Customer Reviews

Hey I'm a Ghost

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sullivan are yet another on the long list of Tooth and Nail acts from the Southeast United States. I became interested in Sullivan during their tour with Bayside. They were enigmatic, energetic and frankly, blew me away. Before I got a hold of "Hey, I'm a Ghost" I listened and fell in love with the two tracks available to listen to online. These guys all have talent and are very good at what they do. The big problem is that these guys will get lost among the sea of similar acts in the genre. That is unfortunate.

The first track, and possibly best one, "Down here, we all float" begins with a fast paced guitar and drum part before the other guys kick in to provide a full lush sound. Characterized by crunchy guitars and vocals that walk that fine line of magnificent and whiny, "Down here..." kicks off the disc well. "The Charity of Saint Elizabeth" is my personal favorite though. The track sounds almost like it could be a b-side from Underoath if Spenser didn't scream at all. The CD ends with the title track,"Hey, I'm a Ghost" which is another one of the more solid tracks. The rhythm section consisting of drummer, Phil Chamberlain (Spenser's brother from Underoath) and bassist Zach Harward, do a great job keeping everything steady. Plus, the production was immaculate. Crazy, mad props to producer, Matt Goldman, on this one. But the real trump card here is the crunchy guitars and lead vocals of Brooks Paschal. The guitars have enough distortion to keep the music intense but with enough hooks to keep the listener interested. While his vocals are charismatic and walk that fine line between magnificant and whiny.

There is no question these guys have talent. But the dominant problem here is that every song sounds the same. It's not even that they don't sound original. They sound different enough to me from other things to make it enjoyable. But I swore that every song I listened to was exactly the same as the one before it. I mean that might be good if you really, really dig the sound.

It took me a little longer to put up this review because I really wanted to like this disc. And the more that I listened to it, the more I liked it. If you pick this disc up, give it a few listens before you toss it aside. If you let it, it might just become a fungus and grow on you.

i was lucky enough to see sullivan several times before they singed to tooth and nail. i've always known they'd explode. 2006 proved me right. the only thing more intense than their album is their live proformance. deffinitly worth the buy.

This record falls into repetition and sounds awfully generic very quickly. It's also their first record, so I'll give them a little grace.

I saw them live before hearing their recorded material and their performance blew me away. These guys are a lot better live, where their energy on stage makes up for what this record lacks.

They have just finished recording their follow up album; let's hope it makes a better impression.

This band has potential with their awesome songwriting and guitar hooks. Check this one out.

Should melodic hooks and intelligent introspection be mutually exclusive? Not if you ask Sullivan, the North Carolina rock band whose debut album "Hey I'm A Ghost" boasts a surprising mix of instrumental depth and instantly memorable pop-leaning crooning. Produced by Matt Goldman (Copeland) and mixed by Mike Watts, the album is shocking in its depth, recalling the greatest moments of Jimmy Eat World and Sunny Deal Real Estate while carving out a niche that is distinctly Sullivan's sole territory. Sullivan has come leaps and bounds from when singer/guitarist Brooks Paschal and bass player Zach Harward were writing songs with a drum machine a few years ago, adding drummer Phil Chamberlain (brother of Underoath vocalist Spencer) and guitarist Tyson Shipman to fully realize their sound and their shared dream of truly connecting with fans emotionally.

"The Sullivan record blew all of my expectations away. It usually takes bands 2-3 records and 5 years of playing together to write songs that fluent and cohesive. These dudes have something special, and it scares me to think things are only going to get better from here." - Tim McTague (Underoath)

sullivan is a good band plain and simple...they have a unique sound and there good....(...)

ZzZzZzZzZ

Tired, boring, generic emo-pop with a hardcore twist. Yeah, it's been done to death, and it wasn't even that great the first time around.

Most of these new "myspace" bands couldn't craft one memorable song if their life depended on it, and sullivan are no exception. While Tooth and Nail are busy cashing in on the christian emo craze, plenty of good, solid rock bands are going undiscovered, which pisses me off.

Not Recommended

yeah, this band bummed me out.. when i listened to samples at the store, they reminded me of dashboard confessional + underoath which was cool... until i heard about 3 or 4 of their songs. they start to sound the same after a while, i got bored with the cd by the time i hit the last song (which is the title track and i didnt like it....) so if you would like an emo band that sounds like everyone else... sullivan is your best bet.....

These guys sound like every whiny emo band. I like emo, don't get me wrong, but these guys are not anything special in a genre of music where many bands sound the same. To be successful you have to be unique in this genre. These guy sound like a Saosin wanna be band, but not as good. I bet these guys just got a deal with Tooth and Nail because one of the members is brothers with Spencer of Underoath. WHo may I add are a great band.