Ghost Cat is a post-hardcore band from Jensen Beach, FL www.facebook.com/ghostcatfl Because I am a lucky duck, I’ve got in my possession the new Ghost Cat EP Cave Sounds. Those of you who keep track of my blog will remember I also reviewedtheir first EP Haunted Houses. While I can’t say a whole lot has changed from my original diagnosis of “punky, mathy, probably post-something,” Cave Sounds is a much more diverse effort. This time around, Ghost Cat rock a bevy of different volumes, structures— even genres. While I would say that the four tracks that comprised Haunted Houses occupied roughly the same twinkly sonic timbre, Cave Sounds finds Ghost Cat stretching out— and we all know how flexible cats are. The difference between the slow-burning opener “Space Pope is Reptilian” and “Anything is Popsicle” is pretty damn vast. Whereas the former invokes a La Dispute sort of minimalism, the latter is the heaviest Ghost Cat song I’ve heard, with a downright insidious couple of guitar lines and this sort of The Fall of Troy-esque breakout at the 1:20 mark. For the most part, though, songs like the re-recorded “Marshmallow Teeth” and “Coffin Bachelor Party II-1” are Ghost Cat on cruise control, navigating their signature pop-punk-post-hardcore with deft, earthy guitar work and Jose Perez’s scream-tinged singing. Singscreams? Screangs? I dunno, he makes the rawr rawrs come out all pretty-like. I know I already mentioned La Dispute, but I gotta drop ‘em again if I want to talk about “Kat Von Wolfenstein,” because not only does the spare instrumentation and vocal delivery remind me of Wildlife, but the lyrical style, too— really, it’s more like if Jordan Dreyer fronted American Football. I’m pretty excited about Cave Sounds. I’m diggin’ the increased energy and diversity in the songwriting. Whereas “Coughin’ Party” was the designated slow song on Haunted Houses, each track on Cave Sounds makes use of both busy sections and the spare, both dense moments of volume and those more vacant and placid. A good band is getting even better. If my name drops make you salivate, if you know who Algernon Cadawallerare, if singscreams give you chills, or if you are a fan of poppy post-hardcore in general, these dudes are gonna be your catnip. - Zach Roth Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.