Music Review: "Ghosts of the West Coast" from no:carrier

San Francisco’s electro noire pop duo no:carrier have recently released a unique EP titled "Ghosts of the West Coast", containing 4 covers of popular songs.

To sum-up their concept, the band explain: "The songs on "Ghosts Of The West Coast" show the American Dream gone wrong with a stalking ex-boyfriend looking for his lost love at the end of the summer (Don Henley’s “The Boys Of Summer”), the perils of fame and showbiz (Belinda Carlisle’s “California”), lost dreams and fortunes leading to homelessness (Tony Carey’s “Room With A View”), and again, lost love (Irish traditional “She Moved Through The Fair”)."

With similarities to musicians such as Erasure, Bat For Lashes, Portishead, Depeche Mode, Lana Del Rey, and Zola Jesus, it's safe to say that I was pretty excited to listen to and review this EP. And guess what? It didn't disappoint!

The first track is a cover of the wonderful and nostalgia-ridden song originally by Don Henley, "The Boys of Summer". It begins beautifully with a soft piano tune and ambient male vocals from Kalib DuArte. This is a great cover, and like no version I had previously heard before, as it contains elements of synth pop and dark wave, as well as paired back vocals. The song eventually comes full circle, ending with the same gentle piano tune it originally welcomed us with.

The next track is "California" (a Belinda Carlisle Cover), featuring the pop / rock infused vocals of Melissa Harding. I can really see the similarities between female singers such as Lana Del Rey and Bat for Lashes with this song (which, of course, instantly won me over).

"Room With  a View" (Tony Carey Cover) is the next song on the EP and it begins with quite a haunting and hypnotic sound before another beautiful and melancholic piano tune begins playing. The overall vibe from this song instantly reminded me of Placebo, as it contained no:carrier's signature fusion of synth pop and dark wave.

"She Moved Through the Fair" (a cover of the Traditional Irish tune) is the final track to grace our ears, and this is one you just can't miss with its eerily stunning vocals from no:carrier's own Cynthia Wechselberger. Straight away you will be transported to mythical and magical lands (for me, the little village of Hobbiton), as it sounds very similar to Enya's song "May It Be".

The last minute of this song came as quite a surprise, as it suddenly became louder and almost industrial in sound. This was such a contrast to Cynthia's sweet vocals just seconds before!

If you've got about 10 minutes to spare today, I highly recommend that you listen to this unique EP from no:carrier over on SoundCloud (then let me know what you think in the comments section below!). You can also visit the duo's website or Facebook page to keep up-to-date with their music. Enjoy!

- This review is part of our ongoing Music Review series where Whim is introduced to an array of artists from Independent Music Promotions.