MP3: Single #9 – Sleep

#9 in Ghost Shirt’s 52 Singles in 52 Weeks project.

MP3: Single#8 – Go Mailbox i

#8 in Ghost Shirt’s 52 Singles in 52 Weeks project.

MP3: Single #7 – The Wreck

#7 in Ghost Shirt’s 52 Singles in 52 Weeks project.

MP3: Smug Brothers – Low Like Nothing
MP3: Smug Brothers – Build Your Collections

All three locals on this bill would be worth venturing out to see separately, so seeing the Kyle Sowashes, Ghost Shirt and Bicentennial Bear play a free show together at Carabar is a no-brainer (esp. if part 1 of Lost Weekend’s two-night anniversary extravaganza isn’t your thing).

Icing on the cake is Dayton’s Smug Brothers, fronted by Kyle Melton and featuring Don Thrasher (Guided By Voices, Swearing at Motorists) on drums. GBV fans will find plenty to like on the band’s new EP, Stock Romeo — 7 songs/15 minutes chock full of home-fi hooks. Sample for yourself above.

(Ghost Shirt with Micah Schnabel of Two Cow Garage)

MP3: Single #6 – Two Cow Garage

Branden: “It’s about what may be one of the greatest American rock bands ever… in our opinion :)”

MP3: Single #5 – Zanne

Says Branden: “It’s about a friend that i grew up with in Kentucky. We lost touch completely for years. The song is about losing touch and having to invent an imaginary life for someone who you no longer have a clue about. Still one of my favorite people in this world even though we don’t talk much. I heard through someone that she had a pretty bad breakup a while back and i really didn’t know how to help given our estrangement. I suppose this song is my misguided effort.”

(Photo courtesy Photolosophys)

MP3: Single #4 – Wolfpack

“Here is our attempt at being a punk band… it sorta is less punk rock and more a toothpaste commercial for middle school cheerleaders.”

MP3: Single #3 – Radio Fire

The next installment from Ghost Shirt’s 52 Singles in 52 Weeks project.

MP3: Single #2 – Heart to Haunt

From Ghost Shirt’s 52 Singles in 52 Weeks project. (Says Branden about this one: “Yes, I do enjoy me some Elvis Costello.”)

MP3: Single #1 – Ghost Shirt

Lots going on in Ghost Shirt world. First off, the Columbus band has announced they’re going to release a new single every week for all of 2010, and you can find them hear at Donewaiting.com first, usually on Friday or Saturday. That’s the first single right up there, titled, appropriately, “Ghost Shirt.” Singer/bandleader/force to be reckoned with Branden Barnett stresses the word “singles,” too; these will be more than demos. About this first one, he says, “I have been listening to a tremendous amount of Television, Pulp and Low Era Bowie and I guess this is what came out.” Barnett also promises to collaborate with other musicians on these singles at least once a month — “to make this a Columbus thing more than just a Ghost Shirt thing.”

As if these dudes (and girl) weren’t busy enough, they’ve also got their first LP coming out, and Bela Koe-Krompecher is resurrecting Anyway Records (Gaunt, New Bomb Turks, The Whiles, Moviola, Greenhorn…) to release it digitally and on vinyl. (Bela says he also plans on working with some other Columbus bands in the somewhat near future…). Domestique is currently being mixed by DJ of St. Moses the Black. Look for that sometime this year. And remember to check Donewaiting.com each week for the next Ghost Shirt single.

(Photo courtesy Meghan Ralston/Photolosophys)