The Pine Hill Haints Issue #34

Ghost Dance (K)

By Matt Siblo
Published: December 1st, 2007 | 3:36pm

If indie rock and its related genres have anything in common with country, it’s an unholy quest for authenticity. Ghost Dance, the latest from Alabama ghost country band the Pine Hill Haints, isn’t like much else you’ll hear this year.

As an album, Ghost Dance’s banjo-inspired charms could easily be perceived as novel or quaint considering its reliance on musical forms long since past. But the Pine Hill Haints aren’t going for novelty and don’t appear to be a part of any musical revival. Instead, the band plays heartfelt accounts of its handed-down traditions, even if it is initially difficult for a Yankee skeptic to understand its contemporary cultural currency.

It can be hard to ignore anachronistic subject matter on traditional songs like “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” and “St. James Infirmary Blues,” especially when paying attention to lyrics — the word blues appears in four of the 20 song titles with just as many gypsy references. But as Springsteen proved on a much grander scale with his recent take on Pete Seeger, these songs retain their original fury and urgency even if its subject matter has since become irrelevant.

Originals such as “Spirit of 1812” and “For Every Glass That’s Empty” seamlessly fit with the various covers, matching the brisk honest energy of a hootenanny.

Whether Ghost Music is exorcising the spirits of its Huntsville, Alabama, roots or simply recycling style for style’s sake is impossible to discern. But even if these kids are faking it, they’ve at least got the good sense to borrow from the best.