right down to it, and personally, I enjoy that…in fact, I might even go to bat for this song and say that it’s my favorite of the set.  Would I expect everyone out there to feel the same way I do about it?  Not really, no.  I think we’re all going to listen to a record like Chasing A Ghost differently through our own individual perspectives, but overall, everything I’ve heard in this set-list seems like a really good starting point where Alternative Rejection can use to branch out even further from here.  I suppose when it comes right down to it, what grips and grabs me the most about “Fear” is that it feels really fresh…still experimental as it gets yes, but in the best of ways really.  Everything else on this EP is something that you could likely find something out there close enough to at least be able to compare it to something else that sounds similar, but “Fear” is the track that seems to not be remotely concerned with any of that and delivers a highly unique experience from start to finish.

Find out more about Alternative Rejection at the official page at Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079981098722

THIS LINE OF TEXT IS INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE, as proven daily by thousands of people that read our pages.  If you’re one of the rare folks that can actually see this message, and you’re curious about how to get YOUR MUSIC featured on our site, by all means click here to learn more about doing exactly that!