IN REVIEW: Veruca Salt - "Ghost Notes"

The way things ended with the original lineup of Veruca Salt didn't leave much hope that Ghost Notes could ever exist. As private matters between dual frontwomen Nina Gordon and Louise Post manifested in a public dissolution of the band as we knew it, an ugliness to the split spoke of the sort of betrayal that puts permanent ends to relationships. This was reflected on the third Veruca Salt record Resolver, which found Post the last remaining original member, left alone to deal with her heartbreak and rage.
By the time a fourth record was released in 2006 (featuring Post with another mostly new lineup), the band's heyday was a distant memory. It's not like Nina Gordon's solo career gained much traction either; aside from the minor hit Tonight and the Rest of My Life and a little Internet fame for her acoustic cover of N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, nothing else really registered for the public the way those first two Veruca Salt records did. It was made clear that Post and Gordon were better together, and we lamented the slim likelihood of those old wounds healing.

So, when it was announced that the original lineup had reunited early last year, it was like finding out your divorced parents were going to give it another shot; not only that, but the song they released for Record Store Day (The Museum of Broken Relationships, thankfully included on this album) was a top notch, grinding rocker that was so effective at announcing their re-arrival that I named it the best comeback of 2014.

The only unfinished business was to bring the reunion all the way by releasing a new album, which we now have. If Ghost Notes doesn't put the tumultuous past to rest, it certainly sees Post and Gordon willing to work it all out. There's a bit of lyrical fire on display, though the majority of the lyric sheet finds them reconciling with the ugliness and mending the damage caused by it; the sprawling, volatile Prince of Wales and the bouncy, apologetic I'm Telling You Now most vividly recall the tensions, but they don't define the record.

Ghost Notes doesn't seem intent on harboring any big musical surprises, and anyone familiar with Veruca Salt's back catalogue will feel much the same endorphin rush they got from American Thighs and Eight Arms to Hold You. That said, the way the parts click back into place and produce such immediate results after almost eighteen years away is more admirable than derivative. Besides, there are no explicit callbacks to Seether or Volcano Girls here, with most tracks acting as natural progressions rather than contrived mimics. The way Black and Blonde grinds and slashes, for example, will undoubtedly remind fans of the band's past glories, but not in such a way that recalls a specific moment.

When Post and Gordon are at peak operating efficiency, they craft hard edged power pop and combine their voices as a weapon, that distinguishable two-part harmony every bit the calling card as their musical leanings. Ghost Notes packs in a fair number of these infallible gems, such as the effortlessly majestic Eyes On You, the sugary, hard driving Love You Less, and the hazy, menacing Come Clean, Dark Thing. Perhaps their greatest combined attack is found on the chorus of Laughing in the Sugar Bowl, a quick ditty that packs most of what makes Veruca Salt great in just over two minutes.

The unexpected secret weapon on Ghost Notes turns out to be its ballads. Whereas a slow number may typically convey a sense of vulnerability and/or weakness, here they're monstrous blasts that aren't afraid of the feelings they conjure but refuse to be ruled by them. Sound of Leaving starts out with a lazy, somewhat sultry rhythm before building to a cacophonous noise; the song is about a breakup, but sounds triumphant all the same. Triage is anguished and defeated lyrically, but the guitars swallow all emotions whole at the halfway mark, roaring against the heartbreak and driving it out like the demon it likely was. Closing track Alternica brings the catharsis so many of us are chasing, eulogizing the way things were while acknowledging the importance of the word "were"; it's even more poignant later in the song, with the refrain "what you were is gone, and we're going". What follows to close out the record is a two-minute passage with the repeated mantra "and in the end it comes around again" and a majestic musical victory lap during which you can practically feel the sun breaking through the clouds. It's a triumph in pretty much any metaphorical or literal sense you want to take it.

In spite of all the masterfully executed songs I mentioned above, perhaps the most effective overall track on the album is Empty Bottle, wherein all of those merits meet in one monstrous power ballad; admissions of past transgressions, that massive two-part harmony on the chorus, those towering riffs. There's even a quiet, introspective dénouement thrown in to bring it home. On an album rife with triumph and power, Empty Bottle stands most triumphant and powerful.

Ghost Notes excels at its nostalgia, but is no mere nostalgia trip; it's a record about recapturing the feeling rather than the glory, and that helps it become not just glorious but an outright new career high for Veruca Salt. It's the sound of a band denied both a proper level of acceptance during its original existence and personal closure in the wake of its dissolution. If there is any sort of justice left in rock and roll, both of these issues will be sorted in short order thanks to this most welcome return of a record.

July 10, 2015 • El Camino/Warner

Highlights Laughing in the Sugar Bowl • Eyes On You • Empty Bottle