[Editor’s note: the following was read on-air prior to Super Ghost’s in-studio performance on Hear Nebraska FM Monday, Oct. 26]

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When Super Ghost found its way onto the scene last summer, it seemed barely more than an idea. Jake Newbold and former member DJ Jordan released a three-song demo late last year after forming in June. Each song had its own distinct vibe, but were all tied together with a singular vision of delivering confessional guitar rock through sharp tone, meandering song segments and Newbold’s raw lyrical delivery.

Well, what a difference a year makes. Since those November demos, that band has swelled to four members, suffering the loss of Jordan but adding drummer Patrick Stutzman as well as Newbold’s former Minnesota schoolmates Obadiah Maina on guitar and Jon Banker on bass. The result is a beefed up alt-rock approach that underscores and builds upon Newbold’s original smattering of ideas.

During that time, Super Ghost has been more than productive. As a newly minted four-piece, the band played a handful of Omaha shows before shooting through the Midwest in June, even making it as far north as Toronto. Newbold, this time as a drummer, cut a new album with fellow Omahans Lot Walks, which brought Maina and Banker into the fold to fill in shortly thereafter. That Super Ghost’s players maneuver through Lot Walks’ sweet pop and Super Ghosts grungy, bassy tones is a testament to their focus and creativity. That run seemed to entrench both bands in the Omaha scene.

And then came the big news in September: indicative of its spirit, Super Ghost signed with independent Austin label We’re Trying Records, along with Lincoln’s I Forgot To Love My Father. It announced the upcoming release of new EP McFly, which the group is currently recording with Anniversaire’s Travis Ahrenholz at his Fremont studio. And with that news, Super Ghost released a track you’ll hear tonight, “Railroad Spikes,” in which Newbold’s lyrics remain starkly honest while confronting the faults of a friend and in himself. If this is anything like the rest of the release, it punctuates the band’s upward swing with its most distilled effort to date.

Super Ghost releases McFly early in 2016,  Now, here’s the Omaha foursome with “Sun Bear”

Credits:
Introduction: Andrew Stellmon
Video: Peter Barnes
Sound/mixing/mastering: Jeremy Wurst