Wes Mantooth - Von Ghoul (EP Review)

Coming at you like Motion City Soundtrack mixed with Set Your Goals mixed with Jimmy Eat World we get Wes Mantooth's EP Von Ghoul. It's a full on rock ruckus. I hadn't heard of Wes Mantooth until I received an e-mail with a nice message asking if I’d check out the EP. Let's face it as a site you get a ton of e-mails like these and occasionally a band sticks out and I think Wes Mantooth have done that with their new EP. It's instantly likeable and insanely catchy. It has a ton of energy and really well written songs.

I really like the way this band uses heavy rocking guitars, frantic drums at times, and sort of quirky lyrics. All that paired with the way they use their synths is pretty cool. The songs have a lot of really catchy, well written lyrics that got stuck in my head after a few listens. The last track on Von Ghoul titled "The Afterlife is a Beautiful Place for People Who Aren't Me" is a stripped down lo-fi acoustic song, which almost echoes some of the older Bright Eyes material. No doubt it's a different vibe from the other songs on the EP, but it fits really nicely overall. "Electric Shocks And Flowers" is probably my favorite track on the EP and is a nice representation of what I think the band are trying to accomplish with their sound overall.

I'm quite impressed after listening to it with it being my first exposure to the band. It's a really cool EP and I'd definitely recommend checking it out.  I guess all I can say is I'll listen to this group as long as they can stay as classy as they have on this EP. Stay classy Wes Mantooth (if you don't get the reference watch the movie Anchorman).