Us, Ghosts formed in 2016 with Samuel Johnson on vocals and guitar, Ethan Cochrane on guitar, James Roberts on bass, and Joseph Evans on drums. They started playing shows and putting out EPs on their own, working in a space between post-punk and shoegaze that felt out of step with a lot of what was popular at the time.
Their song 'Chopping Down the Family Tree' came out in 2019 and became their most recognized track. It's a good example of what they do, atmospheric, with lyrics that lean into personal and sometimes difficult family themes. That song, along with others like 'Head & Heart' and 'Your Own Personal Mountain,' built them a following of listeners who connected with that specific, introspective sound.
They kept making music after that, sticking to their own path rather than smoothing out their edges for wider appeal. The work feels consistent, built around Johnson's vocals and those layered guitars, without much concern for fitting into a clearer genre box.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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