I Am Ghost

Lovers’ Requiem

[2/5] I Am Ghost’s full-length debut for Epitaph follows in the footsteps of their 2004 EP. Which is a politically correct way of saying Lover’s Requiem might as well be a bunch of b-sides from My Chemical Romance’s debut album. Singer Steven Juliano’s howling vocals sound so much like Gerard Way, one wonders if Way actually recorded this during one of his pre-detox blackouts. In effort to find their own sound on an already well-trodden genre, I Am Ghost throw in a few of their own maneuvers (backup vocals from female violinist Kerith Telestai, layers of keyboards and smatterings of electronica), but the results never forge a distinct band personality. Hell, even the song titles (“Pretty People Never Lie, Vampires Never Die,” “Dark Carnival Of The Immaculate”) sound directly ripped out of one of Way’s notebooks. It doesn’t matter how well-played or likeable the songs on this record are; Lover’s Requiem still sounds too much like a cover album to ever stand on its own black-boot-clad feet. (EPITAPH) Emily Zemler