“Ghost Pressure,” the first single from Wolf Parade’s newest offering Expo 86, is a rollicking love-song complete with the kind of zany paranormal paranoia you might expect from the masterminds that brought us previous maniacal wraith rants such as “Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts,” and “Same Ghost Every Night,” both highlights of their critically acclaimed debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary. For whatever reason, Dan Boeckner, Spencer Krug and co. seem to share a penchant for the preternatural, and “Ghost Pressure” is no exception. Boeckner is in top form on this five-minute haunt which grooves along on the foundation of a straightforward drum beat, two foreboding synth-lines, mesmerizing guitars, and a playful piano melody before morphing into a fully-fleshed phantasmal dance number by its finale.
Modernist wünderkind Virginia Woolf, in her novel To the Lighthouse, examined the presence within absence through fixed objects in negative space. In “Ghost Pressure,” Boeckner’s lyrics are marked by a similar “emptiness.” Though his visions contain “empty streets,” “empty rooms,” and an “empty sea,” Boeckner is plagued by a presence within the negativity. Though his senses suggest otherwise, Boeckner insists upon the existence of spectral bees and dancing apparitions. Whether or not these phantoms actually exist, are merely figments of Boeckner’s imagination, or products of Boeckner’s infatuation with his invisible other, is left for the listener to discern. One thing is certain, the infectious melodies of “Ghost Pressure,” given time and careful attention, may ultimately end up haunting you.
