Welcome to the Civilised World drags the dusty 1960s desert sound into the modern age- a hazy, sun-cracked journey through Americana and psych. GHOSTWOMAN prove that guitar bands still have plenty of noise left to make.

A title to take with a pinch of salt, GHOSTWOMAN make music that does not sound like music made by a band from the 21st century world. Their sound has echoes of the American frontier, the sort of sound you could only imagine coming from a desert state. Despite this, Canadian born Evan Uschenko and Belgian Ille van Dessel have paired together on the back of an Antwerp jam session and have released a number of gorgeous psyche albums fit for the modern urban cowboy. Previous releases have had a garage-rock feel, an obvious birthchild of jam sessions.

However, Welcome To The Civilised World is a more polished trip through the trailer park psyche world. The opening track, sharing its title with the album, establishes a ghostly aura that permeates this album and the rest of the band’s discography. This time, however, you can hear the larger budget in the clean sound that strips some of that psychedelic magic away. The guitar work has a more classic feel and takes the listener through the streets and bars of Nashville. This sound is progressed on second track Alive, which attempts, successfully, to create a big stadium sing along chorus that the band seem to hope will outgrow the independent venue circuit they currently play. The dustbowl desolation soundtrack one comes to expect from this band is nowhere to be found in the first two tracks, Alive sounding much like a later Johnny Marr composition – jangly and trying hard to be big.

Listening to that Jesus, you would be forgiven for thinking the album has been swapped for a Brian Jonestown Massacre record. Here, GHOSTWOMAN fulfil the wishes of long-time fans and show the audience what they are capable of. Ethereal harmonies on the chorus overlay a guitar and rhythm section that not only exudes mind-bending americana but happens to sound equally like a more English, Mancunian, Charlatan style of psyche. By far the author’s highlight.

5 Gold Pieces proves the very definition of noisy filler, a lacklustre and plodding soundscape. Levon tears open the amplifiers with IDLES-esque dread guitars. Evan’s Jagger-esque vocals are a highlight here, as is the dying breed known as the ‘guitar solo’ for younger listeners.

A tender moment comes in the form of Dime A Dozen, which sounds like a grunge band picking up the 12-string to moan a love song. Evan’s lyrics are elusive here as they are throughout the album, yearning and pining as he goes. The vocals on this track become less Rolling Stone and more shamanesque, mantra-like. The album really drives home the ’60s influences.

When You All Were Young is an impatient fuzz which draws more from modern psyche influences – Ty Segalls work springs to mind. Garage punk makes its return on this track, which fans of older songs like Demons will recognise. Song For Sunny is another attempt at sounding large; a track suited for a car advert. From Now On draws comparisons to the Preoccupations Viet Cong album, utilising deep and rolling drums to create a darkened air of suspense.

Anhedonia finally takes us to the American desert through the reverby sound of an empty room. The dark, cowboy drone puts the listener in mind of a slower, blues sound which would make Hendrix tap his feet. In a final burst of Americana, closing track Who Are You? is a beatnik tale of the road to see the listener off and away in to the sunset.

Not an album without its skips, it is a great effort by a band capable of pulling together broad rock influences without sounding derivative. There is much that is fresh on this LP and there is a lot to be said for the hard-working pair that drive the band.

GHOSTWOMAN are currently on tour, details here.  Buy the album here

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All words by Kai Marshall, you can find his author’s archive here