Raving Ghost is a title that suggests a direct connection to the "garage goth"
Olivia Jean played back in the days of
the Black Belles, the short-lived band she fronted at the dawn of the 2010s. As soon as the title track slides into a slinky go-go groove, it's clear that she has opted for the lighter side of the fence this time around. Like
Night Owl before it,
Raving Ghost is almost a one-woman show. She doesn't play drums -- duties that are largely split between
Carla Azar and
Patrick Keeler -- and
Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. comes by to lay on keyboards, but the production and all the other instruments are all
Olivia Jean, who makes this sound as tight and raucous as a well-oiled band. The album overspills with retro nods -- waves of surf guitars, swinging rhythms, garage grime, and greasy organs -- all cobbled together from thrift stores and old records, yet the execution is fresh and clever. Not everyone would reimagine
Enya's enveloping new age anthem "Orinoco Flow" as a punk pogo, but that's the key to the appeal of
Raving Ghost: it's coming from a place that's equal parts fun and irreverence. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine