Saturday night at the Black Cat, Jukebox The Ghost made a triumphant return to their hometown of Washington, DC. The gig marked the first time that the trio, who formed while they were students at George Washington University, has performed in the nation's capital since the April 22 release of their excellent full-length debut CD, Let Live and Let Ghosts.
Jukebox The Ghost is led by pianist Ben Thornewill, whose classical training serves as the musical backdrop for his clever wordplay. Guitarist Tommy Siegel compliments Thornewill's piano perfectly, either with chords or a counter-melody. He also contributes his fair share of the songwriting, including the three-song "End Of The World Suite" that closes the album. While the lack of a bass player is unique for a rock band, drummer Jesse Kristin more than compensates with his inventive rhythms.
But lest the talk of classical piano and song cycles give you night sweats of Tarkus or Rick Wakeman's gold lamé cape, Jukebox The Ghost are hardly retro prog heads. They are more in line with Ben Folds Five in the way they incorporate the piano in an uptempo alt-rock context rather than trying to write symphonies with a heavy backbeat. They also use their considerable chops to suit the song, working with space in a way that is more in line with mid-period Police than Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
And while they may deal with heady topics like the apocalypse, they don't take them so seriously that Siegel can't brush off Judgement Day by singing, "It's the end of the world/La da di da/I'm innocent/Keep me out of this."
Their sense of humor was on full display Saturday, where, early in the set, Thornewill referenced a preview of the show in the newspaper that praised their music, but complained about their tendency towards overlong stage banter. To prove that they were wrong, Thornewill said, he was going to tell the crowd about it.
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