Track x Track: Lazy Ghost - 'SARAH-TONIN' EP

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While getting to know the music of Lazy Ghost, it doesn’t take long to get the sense that the four-piece are having a hell of a lot of fun while crafting their vibrant and uplifting take on surf-tinged indie rock sounds, with the name of their new EP sealing the deal.

The name of Lazy Ghost’s new record is SARAH-TONIN - a joke that may have been made at many a kick ons when serotonin is running low, with the guys committing to the bit and titling their new five track collection just that.

It’s also a bloody appropriate name in the sense that the music on SARAH-TONIN will give your serotonin a boost, packing five songs that viscerally channel the Aussie beach energy, pairing big, reverberated guitar riffs with a storytelling approach to songwriting.

Speaking on their new EP, the band explains "SARAH-TONIN pronounced - Serotonin - is a reminder to savour the rider beers and not to fret or stress about the venue forgetting to pay the band. Often, the chase of success is at the cost of Sarah, being serotonin, our friend and favourite neurotransmitter. Sarah transports you to good times whenever she’s feelin’ agreeable but also stitches you up, leaving you high and dry as soon as you chase her. As we enter this new era of LAZY GHOST, I’d like to thank all our fans for holdin’ on."

To celebrate the release of SARAH-TONIN, the guys were kind enough to take us through the EP, track by track:

ONLY MAN IN TOWN

‘ONLY MAN IN TOWN’ is an ode to those whose vision of life has been so distorted and ego so inflated from the constant smoke blown up their ass. It delves into the illusion of believing oneself to be the “only man in town”, an egocentric approach to one’s own life which inevitably ends in a symbolic shootout between individual perception and reality. The music tracks the journey to becoming too big for your own britches. But damn, the sonic journey makes it sound bloody fun.

PARK HOTEL

‘PARK HOTEL’ embodies the high we get from a night out at the pub. It was written on our back veranda in peak summer. Through the sweat and beers, this one came together to be a fun encapsulation of summertime in paradise. The lyrics tell a story of a girl who’s seen as crazy, but you love her just the way she is, and nobody else can see her the way you do. This is a bit of a tip of the hat to the Serotonin theme in the chorus, “Met you at the park hotel, a place where I knew you well”.

WEEKEND

‘WEEKEND’, hell what can we say? This one was written with the intention of getting its listeners to rip their hair out. The tune has had a long, very promiscuous life, freely changing between loads and loads of different iterations before finally metamorphosing into the wacky, silly, reverberated, psych rock sing-a-long it is. We threw in an absolute cooked bridge that makes you wanna ride a horse on ketamine. Hell yeah. This one’s for the grandkids.

EAT YOU ALIVE

In reality, this one is about the struggle of having shitty surf check after shitty surf check and becoming disenchanted with surf culture. It’s the journey through the early mornings, grumpy baristas, shit $8 lattes, rainy weather, unsurfable sloppy waves when the forecasted oceanographic conditions are supposedly perfect, the ol’ salty dogs snaking your one good wave of the day, and the general contentment with surfing despite all the bullshit. Finally, it's a pisstake of one’s surf abilities as the worst thing a person can do is go all World Surf League on everyone and take surfing to be a sport.

OLD FRIEND OF MINE

‘OLD FRIEND OF MINE’ is about being happier with less. A reminder to savour the rider beers and not to fret and stress about the venue forgetting to pay the band. Often, the chase of success is at the cost of Sarah, being serotonin, our friend and favourite neurotransmitter. Sarah transports you to good times whenever she’s feelin’ agreeable but also stitches you up, leaving you high and dry as soon as you chase her. The one that you can never quite get a hold of, but when you do, it’s the best of times. The highs of the highs. Chris started Old Friend as a guitar riff and the “she’s an old friend of mine” chorus harmony, bringing it to the boys who all pulled together in perfect bandship to transform it into the anthemic, dynamic, driving tune it is today. And darn are we proud of it. Ending the EP with the phrase she’s an old friend of mine, Sarah, of course, felt right. We always feel a low when the tours are done, the beers are gone, the lights don’t flash, and the serotonin is nowhere to be found. But we remember she’s an old friend of ours and she’ll be back before we know it.

          - Lazy Ghost, May 2024

LAZY GHOST - TOUR DATES
SAT 25 MAY | IMPY YARD PARTY, MURWILLUMBAH NSW
WED 5 JUN | THE HOEY MOEY, GUMBAYNGGIRR/COFFS HARBOUR NSW *
THU 6 JUN | MIAMI MARKETTA, YUGAMBEH/GOLD COAST QLD *
SAT 20 JUL | A SPLENDID WEEKEND, BEACH HOTEL, CAVANBAH/BYRON BAY NSW

* Supporting DICE

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