For Ryan Gosling, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, it’s not Christmas. There’s too much good cheer there, and frankly, not enough zombies. Halloween, on the other hand, is more like it. In fact, Gosling’s love of ghost stories and all things eerie eventually led him to Dead Man’s Bones, a ghostly band he co-founded after meeting friend Zach Shields in Toronto in 2005.
Dead Man’s Bones should’ve never been a band because the two were never meant to get along. They were dating sisters and obligated to spend time with each other, which was a drag until they tripped into a discussion of their mutual obsession with Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. That, and all variety of ghosts, zombies, cemeteries, monsters and anything generally macabre.
There are multiple reasons this project should’ve failed. The first is what we’re all thinking — oh no, celebrity involvement in a music project. I’ll put your worry to rest right away. Gosling isn’t another in a long, distressing line of celebrities with musical missteps: Joe Pesci, “Vincent Laguardia Gambini: Sings Just for You”; Kobe Bryant featuring Tyra Banks, “K.O.B.E.”; Bruce Willis, “Respect Yourself”; Paris Hilton, “Paris”; David Hasselhoff (all albums). No, there’s real talent here, and Gosling can croon his way through the unusual tracks on this indie album like you’d never expect.
Originally, the duo wanted to write a ghost love story for the stage, but scrapped this after realizing how difficult and expensive it would be. Instead, they continued with the music they were going to write for the show, releasing the self-titled, supernatural concept album in Oct. 2009. The band toured North America that fall, joining with local choirs, holding talent shows as the opening acts and garnering rave reviews along the way. If there were an award for coolest back story, we would have a winner.
It’s easy to see that their influences dig deeper then the average iTunes playlist, ranging from Joy Division, The Shangri-Las and The Cure to Sam Cooke, James Brown and the Andrews Sisters. And while it’s reminiscent of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros in some parts and Arcade Fire in others, the spooky album consistently evades genre. It also features LA’s Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir and foley like tin foil for rain, ripping paper for thunder, howling, crying, waves and crickets.
And those are three more reasons it should’ve failed — it’s a supernatural concept album (1) featuring kids (2) and foley (3). But strangely, it’s not a recipe for disaster here, maybe because they don’t take themselves too seriously. With handclaps and refrains like “When I think about you / flowers grow out of my grave,” the album isn’t grave at all. Sure, it’s certainly weird, but after the grand, serious opening track “Dead Hearts,” it’s rather melodic, light and endearing.
If you’re still reading (and you like ghost stories), you’ll probably enjoy the album. It has grown on me tremendously, and the duo is undoubtedly impressive. They played all instruments heard on the record themselves, using no click tracks and doing no more than three takes of each track to preserve the album’s imperfections. They’ve said the rules they imposed on the recording process were meant to dispel airs of sophistication and avoid the use technology to mask amateur skills on some instruments. Pitchfork was dead on in describing the album as “charmingly handmade” and “lovably weird” because of its imperfections, not in spite of them.
To everyone’s pleasant surprise, the celeb/ghosts/kids choir mash-up of “Dead Man’s Bones” has the quality and charm to survive outside of October. And if you really love this album, chances are you’re lovably weird, too.
