Album Review: "Ghosts" by Sadie and The Stark

Sadie and The Stark

*Ghosts*

(self-released)

On “Ghosts,” a six-song EP follow-up to the 2016 debut EP “Witches,” Chicago’s Sadie and The Stark continues to be a band that reaches listeners on a visceral level. Of the six tracks, “Wait For Me, Sansa,” “Rip” and “Crawl” employ the most aggressive guitar-bass-drums instrumentation that draws upon an elemental post-punk style to boost the raw and powerful vocal delivery of Sadie Rogers. It’s as if Shirley Manson were fronting Joy Division. “Riders” and “Wild In The Caves,” with its Native American-like wails of “Woah! Woah!”, highlight Rogers’ considerably powerful vocal style backed by more subtle instrumentation. But “Vampire Love Song”--featuring pedal steel guitar and a folksy rhythm and melody--might be the most surprising and interesting in lyrical content with Rogers singing: “Crush my soul, rip my skin off / after all, this is the end of the world.”

(www.sadieandthestark.bandcamp.com or www.sadieandthestark.com)

Print version of review appears in the July issue of Illinois Entertainer magazine. Click PDF and navigate to page 44.
Appearing 7/16 at Quenchers in Chicago.